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The sixth annual Sports Humanitarian Awards, sponsored
by Bristol-Myers Squibb,
is a celebration of the impact made by athletes, teams
and sports industry professionals who are using sports to
make a difference in their communities and throughout the
world. This year, the Sports Humanitarian Awards will
combine with The 2020 ESPYS Presented by
Capitol One for an inspirational evening that showcases
the true power of sports. The show will air on June 21 on
ESPN at 9 p.m. ET.
The Sports Humanitarian Awards will feature its honorees as
part of The 2020 ESPYS including the recipients of
the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award presented by Dove
Men+Care, the Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award
presented by Anthem Foundation, the League Humanitarian
Leadership Award and the Sports Humanitarian Team Award. The
Sports Humanitarian Awards will present five additional
honors in ESPN studio shows the week leading up to the ESPYS.
“ESPN recognizes that this year more than ever, athletes,
teams and leagues have been leading the way in responding to
the needs of communities across the country and the world,”
said Kevin Martinez, vice president of ESPN Corporate
Citizenship. “For six years, ESPN has been honored to
telecast the Sports Humanitarian Awards, which highlights
the impact that sports has to create social change, and
we’re excited to carry that narrative through the ESPYS and
our other platforms.”
This year’s nominees include (see below for descriptions on
each award and finalist):
-
Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award
presented by Dove Men+Care finalists:
Nelson Cruz (MLB’s Minnesota Twins), Kevin Love (NBA’s
Cleveland Cavaliers), Devin and Jason McCourty (NFL’s
New England Patriots), Maya Moore (WNBA’s Minnesota
Lynx) and Titus O’Neil (WWE Superstar)
-
Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year finalists:
Denver Broncos (NFL), Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB), New
York City FC (MLS) and Sacramento Kings (NBA)
-
Corporate Community Impact Award finalists:
Anthem Foundation, Burton Snowboards, Nike and the Peach
Bowl
The Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award recipients
will be announced the week of June 15, as will the recipient
of a new honor,
the Sports Philanthropist of the Year Award,
which celebrates someone that is creating measurable social
change through sports by using a comprehensive philanthropic
funding strategy.
The Awards will once again benefit the
Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
at the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Additionally, ESPN
will donate more than
$1 million in charitable contributions on behalf of the award nominees and
honorees. To date, $9.8 million has been donated to the
community on behalf of the Sports Humanitarian Awards.
Multiple sports leagues and/or governing bodies including
MLB, MLS, NBA, WNBA, NFL, NHL, UFC, USTA and WWE are
sponsors of the Sports Humanitarian Awards and have
nominated athletes, teams and corporations who are
transforming lives and uplifting communities.
The finalists and winners have been determined by an
independent selection committee, which includes: Nick
Keller, Founder and President of Beyond Sport; Donald
Lassere, CEO of the Muhammad Ali Center; Benita Fitzgerald
Mosley, Olympic Gold Medalist, CEO and Sports Strategist;
Sab Singh, Founder of Sports Doing Good and Professor of
Sport Management at Farmingdale State College; Caryl Stern,
Executive Director of the Walton Family Foundation; and Eli
Wolff, Director of the Power of Sport Lab.
Below are the award descriptions, as well as details about
the nominees and honorees for the 2020
Sports Humanitarian Awards.
MUHAMMAD ALI
SPORTS HUMANITARIAN AWARD
presented by Dove Men+Care
The Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award is
given to an athlete whose continuous, demonstrated
leadership has created a measured positive impact on their
community through sports. The candidate must embrace the
core principles that Muhammad Ali embodied so well,
including confidence, conviction, dedication, giving and
respect. The winner will be able to direct a $100,000 grant
from ESPN to the qualified charity related to the
award-winning humanitarian efforts. The finalists will
be able to direct a $25,000 grant to the charity related to
their award-winning efforts.
All nominees will be featured in ESPN studio shows the week
of June 15. The winner will be announced during The 2020
ESPYS on June 21.
