As an organization focused on engaging and mobilizing the public, we cannot ignore the power of sport to inspire action, shift perceptions, and reach mass culture. On November 12th, Purpose hosted its first ever event on the intersection of sports and social good, called “The Most Engaged Communities on Earth: Mobilizing Sports Fans for Social Good.”
The event featured speakers that are using sports programming and participation as an intervention on big social issues, as well as others from the professional sports world who are leveraging their influence and resources to improve communities around the world. The discussion was moderated by Harrie Bakst, Founding Partner of Weinstein Carnegie Philanthropic Group, and panelists included:
Allen Hershkowitz, President, Green Sports Alliance
Romola Ratnam, Deputy Director, Corporate Partnerships, UNICEF USA/SEED Project
Mike Geddes, Managing Director, streetfootballworld
Eric DiMiceli, Senior Manager, Social Responsibility & Player Programs, National Basketball Association
Each of the panelists presented a case study from their work and then participated in a moderated panel discussion and audience Q & A. Below are some highlights from each presentation.
Green Sports Alliance
Allen shared the history of the Green Sports Alliance through some brilliant storytelling that took the audience into the front offices of some pretty legendary professional sports figures. Today, the Green Sports Alliance is leveraging the cultural and market influence of sports to promote healthy communities by inspiring sports leagues, teams, venues, partners, and their millions of fans to embrace renewable energy, healthy food, recycling water efficiency, species preservation, safer chemicals and other environmentally preferable practices.
Allen emphasized that sports, more so than any other sector, has universal relevance and is one of the most effective platforms for reaching and influencing mass culture. He left the audience feeling hopeful, sharing that from his conversations with professional sports leaders he has seen strong intention and genuine commitment on their behalf to always be doing more when it comes to sustainability/social responsibility.
UNICEF USA
Romola spoke to both the work of UNICEF USA and one of the organizations that they support, SEED Project. On UNICEF, Romola specifically touched on their work related to the garment side of the sports industry. UNICEF is working to look beyond standard supply chain assessment practices to evaluate how individuals’ lives and communities are improved.
The SEED Project runs three programs in Senegal that use basketball as a means to identify, cultivate, and educate future leaders. Romola focused her talk on SEED’s unique approach and how it hopes to transform the model for youth sports programming around the world. Their focus in on developing better humans, not just better athletes. This way when young athletes “make it,” they will use everything from their education to their influence and celebrity to improve their communities.
streetfootballworld
Mike talked about the strong global relevance of football (that’s soccer for those who grew up in the States) and how because of that, the sport has a unique power to change the world. streetfootballworld has built up a global network of over 100 community organizations that are using football to improve communities and tackle social issues. He explained how youth’s passion for participating in the sport engages them and keeps them coming back to a given program so that education on key topics like gender equality and HIV/AIDS can be delivered.
Mike also talked about the growing trend of corporations wanting to align their brand and distribute their resources to the “sport for good” sector. This is giving rise to exciting opportunities for organizations like streetfootballworld to grow their reach and deepen their impact.
National Basketball Association
Eric highlighted the work of NBA Cares, the league’s global social responsibility initiative which addresses important social issues in the U.S. and in communities that span the globe. NBA Cares works with youth-serving nonprofits/programs that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes.
He gave insight into an important factor for all brands, especially professional sports leagues and teams, when it comes to social good campaigns: authenticity. One way that the league does this is by making sure it incorporates its players’ passions and lived experiences into its social responsibility initiatives. They are also very thoughtful about which marketing partners they align with which NBA Cares platforms, ensuring there is a natural alignment with the issue area and genuine intention on behalf of the brand.
Finally, Eric talked about the focus of NBA Cares on mobilizing its employees, marketing, partners, players, and fans to do hands-on service in their communities. Since its inception in 2005, NBA Cares has been responsible for 3.3. million hours of hands-on service.
What’s next?
Some great audience questions surfaced at the end of the event, so we plan on following up with another installment of Purpose Sports in 2016. For example, we hope to dig deeper on the role of athletes and how they can more intentionally and effectively use their influence to move public perception on difficult issues. Stay tuned for more in 2016!
For now, we leave you with some inspiring images from the streetfootballworld and SEED Project Instagram profiles. Both organizations spoke to the powerful stories coming from community sports organizations across the globe and how those need to be amplified.
for Equity & Evidence