Changing Lives Through Football

Nike and Ashoka's Changemakers have teamed up to demonstrate that football can be more than just a game – it can be a forum for empowering youth, strengthening communities, boosting development and scoring actionable change. Changing Lives Through Football emphasizes innovative solutions that use football's collaborative powers to:

• Unleash young people's potential through programs that empower them and activate their participation in civic affairs
  
• Develop ground-breaking initiatives that use football for developmental education
  
• Develop ground-breaking initiatives that improve health awareness and practices, and strengthening communities
  
• Amplify social change globally through football-based programs
  
• Fight effectively against HIV/AIDS
  

The Changing Lives Through Football competition is open to all individuals and organizations (charitable organizations, private companies, or public entities) from all countries. The scope of the competition is to identify innovative solutions that use football to strengthen community, accelerate development and drive social change. The winners of this competition will be those entries that show true innovation, prove they will deliver real and long term positive social impact, and prove that their business models are sustainable.

Got a proposal for sparking change through football? Go to http://www.changemakers.com/football to submit an entry, or recommend innovators whose efforts inspire you.
 There will be 3 global winners, with the winner receiving $30,000 and 3 regional winners with the winners each receiving $10,000. For information on guidelines, criteria and prizes go to http://www.changemakers.com/en-us/football. Timescales for submissions and voting are listed below.

1. Online competition submissions are accepted until June 11, 2010 at 5PM US EST
   
2. Online Review and Judging, June 11 – July 26, 2010
   
3. Voting, July 27 – August 18, 2010
   
4. Global and Regional Winners Announced– August 25, 2010
   

On May 11^th, two innovators who are already affecting social change through football won our early entry prize:

1. Fútbol con Corazón – Colombia Fútbol Con Corazón is a grass-roots social change model that utilizes soccer's calling power to provide new life opportunities for 1,800 vulnerable boys and girls, aged 5-16, in Colombia's Caribbean coast, who live below the poverty line. Please see this special report by ESPN about their social impact through soccer. This extra-curricular holistic program focuses on three areas:
   
   • Athletic training using the "soccer for peace" methodology
     
   • Values-based experiential workshops focusing on gender, conflict resolution, and tolerance among other crucial values
     
   • Well balanced nutrition
   
   
2. Team Iraq - Iraq is living through a period of violent ethnic and religious conflict. Many of its young population, 60% of Iraqis are under 25, lack positive opportunities. Yet research and experience shows that to prevent future violence and extremism, young minds need to be nurtured towards a positive role in civil society. Team Iraq has begun to turn this situation around. It uses the power of football to bring together young people from all ethnic, religious and social backgrounds, through a number of football-related initiatives with emphasis on creating local youth led programs to help develop and empower and ultimately employ young people.