Soccer, playgrounds and mobile phones are the key themes behind the winners of the Nike Sport for a Better World competition. Learn more. The three winners will be given funding for their projects and an invitation to the Global Change Summit.
Nike CEO & President Mark Parker was a judge in the competion. In February, Parker was joined at Nike's headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon by thought leaders from across the world to discuss social innovation in sports. The goal of their meeting was to connect and select finalists in the Nike Changemakers Sport For a Better World Competition. Their judging followed three criteria:
- Innovation: Did the entry propose a unique model of social change?
- Social Impact: Did the entry demonstrate an ability to make change and a map for the bigger picture impact?
- Sustainability: Was a clear business and financial plan in place fueling the idea?
The team narrowed 382 entries to 16 finalists. On February 18 voting on the final contenders began and the final judgment was left open to the public who could vote for their favorite three.
The competition proved wildly popular. Over the 12-week entry period, S4BW received 382 entries from 69 countries, including six Nike employee submissions, one of which is a finalist. Over 4,900 profiles were created on the Changemakers site by individuals who tagged sport as an area of interest. Over 200 countries were represented among the site visitors and the 1,600 comments and suggestions offered to the entrants. This feedback helped them polish and improve their submissions right up until the final deadline of February 8. The field of entrants was vast and included a wide variety of innovators from experienced social entrepreneurs to a 12-year-old elementary student from Uganda.
Nike is all about innovation and sports so it’s no surprise we had a number of innovative entries. So, congratulations and thank you to the Nike employees who submitted their projects. Thank you for getting involved and helping to Innovate for a Better World.
Changemakers
Wondering what Changemakers is? Their goal is to build the world's first global online "open source" community that competes to showcase the best social solutions, and then collaborates to refine, enrich, and implement those solutions. Learn more by visiting www.changemakers.net. Nike works with Changemakers through a partnership with Ashoka, a global association for social entrepreneurship.