NBA Foundation surpasses $100 million in grants
With the creation of the NBA Foundation in August 2020, a unique opportunity arose for the NBA to support Black youth.
The NBA Foundation, which aims to help uplift the visibility of youth-serving organizations across league markets, just announced an 11th round of grants.
It recently passed the $100 million threshold in grants distributed – a milestone achievement but far from the end of this group’s mission. The Foundation is working to invest $300 million in creating economic empowerment in Black communities.
Through 337 overall grants to 227 non-profits, the lives of more than 240,000 Black youth have been impacted for the better.
“It really is about fostering opportunity and extending resources to young people and organizations that oftentimes don’t receive those resources,” said Greg Taylor, the executive director of the NBA Foundation.
The 11th round will consist of 46 grantees with a total of $8.66 million spread across a wide variety of groups.
These groups range from The American Cancer Society to the Dallas Black Dance Theater, preparing young people for all industries – a key goal of the foundation.
In this round of grants, what stands out is the broad range of opportunities that pique the interest of young people.
“Probably more than any other grant round, this round speaks to the diversity of employment fields. … What this says to us is that young people have broad interests, and what they need is mentors and resources to participate,” Taylor said.
With the wide variety of grants, the foundation sees this through, creating new paths toward success across the country.
With tools such as networking, skill training and preparation, the foundation doesn’t just help people get jobs, but maintain them.
“I’m hopeful that these young people who go through these programs ultimately land in these diverse careers because we know the opportunities are there,” Taylor said.
The NBA Foundation started with a 10-year, $300 million commitment from each of the 30 team Governors. A third of the way through, the commitment is moving at a strong pace.
“The 10-year commitment was to send a message to the world,” Taylor said. “We want a lasting impact on the ground in where we are.”
To help Black youth reach their full potential, among other efforts, the NBA Foundation holds bi-monthly webinars, showing interested groups the application process, answering any questions along the way and creating a level of transparency so that any group can gain access to a grant.
Being co-creators in the process of uplifting Black youth is one of the many goals within the foundation, which includes building a national network of employers.
“The express mission was to connect black youth to jobs,” Taylor said. “We knew that jobs were a way to promote economic opportunity.”
Giving back through the NBA is essential to the NBA Foundation. What makes collaboration with organizations work so well is that they are all striving to achieve the same goals, demonstrating the teamwork inherent in basketball.
“Oftentimes people see our incredible game and think the only thing you can do in the NBA is be a basketball player,” Taylor said. “But there are all of these other opportunities. We want to send the message that we need leadership in all of those spaces.”
Below is a list of all new and renewed grant recipients: