(Washington DC – March 24, 2010) Nike, in partnership with Ashoka’s Changemakers.com, today launched Changing Lives Through Football, an innovative competition to surface the best ideas for how soccer can unleash young people’s potential, strengthen their communities, boost development, and accelerate social change.
Whether through their partnerships in Africa that support communities that fight HIV/AIDS or its “Stand Up Speak Up” campaign to empower sports fans to voice their opposition to racism, Nike has long recognized the power of football (“soccer” in the US) to affect real change.
Football is the sport that unites the world. Billions of fans cheer their favorite teams. As anticipation mounts for this year's World Cup tournament—the first ever played on the African continent—there's no better time to translate the excitement into new ideas that empower youth.
The global stage is set to inspire social change through football, and Nike and Changemakers are issuing an open invitation to help find the next wave of leaders who are using football to unleash the potential of young people by participating in the Changing Lives Through Football collaborative competition on Changemakers.com.
“The Changing Lives Through Football competition is an opportunity for Nike and Changemakers to uncover how one of the world's most popular sports is helping spur new solutions that improve lives, while amplifying those stories through a global event like the 2010 World Cup,” said Charlie Brown, Changemakers Executive Director. "The power of sport to catalyze social change is a key element of Ashoka's Changemakers mission to find cutting edge social innovations.”
“Our football-based community partnerships around the world continue to demonstrate how football is being used as a catalyst to break down social barriers and drive positive change,” said Andrew Ogilvie, Nike’s Director of Sustainable Business and Innovation. “This competition provides a platform for football to further engage youth, mobilize communities, share new ideas, and celebrate the positive impact being made.”
Changemakers.com is an open, online community where all are invited to identify, inspire and bring together the best projects and innovative ideas for empowering youth by accelerating and increasing access to soccer. Submissions will be accepted from March 24 to June 11, 2010 at www.changemakers.com/football. Entrants are eligible to win prizes totalling USD $90,000.
Anyone can participate by suggesting a project or idea that should enter, posting a comment or question in the online dialogue, and voting for winners.
