Laureus USA announces inaugural grantees for the New Orleans Model City Initiative
Laureus Sport for Good Foundation USA, the leading non-profit organization using the positive power of sport to tackle society's most pressing challenges in the United States, announced the winning organizations that will join the Laureus Model City Initiative to help improve the lives of New Orleans youth through sport.
Laureus USA will provide grants and services made possible by national patron Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) to several youth development organizations.
In September, Laureus USA announced the formation of the inaugural Laureus Model City Initiative through a Request for Proposal process for sport for development organizations in New Orleans. The Laureus Model City Initiative is long-term approach to shine a spotlight on New Orleans as a gold standard city that fully embraces sport as a tool for social change. This initiative aligns stakeholders around a shared agenda and is creating a framework to effectively work together to achieve collective impact. Through the Laureus Model City Initiative, the foundation is providing seven local organizations with a three-year grant and ongoing support from the organization. The grants will be awarded in January to the select organizations, helping them to strengthen their operation and program capacity thereby improving youth outcomes.
Laureus World Sports Academy Chairman Edwin Moses congratulated project leaders from these local sports for development organizations. “It is with great pleasure that I welcome the strongest sport for development organizations in New Orleans to the Laureus family. We’re proud to provide grants and services to these organizations in an effort to create sustainable change within the community” said Moses.
The Laureus Model City Initiative is an innovative way to create collective impact, and is a part of an ongoing effort from MBUSA and Laureus USA to give back to the New Orleans community. Over the past decade, MBUSA has worked to improve New Orleans’ infrastructure and offer philanthropic support to the community since Hurricane Katrina. MBUSA also has supported Laureus USA’s nationwide initiative to help provide safe afterschool activities in cities across the country with New Orleans at the forefront. Over the course of 2012-2014, Laureus has invested $1M into the community; supporting Up2Us' training and placing of 114 coaches in NOLA.
“On behalf of Laureus USA, I want to thank Mercedes-Benz USA for making The Laureus Model City Initiative become a reality. It is an honor to be supported by a company that shares the same passion as we do in helping to improve and better the lives of the youth in New Orleans” said Edwin Moses.
