In 2005, the Nike Foundation had a mandate: tap the inspiration and innovation of Nike to give back to developing economies. We’ve been doing that by investing in adolescent girls as agents of change. Now it’s your chance to be a part.
A bit of background. We’ve been solely focused on girls as the best investment that no one’s making, with less than half a cent of international aid money directed to them. Today the programs we fund reach up to 2 million girls and our efforts are leveraging further investment, including the NoVo Foundation’s recent commitment to the cause.
Now we’re spreading the word. We’re doing that by bringing the Girl Effect to life (www.girleffect.org).
This is where you come in. You can be part of the movement by spreading the word and contributing to the cause. Watch with us as that happens through Facebook, YouTube and Global Giving.
We also want to tap your creativity, passion and innovation as a Nike employee. We want your ideas for a new contest called What’s Your Effect? Maybe it’s an idea of how you’d bring the girl effect to your own community. Maybe you have 4,000 MySpace friends and you’d share the girl effect with them. Maybe you have a way for your work team to raise attention. Or maybe you have the yellow-wristband-idea for the girl cause.
We’ll put your ideas in front of a panel of judges who will decide the finalists based on creativity, reach and feasibility. Then we’ll invite all employees to vote. If you win, we’ll fund your idea and send you to see work on the ground in Africa, Asia or Latin America.
Get your idea on video. You don’t need to be Spielberg. Just show us what you’d do or simply talk to the camera. If you don’t even have a camera, no worries. Get thinking about your idea and we’ll do what we can to bring the camera to you.
For inspiration check out girleffect.org. Those at WHQ can also visit the Nike Foundation Center on the first floor of the Pete Sampras Building, which houses a new design to spark thinking around the girl issue as well as details on the contest.
Share your idea. Send an email to myeffect@nike.com to tell us you’re interested.
To learn more about the contest rules click here.