Changemakers Opportunity
Posted on 22/10/2007
Ashoka’s Changemakers and Nike have partnered to open a worldwide search for projects that use the transformative power of sport to achieve real social change. Enter by 17 December 2007.
This collaborative competition centers on an open, interactive space at www.changemakers.net where individuals and organizations -- large and small, established and emerging -- that use sport to transform lives and communities can present proposals, network and share ideas.
“Changemakers seeks to support social entrepreneurs and amplify their efforts to transform the world,” said Changemakers Executive Director Charlie Brown. “This collaboration with Nike on the Sport for a Better World competition -- our 13th Changemakers competition -- provides an opportunity to identify changemakers within the growing sector of sport-based social entrepreneurs, as well as bring energy and awareness to this movement as a whole.”
“The richness of the sport for social change movement is to be found in the grassroots, among community-based social entrepreneurs who are driving innovative models based on local solutions,” said Hannah Jones, Vice President Corporate Responsibility, Nike, Inc.
Innovators are rising to this competition’s challenge, as 31 entries from 20 countries have been contributed. These inspired ideas for using sport to create social change include:
-- A Venezuelan proposal which seeks to end corruption within municipal sports programs and provide access for all
-- A United States-based organization that works with youth in East Africa to channel their running talent toward scholarships for education and careers in sports
-- A Egyptian project that ensures girls’ rights to participate in school sports, and keeps them involved in education, via a volleyball league
The competition’s judges include Luol Deng, Chicago Bulls NBA basketball player; Nawal el Moutawakel, member of the International Olympic Committee; Joan Laporta, president of F.C. Barcelona; Mark Parker, president and CEO of Nike, Inc.; Ann Veneman, executive director for UNICEF, and Mel Young, founder of the Homeless World Cup.
The finalists will then be reintroduced to the online community, which will vote for three winners in January 2008. These winners will each receive $5000 to support their project, and all of the finalists will be invited to the Change Summit next spring, where they can meet, collaborate and network with potential investors and participants in their efforts to employ sport as a means to a better world.
To enter your project or join the debate go to: http://changemakers.net/en-us/competition/sports