Nelson Cruz, Minnesota Twins
Six-time MLB All-Star Nelson Cruz has completely transformed
the safety and welfare of his hometown (Las Matas De Santa
Cruz) in the Dominican Republic. Thanks to Cruz, the town
has a fire engine and an ambulance to treat and transport
people to the hospital, which is nearly one hour away. He
built a new police station to replace the plywood shack
structure and donated a motorcycle for the police officers,
who previously had to walk. Annually, Cruz brings dentists
and optometrists to his hometown’s local clinic to provide
checkups, medicine and eyewear. His health event with
volunteer doctors, and donated equipment and medicine,
enabled more than 1,200 people to be evaluated and treated.
He has purchased wheelchairs, crutches, walkers and canes
for elderly and disabled residents. Cruz’s Boomstick23
Foundation also has laid the groundwork for a new education
and technical center to help young people learn how to
advance their employability by learning trades such as
carpentry or electrical, and how to better use farmland to
produce crops. Additionally, his Healing Venezuela
initiative helps 2,000 Venezuelan newborns annually receive
life-sustaining nourishment during their first year (a 400%
increase since Cruz became involved).
Kevin Love, Cleveland Cavaliers
After publicly sharing his own battle with anxiety and
depression, Kevin Love has committed to normalizing the
conversation around mental health. As soon as Love bravely
used his voice, he inspired others to follow suit, sharing
their own struggles as well. Teammates and fans responded
with words of support and encouragement. He regularly
engages with children who suffer from depression and anxiety
and find encouragement in his story. Through the Kevin Love
Fund (KLF), he’s developing an education curriculum designed
to destigmatize challenges with mental health and to model
the presence of emotion as an important dimension of the
human experience, with a goal of reaching millions of
students. The KLF also is endowing a Research Chair at UCLA
that will empower eminent UCLA psychologists working to
revolutionize treatments for anxiety and depression and give
hope to millions of sufferers around the world.
Devin and Jason McCourty, New England
Patriots
The McCourty twins feel strongly that too many kids with
great potential get stuck with juvenile records at a very
young age. In many cases, this marks the children for
failure later on in life. Devin has been a passionate
advocate for criminal justice reform at the Massachusetts
State House. Thanks to his leadership, Massachusetts
Governor Charlie Baker signed a bill to increase the age at
which children can be charged in juvenile court from 7-years
old to 12-years old. When his brother Jason joined the
Patriots, together they urged lawmakers to raise the age of
adult court jurisdiction from 18 to 19, a move that the bill
established a task force to study. They also are working
together to address disparities in educational funding.
Thanks to their leadership, the Massachusetts Legislature
passed a bill that will invest $1.5 billion in the
Massachusetts public education system over the next seven
years, focusing primarily on underfunded schools with
low-income students.
Maya Moore, Minnesota Lynx
One of the most decorated basketball players in the history
of the game, Maya Moore was the reigning WNBA All-Star Game
MVP and four-time WNBA champion when she stepped away from
the game in her prime to pursue finding justice for Jonathan
Irons, who as a minor in 1993 had been sentenced to 50 years
in prison for burglary and assault. Her story is one of
selfless dedication, faith and pursuit of truth. She made
the decision to use her platform to raise awareness for
Iron’s case and the need to entirely re-imagine what
“winning” means in our criminal justice system. She gave a
voice to the voiceless by speaking at schools and the
Congressional Black Caucus, joining The Marshall Project’s
panel What’s The Story, and launching a nationwide
petition through Change.org and her initiative, Win With
Justice, that gained over 125,000 signatures. Moore’s goal
was to gain freedom for Irons, and while Iron’s continues to
persevere through a multi-layered appeals process, she
recently achieved a huge milestone in that journey: his
conviction was recently overturned by a Jefferson City
judge, who claimed the initial convictions to be weak,
circumstantial and marked with inconsistencies.
Titus O’Neil, WWE Superstar
WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil is an accomplished athlete,
global entertainer and philanthropist. He grew up in
poverty, labeled a "bad kid" who would be dead or in jail by
the time he was 16. People invested in him when they had
nothing to gain in return. As a result, he graduated from
the University of Florida with academic and athletic
accolades. O’Neil has made it his mission to create change
for those in need. He supports thousands of individuals
through various nonprofits including Susan G. Komen, Boys &
Girls Clubs of America and Special Olympics. Through his
Bullard Family Foundation, in partnership with Hillsborough
County Public Schools, he’s transforming Sligh Middle Magnet
School and the surrounding area in Tampa, Fla. into an
innovative education and community hub to create lasting
generational change. This includes a first-class gym for
school staff, a multi-million-dollar track and turf field
for community health and wellness and a prosperity center
offering support services to lift families out of poverty.
