OUR IMPACT: SCALING THE POWER OF SPORT
As a global company, we continue to leverage the power of our employees, consumers and partners to uncover new
and exciting innovations that enable a “scaling up” of the power of sport. We have seen some of these innovative
ideas grow from simple, direct investments into widely adopted, easily implemented programs with incredible
impacts on the lives of young people. We have taken the lead in creating a number of these programs, and we have
partnered on others; each has uncovered best practices that have been scaled across the globe. The following are a
few examples.
Sport for Social Change Networks: The concept was simple – how could we bring together locally relevant,
sport-based community programs to share ideas and best practices, leverage funding and create a collective voice
around the power of sport to overcome local challenges? Nike worked with CARE, a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty, to fund and convene partners to create Sport for Social Change Networks in southern Africa, eastern Africa, Brazil, the United Kingdom and the United States over the past five years. The Networks
have enabled community-based sports programs to learn how to collectively lobby for funding and support from
local governments, NGOs and local businesses. Each of the Networks is flourishing – and the community programs
are reaching thousands more youth and training more coaches as a result of the collaboration.
Homeless World Cup: There are many routes to becoming homeless – losing a job, being unable to cope with
addiction, or for whatever reason, falling through the cracks of society. An organization called the Homeless World
Cup believes that football (soccer) can be a path forward for tens of thousands of people who become homeless.
Our long-term support to the Homeless World Cup, which work with the homeless in order to build camaraderie,
resilience and self-esteem, have helped the organization expand to 73 countries around the world, using football as
the entry point to help more than 50,000 people annually get back on their feet. Every year the organization holds
the Homeless World Cup in a new country, engaging with governments and local businesses in a dialogue to help
the homeless reintegrate into society – into educational pathways, into jobs and back into their communities.
Grassroots Soccer/Nike(RED): The world’s beautiful game ignores geographic boundaries, races, religions
and gender. So does HIV/AIDS. More than 10 years ago, when a group of players in Zimbabwe saw their friends
disappearing from the football (soccer) pitches for no apparent reason, they soon realized that HIV/AIDS was
sweeping through their hometowns. They knew the only thing that would stop the disease was to help future
generations understand that the decisions they were making in their lives could mean the difference between life
and death. To communicate to the neighborhood kids, they created Grassroots Soccer (GRS). Since 2002, Nike has
worked with GRS to provide funding, product donations and inspiration to help the organization reach 500,000
young people through their program. We amplified our commitment to organizations like GRS during World Cup
2010 in South Africa with Nike(RED) – using red laces to raise awareness with athletes and fans, and raising funds
that would directly benefit community-based football programs designed to educate youth about HIV/AIDS. To
date we have granted more than $1.3 million to 55 programs in 21 countries throughout Africa.
Magic Bus: India – the world’s second-most populous country – is sports-crazy. It is also home to millions of
vulnerable children who do not have access to education, a place to live or a stable home environment. Magic Bus,
an India-based organization, saw the opportunity to engage with these children through sport by providing
scalable, activity-based programs that include safe places to play. Nike partnered with Magic Bus more than five
years ago because we believed that their idea to train volunteer coaches in local villages throughout the country
would enable them to reach hundreds of thousands more children. The results speak for themselves: In 2010,
school attendance for kids in urban slums and rural villages where Magic Bus operates increased to 78 percent, and
85 percent of participating children went on to get jobs. The results have been so positive that the Indian government has made the Magic Bus curricula part of its national “sport for development” program.
Let Me Play: The world’s largest peaceful internal migration is happening in China, as people move from rural
areas to urban centers looking for work. As these migrant workers move, they bring their families, but their
children do not always receive equal access to public health or education services. Over the past five years, our Let
Me Play initiative has connected with children of migrant workers in eleven Chinese cities to promote teamwork,
confidence, gender equity and social integration through sport. The proof: More than 80 percent of Let Me Play
participants reported gains in self-worth, relationships and studies. The local government has been so impressed
with the results that plans to bring the program into additional communities and schools are now underway.
Students Run LA: In some parts of Los Angeles, high school graduation rates are as low as 60 percent. Youth
inactivity, a lack of mentoring programs and long-term economic challenges contribute to these low rates for
vulnerable youth. That is, until they become part of Students Run LA. For more than 23 years, this organization has
operated a running and mentoring program that coaches students to run a marathon, while also providing the
support they need to graduate from high school. Many of these kids are the first in their families to graduate. Two
years ago, Nike partnered with Students Run LA, providing high-performance running shoes, organizing running
events and mobilizing our employees to help slower students run the last four miles of the marathon. In 2011, this
program helped 2,800 underserved youth in Los Angeles complete the marathon. The academic results are also
impressive: 97 percent of the seniors who ran the marathon in 2011 graduated from high school.