Nike’s partnership expands on its Black Community Commitment to support organisations focused on social justice, education and economic opportunity for Black Americans
Expanding the Nike, Inc. Black Community Commitment to support organisations focused on social justice, education and economic opportunity for Black Americans, the ‘Just Do It’ brand announces a new partnership focused on economic empowerment, Black Girl Ventures.
The US$500k/£370k investment from Nike, Inc. will support Black Girl Ventures in its efforts to provide Black and Brown women-identifying founders with access to the community, capital and capacity-building to support entrepreneurship. This contribution builds on the commitments to Black Girls CODE, NAACP Empowerment Programmes and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) announced in July 2020.
“Nike’s funding will help us grow our reach through new chapter development, increase our technology infrastructure to better serve Black and Brown leaders through our proprietary crowdfunding platform and increase our brand visibility through storytelling campaigns curated by Black and Brown women,” says Shelly Bell, founder and CEO, Black Girl Ventures.
NIKE, Inc. will expand its focus to local investments in 2021 that drive action and impact in partnership with the Black community. Starting this year, the Black Community Commitment will support a series of grants that will total US$1.75m/£1.29m to organisations working on behalf of Black communities in seven US cities: Boston, Memphis, St. Louis, Portland, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City.
In addition to partnerships with Black Girls CODE, NAACP Empowerment Programmes and LDF, NIKE, Inc. will continue to support long-time community partners, such as the Jackie Robinson Foundation, PeacePlayers and the National Civil Rights Museum (Memphis, Tenn.).
In 2020, Converse committed US$100k/£74k to both the Equal Justice Initiative and LDF. The Until We All Win community grant programme, created in 2019, will continue to provide a total of US$4m/£2.9m each year to nonprofits working to level the playing field for the eight communities represented by our NikeUNITED Networks.
Jordan Brand and Michael Jordan pledged an additional US$100m/£74.1m over 10 years, with a focus on social justice, economic justice, and education and awareness. In the coming weeks, we will share more on the actions we’re taking to eliminate opportunity gaps for Black Americans.
