A year ago, the NBA’s Board of Governors and the National Basketball Players Association joined forces to create the first-ever NBA Foundation. Our mission is to drive economic opportunity in the Black community through employment and career development by funding programs that generate successful transitions from school to meaningful employment for Black youth. The genesis of this bold move into philanthropy grew out of the league’s stakeholders recognizing that the NBA had a responsibility to take meaningful action illuminated by the country’s growing recognition of the systemic inequities facing under-resourced Black communities that were made plain by the tragic murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and countless others.
I could proudly use this post to highlight the NBA Foundation’s accomplishments since last January when my team and I first began leading the organization in earnest — $11M granted to date; 40 grantees (30 local and 10 national); funds awarded to some of the nation’s best programs focused on advancing workforce development, education and entrepreneurship outcomes for Black youth. However, in my view, the Foundation’s greatest accomplishment to date are the number and quality of courageous conversations about issues related to race and social justice that our work has sparked with people from all walks of life who are looking for tangible ways to make this country more equitable and just for all.
Over the past year, my team and I have spent much of our time facilitating genuine conversations about race and social justice with NBA players, governors, league and team staff members, potential grantees, and leaders in business and philanthropy — essentially anyone that is interested in learning more about the Foundation’s explicit goal to improve the economic future for Black youth. Most of these conversations sheepishly start out with the same question, “why is the NBA Foundation specifically focused on Black youth?” My response is often with basic data about the racial wealth gap – pointing to statistics about Black families holding approximately 15% of the wealth held by white families (Federal Reserve survey 2019) or how the systemic racism embedded in under-performing schools or limited access to quality healthcare predictably results in disproportionately poor life outcomes for Black youth and their families. Invariably, the second question I am asked is “… but what can the NBA really do about these issues?” My retort is consistently the same each time. “A lot.”
To be clear, there is no pattern to be associated with who is or is not asking these questions. Rather, what I have observed is that everyone is interested in the steps we’ve taken — given the NBA’s powerful brand position – to conceive our social justice agenda and put it into action. Almost always my answer is “we are having courageous conversations about race and social justice issues at every level of the company.”
In my experience, courageous conversations about race and social justice start with truth: truth about past injustice; truth about how systems designed to help people live more fair and equitable lives have systematically often been underinvested in and therefore delivered the opposite of what they promised; truth about how power and privilege operate – who has it, how it is experienced by those who do not, how is it maintained.
Courageous conversations must also focus on action that results in enduring change with the caveat that those most impacted by inequity must play an essential role in defining the actions that will improve their lives. People and institutions must boldly challenge the status quo, recognizing that the widely accepted way of life, consciously and perhaps more powerfully unconsciously, benefits some while consistently harming others.
I believe that every powerful action begins with a small conversation. I call these intimate conversations “courageous” because making a genuine effort to understand the lived experience of another person starts with challenging your own deeply held assumptions which, if done honestly, is truly a scary proposition. Transforming this empathy into action to catalyze and scale lasting change requires a unique mix of power, presence and resources that precious few institutions possess. This is why, for me personally, the creation of the NBA Foundation is such a significant accomplishment. It represents the establishment of an enduring institution created for the express purpose of improving the lives of Black youth. As someone who was a part of the creation of the Foundation, I can assure you that the conversations described here continue to take place every day.
Let me end with a call to action, a call for more courageous conversations in the places where we live, work or worship. I sincerely believe that the future of our country depends on this small but powerful act. Here are some ways to get started:
Learn about your community. Visit places you do not typically frequent; learn about your community’s history; join a nonprofit organization; make efforts to meet people other than your traditional friend group.
Meet people where they are. Seek out and get to know people who come from different cultural or ethnic backgrounds than yours; lead with a desire to better understand the viewpoints of people that you are less familiar with and where those views come from.
Discuss easy to understand data about disparities. Identify and research an issue facing your community; discuss the issue from various viewpoints; learn how similarly and differently people are impacted by how the issue is positioned in the media, amongst your friends, etc.
Finally, I want to thank the NBA Foundation’s Board of Directors for entrusting me to help steward the NBA Foundation. I know the league and its players have a tremendous history of leadership and activism around social justice and civil rights issues. I view establishing the NBA Foundation as the latest addition to this ongoing legacy. We have done much in a year. Stay tuned. There is a lot more to do.
Greg