SPORTS HUMANITARIAN TEAM
OF THE YEAR AWARD
The Sports Humanitarian Team Award
represents a sports club/team that demonstrates how teamwork
can create a measurable impact on a community or cause. The
winner will be able to direct a $100,000 grant from ESPN to
the qualified charity related to the award-winning humanitarian efforts.
The finalists will be able to direct a $25,000
grant to the charity related to their award-winning efforts.
All nominees will be featured in ESPN studio shows the week
of June 15. The winner will be announced during The 2020
ESPYS on June 21.
Denver Broncos
Under the leadership of President & CEO Joe Ellis, the
Denver Broncos are committed to a culture of service through
innovative programming with players, coaches, staff and
alumni. The Broncos are the only professional sports team to
fully fund its own branch of Boys & Girls Clubs of America,
giving more than 15,000 youth a home away from home since it
opened in 2003. Seventy-seven percent of those club members
earn mostly A’s and B’s in school with senior club members
graduating from high school at a rate 20% higher than the
local average. The Broncos also invest in Futures Football,
a spring tackle program for middle school students within
Denver and Aurora Public Schools. Fully funded by Denver
Broncos Charities, this program provides high school
coaching, updated equipment and on-going character
development training. Denver Public Schools has seen more
than a 25% increase in football participation since the
program’s inception. Broncos players are the most visible
part of the team’s charitable endeavors with 120 different
team members participating in voluntary community events in
2019 alone. Since 2017, Broncos’ player service hours have
increased by 79% to more than 1,750 hours across team and
personal initiatives.
Los Angeles Dodgers
In Los Angeles, one out of every five people lives at or
below the poverty line. The goal of the Los Angeles Dodgers
Foundation (LADF) is to be bigger than baseball, envisioning
a city where every Angeleno, regardless of zip code, has the
opportunity to thrive. Through direct programs and grants to
nonprofits, LADF tackles the most pressing problems facing
Los Angeles with a mission to improve education, health
care, homelessness, and social justice for all Angelenos.
Through Dodgers RBI, LADF has increased access to health
care and educational resources to over 10,000 youth, with a
specific emphasis on African American youth and girls. The
program helped 97% of the players, ages 9 to 18, succeed in
social-emotional learning development. Another key program,
the “Dodgers Reading Champions” online reading challenge of
LA Reads, has engaged 16,000 students across 1,075 schools,
enabling young readers to read a total of 1.5 million
minutes last year. Their Dodgers Dreamfields program has
helped to build or refurbish 51 baseball and softball fields
in underserved communities, providing 368,000 youth access
to safe, playable fields in their own neighborhoods. In
2019, LADF unveiled its second universally accessible
Dodgers Dreamfield helping over 3,000 youth with special
needs to safely play on an adaptive field.
New York City Football Club
New York City Football Club (NYCFC) together with its
foundation, City in the Community (CITC), delivers free
health and STEM education programs in over 80 public schools
and community-based organizations across New York City
serving over 5,000 youth annually. Their Saturday Night
Lights crime prevention program offers soccer during peak
crime hours, while also providing academic support and
college and career pathways. NYCFC also funds, trains and
inspires young leaders through its Youth Leadership Council
(YLC). Last year, YLC members created a summer program and
supported the training and development of community coaches.
In 2019, the Club opened nine mini-pitches, contributing to
the total of 29 pitches that they’ve built to date as part
of New York City Soccer Initiative (NYCSI). A
third-party study found
that CITC sees a $4.50 social return for every $1 invested
in programs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, CITC adapted core
programs to run virtually and helped donate over 143,000
meals to New York City communities in the South Bronx.
