Foot Locker, Inc., through the Foot Locker Foundation, and Laureus Sport for Good (Laureus) have announced the grantee recipients of their 2022-2023 multi-country initiative aimed at supporting underserved communities.
Through the Foot Locker Foundation Community Empowerment Program, developed in partnership with Laureus, nine community organizations have been awarded between USD 20,000 and USD 100,000 each to provide programming that advances health, wealth and upward mobility in under-invested communities.
These programs will serve an estimated 3,000 young people across Canada, France, the UK, the Netherlands, and Spain. The first round of international winners can be found below:
- Hoopqueens (Toronto, CAN)
- Start2Finish Canada (Toronto, CAN)
- Les Ballons Intensifs (Montreal, CAN)
- Streetball Barcelona Sants (Barcelona, ESP)
- Rio Ferdinand Foundation (London-Brixton, UK)
- ML Community Enterprise Limited (London-Brixton, UK)
- Contact Club (Marseille, FRA)
- Paris Basket 18 (Paris, FRA)
- Stichting IKBENWIJ (Rotterdam, NED)
Laureus and the Foot Locker Foundation announced the launch of Community Empowerment Program in December 2021. Working with organizations in seven metropolitan areas across Europe and Canada, the program builds on Laureus and Foot Locker, Inc.’s shared goal to address social challenges affecting youth in underserved communities.
“Meaningful, lasting, and equitable change starts locally,” said Patrick Walsh, Senior Vice President, Growth & Business Development, Foot Locker, Inc.
“At the centre of that change are the community organizations doing the work. They understand both the needs of the communities they serve and the ways to empower and advance opportunity.
The Community Empowerment program simply provides them with the resources and tools to drive that impact even further and continue their investments in communities that have been underserved for too long.”
“We are proud to partner with these nine organizations through the Community Empowerment Program,” said Edwin Moses, Laureus Academy Member and track and field legend.
“At Laureus, we believe that sport has the power to change the lives of young people around the world, and leading that charge are local organizations like these, who understand the deepest needs of their youth and how to best serve and invest in their future.”
Laureus is a global charity that supports children and young people by using the power of sport to end violence, discrimination, and inequality.
Over the last 21 years, Laureus has raised more than EUR 150 million for the sport for the development sector, reaching and helping change the lives of more than six million children and young people.
For Foot Locker, Inc., this community investment is powered by the organization’s Leading Education and Economic Development (LEED) initiative, a USD 200 million commitment focused on education and economic development within the Black community.
The announcement of the grant winners builds on Foot Locker’s US partnership with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), which provides similar grants to organizations across 12 cities in the United States.