Announcing the Newest Partnership for Nike: Black Girl Ventures

Nike, Inc. has announced that it will begin a partnership with Black Girl Ventures to support the economic empowerment of women of color.

Black Girl Ventures has become the newest partner of the Nike, Inc. Black Community Commitment. (Image credit: Nike, Inc.)

Expanding the NIKE, Inc. Black Community Commitment to support organizations focused on social justice, education and economic opportunity for Black Americans, Nike announces a new partner focused on economic empowerment, Black Girl Ventures. The $500,000 investment from NIKE, Inc. will support Black Girl Ventures in its efforts to provide Black and Brown women-identifying founders with access to community, capital and capacity-building to support entrepreneurship. This contribution builds on the commitments to Black Girls CODE, NAACP Empowerment Programs and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) announced in July 2020.

“Nike’s funding will help us grow our reach through new chapter development, increase our technology infrastructure to better serve Black and Brown leaders through our proprietary crowdfunding platform and increase our brand visibility through storytelling campaigns curated by Black and Brown women,” says Shelly Bell, founder and CEO, Black Girl Ventures.

NIKE, Inc. will expand its focus to local investments in 2021 that drive action and impact in partnership with the Black community. Starting this year, the Black Community Commitment will support a series of grants that will total $1.75 million to organizations working on behalf of Black communities in seven U.S. cities: Boston, Memphis, St. Louis, Portland, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City.

Other Strategic Partnerships and Investments

In addition to partnerships with Black Girls CODENAACP Empowerment Programs and LDF, NIKE, Inc. will continue to support long-time community partners, such as the Jackie Robinson Foundation, PeacePlayers and the National Civil Rights Museum (Memphis, Tenn.). In 2020, Converse committed $100,000 to both the Equal Justice Initiative and LDF. The Until We All Win community grant program, created in 2019, will continue to provide a total of $4 million each year to nonprofits working to level the playing field for the eight communities represented by our NikeUNITED Networks.

Jordan Brand and Michael Jordan pledged an additional $100 million over 10 years, with a focus on social justice, economic justice, and education and awareness. In the coming weeks, we will share more on the actions we’re taking to eliminate opportunity gaps for Black Americans.

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Author: Gender Equality Funding News

Philanthropy Women aggregates the most important gender equality funding news.

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