2024 Giving Tuesday

Empowering the Next Generation of Leaders

We believe that sport has the unique ability to bridge divides, promote mental well-being and foster a sense of belonging.

Through our dynamic educational and leadership-infused programs like FLAG! Future Leaders, Active Girls, Youth Leadership Day and High School Leadership Academies, we’re tackling the social and societal issues facing our youth and preparing them to lead authentically in an effort to foster a more united, healthy, and inclusive society…but we can make a greater impact with an assist from you!

Donate TODAY to help us empower the leaders of TOMORROW!:

$25 covers costs of participant books & learning materials
$50 funds individual participant cost for youth programs
$100 purchases sports equipment and training supplies
$250 provides snacks and hydration for youth programs
$1000 provides transportation for 100 youth participants
$5000 covers training fees for youth leadership OR best practices summit for coaches

Gifts of all sizes make a big difference! Contact Whitney Tarver, Vice President for Strategic Partnerships & Development for additional program information or other giving options. Thank you for investing in the power of sport!

FLAG! Future Leaders, Active Girls is an Institute initiative poised to empower the next generation of female athletes. The program draws its inspiration from the NFL's history-making game in São Paulo, Brazil between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers, debuting American football in South America in September 2024. FLAG! also marks the beginning of a new era in futebol – one that includes a strong focus on gender equity and inclusion.

With flag football surging in popularity and poised to be added as an event in the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, this program provides opportunities for girls to develop skills both on-and-off the field in a fun and safe environment while simultaneously engaging coaches and community leaders in best practices to promote gender equity and inclusion in sport.

Research shows that sport participation among girls drastically declines at age 13, yet the benefits of playing sports to include:

Confidence & Empowerment: Playing sports helps girls step out of their comfort zones, build resilience and gain confidence
Teamwork & Leadership: Sport promotes collaboration and communication, and teaches girls who lead with compassion and work as a team in a competitive environment
Physical Fitness & Well-Being: Girls who play sport experience fewer symptoms related to depression and anxiety, reduced risk of chronic illness and develop healthier habits

FLAG! is getting more girls in the game and providing them with skills that will benefit them for a lifetime!

Contact Dr. Ashleigh Huffman, Vice President for Global Engagement about domestic and global FLAG! opportunitites.

While youth continue to report alarming rates of depression and anxiety-related symptoms, loneliness and isolation, they also express a desire to learn the skills necessary to become a leader and enact change within both their local communities and the world more broadly.

Through our Youth Leadership programs, we’re huddling with middle and high school students, athletes, coaches and administrators to help develop skills to positively impact health and wellness outcomes and to create safer, more inclusive school and sport and sport environments.

In a Youth Leadership Day session, and throughout a school year-length Leadership Academy, students will engage around topics such as:

Core Values
Emotionally Intelligent Leadership
Gender-Based Violence Prevention
Growth Mindset

Community Building
Conflict Resolution
Effective Communication
Resilience & How to Handle Hard Better

Participants will learn from our experienced and diverse team of faciliitators, special guest speakers, and student-athlete "near peers"--recent graduates trained in our curriculum who can provide a different perspective.

Our programs and sessions are flexibile enough to fit within the school class periods, or to partner with after school programs, community organizations, travel teams, clubs, camps and more.

Our Youth Leadership programs are equipping students and young athletes with the skills they need to both navigate today's challenges and develop into tomorrow's leaders!

Contact Spencer Bonahoom, Director-Huddle Up about Youth Leadership programming and opportunities.

At the Institute, we equip and embolden athletes and sport leaders to create a safer, more inclusive world. We offer unparalleled leadership programs, created by athletes for athletes, and cultivate candid conversations that drive individuals to change themselves, change their teams, and change the world.

For nearly 40 years we’ve developed innovative solutions to challenges facing sport teams and set the standard for effective, evidence-based programs, equipping more than 69,000 athletes and sport professionals to enact positive social change.

Our new strategic vision is a leadership platform poised to inspire sport leadership at all levels.

Change Me: We believe impact starts at the individual level. We educate and empower individuals to realize how they can make a positive difference.
Change Us: We aim to build a movement of individuals who take what they have learned and inspire their local communities.
Change the World: Global change is most impactful when it grows from community to community. The movement we envision will emanate from individual and community-based action and ultimately change the world.

Our work is fueled by support from generous community partners, organizations and individuals who share our belief in the power of sport to change the world. Contact Whitney Tarver for additional information.

The Institute for Sport & Social Justice is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, EIN 47-5127394.