Nike Inc. on September 29 announced inaugural grants totaling $250,000 to 18 local nonprofits through the Nike Employee Grant Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation.
The fund, announced in May of this year, will grant up to $500,000 per year for three years to local nonprofits or schools that wish to join Nike in creating positive social and environmental change, primarily through physical activity. A new grant cycle will begin October 1 to solicit ideas for the $250,000 remaining to be distributed in the first year of the program.
“We are thrilled at the quality of the proposals we received and were able to fund,” said Kathy Webb, Nike Employee Marketplace Manager, who chaired the Nike employee group overseeing the program's selection process. “The opportunity for a broad group of Nike employees to make these funding decisions ensures that the groups and efforts we support are reflective of Nike's commitment to harness sport for positive social change.”
“We've enjoyed the process of working with Nike employees” said Kathleen Cornett, OCF Vice President for Programs. “Their fund means wonderful new resources for the community.”
The Nike Employee Grant Fund awards will be made to nonprofit organizations or schools in the greater Portland area (Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, Yamhill, and Columbia counties in Oregon and Clark County in southwest Washington) twice per year. Eighty percent of the Nike Employee Grant Fund will go to organizations that seek to affect social and environmental change through the lens of sport, and 20 percent will be given to nonprofits making strategic efforts to improve the lives of children and families. In addition to financial support, Nike will work closely with grant recipients to provide the support of Nike employees seeking volunteer opportunities in the community.
The program's four funding priorities are environment, education, inclusion, and health. Within each funding priority are goals that include physical activity as a key element and goals that do not include physical activity but do have the potential for broad, lasting community impact.
