The George Washington School of Business will tackle the growing sports philanthropy world with an inaugural certificate program geared toward career professionals.
Enrolled students will take online courses from May through September that teach the mechanics of harnessing the power of professional sports and athletes to achieve a long-term and sustainable philanthropic impact.
Additionally, they will attend a two-day residency experience beginning today with the Eagles Youth Partnership (EYP), the Philadelphia Eagles’ nonprofit that serves more than 50,000 children.
“We are thrilled to provide such a unique opportunity to our students,” said Alisha Greenberg, director of the GW program, who has worked with the Sports Philanthropy Project, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition and the Steve Nash Foundation, among others.
“We believe students will truly find value in working with the industry experts who will be teaching the classes and will learn firsthand how businesses can use sports for social good,” she added.
The program is tailored to the schedules of professionals who work with professional sports teams, leagues, athletes, foundations and sport companies with a focus on corporate responsibility and who would like to become more effective in the field.
Students will complete four core courses on 12 topics led by industry leaders that will cover mission and strategy, execution and evaluation, recognition and risk and sustainability.
Among those teaching the courses are the LIVESTRONG Foundation Executive Vice President of Operations Andy Miller, the New York Mets Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships Catherine Marquette and Eagles Youth Partnership Executive Director Sarah Martinez-Helfman.
EYP focuses on health and education resource for youth in the greater Philadelphia area. In addition to tying the excitement associated with the NFL and the celebrity of Eagles football players to philanthropic initiatives through programs such as Eagles Eye Mobile and Eagles Book Mobile, they also partner with local nonprofits to produce youth-oriented programming.
"Sports and sports teams can be a unifying force in a community and they can be an engine and catalyst for good, but it doesn’t happen without a solid game plan,” said Ms. Martinez-Helfman. “This course in sport philanthropy will help well-meaning people turn good intention into real impact.”
This is the inaugural launch of the certificate program through GWSB. A course description and a list of participating faculty are available online.