Sacramento Kings
After Sacramento was devastated by the tragic shooting of an
unarmed black man, Stephon Clark, by police in March 2018,
Sacramento Kings owner, Vivek Ranadivé heard the cries for
action and committed that the team would work alongside the
community to prevent future tragedies. The team created a
multi-year partnership with Build.Black., a coalition formed
to transform Black communities with deep investment in Black
youth. Over the last two years, Kings players and staff have
participated in youth healing forums, STEM education and
mentoring workshops, and a co-ed youth basketball league,
all focused on using sport as an agent for change. The Kings
also partnered with the Milwaukee Bucks to host Team Up for
Change, a first-of-its-kind, daylong summit designed to
address social justice issues. Together with Build.Black,
the team has held more than 40 events and hosted nearly
2,500 area youth associated with the coalition, transforming
the lives of countless youth across the city. The Kings also
visited Folsom State Prison to tip off a series of
basketball games and thoughtful conversations between
incarcerated persons, players and coaches aimed at breaking
down stigmas associated with individuals, disproportionately
people of color and the poor, who are impacted by the
criminal justice system.
CORPORATE COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD
The Corporate Community Impact Award
recognizes a corporation that utilizes their business
platform and the power of sports to help advance a social
issue, cause or community organization. The winner will be
able to direct a $100,000 grant from ESPN to the qualified
charity related to the award-winning humanitarian efforts.
The finalists will be able to direct a $25,000
grant to the charity related to their award-winning
efforts.
All nominees will be recognized during ESPN studio shows and
the winner will be announced the week of June 15.
Anthem Foundation
With one in three children overweight or obese in the United
States, the Anthem Foundation created the Anthem Health
Champion program in an effort to create greater public
awareness and funding for the pressing health challenges
faced by their customers and communities. The program, which
focuses on enabling healthy and active lifestyles, pediatric
cancer, empowerment of girls in sports, swim safety and
improving self-esteem and fitness, is working with sports’
most admired healthy role models to spread messaging on the
importance of staying active. Since its inception, they have
helped 16 million kids combat childhood obesity through the
holistic Triple Play program, put fitness centers in 66
elementary schools which ultimately has brought physical
fitness to more than 35,000 children, provided 3,500 at-risk
youth with water safety lessons and paired 100+ elite and
collegiate athletes with girls of color between to inspire
involvement in sports and in-person mentoring.
Burton Snowboards
In the United States there is a vulnerable segment of youth
who do not have access to outdoor opportunities, and
consequently limits their ability to access experiences
beyond their own challenging environments and step away from
their daily norms. The
Chill Foundation was
founded by the owners of Burton Snowboards, Donna Carpenter,
and the late Jake Burton Carpenter. Chill was created to
provide access to boardsports for youth who would not
otherwise have the opportunity, providing them year-round
programming to snowboarding, skateboarding, surfing, and
stand up paddleboarding lessons at no cost. The
youth-development program also addresses the inequalities
around access to boardsports, as well as the potential for
personal growth and development, while focusing on the
resiliency of the participants to help them transfer many of
their new skills and ideas to different circumstances they
may face. Through Chill, boardsports have become a vehicle
for self-empowerment and overcoming obstacles for more than
25,000 young people since the program started, impacting
3,000 youth in 16 cities across North America this year.
Nike
Nike believes all kids are made to play. The reality,
though, is that only one in five kids around the world gets
the physical activity they need to become healthier, happier
and more successful in and school and in life. The Nike
Community Ambassador program tackles this issue by giving
Nike store employees around the world the opportunity to
share their love of sport with the next generation. Last
year more than 5,400 store employees in 24 countries served
as Nike Community Ambassadors, volunteering as coaches in
their local communities to help get kids playing so they can
reach their full potential.
Peach Bowl, Inc.
Only 4% of National Institutes of Health
federal funding for cancer research each year benefits
childhood cancer according to the National Pediatric
Cancer Foundation, making it nearly impossible to launch
clinical trials that will create new cancer drugs and
treatment options for kids. To address this need, Peach
Bowl, Inc. announced a $20 million gift to the Aflac
Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s
Healthcare of Atlanta to create the Peach Bowl LegACy
Fund, named in honor of Anna Charles “AC” Hollis,
daughter of a Peach Bowl, Inc. employee who died after a
courageous five-month fight with the disease. The fund
is dedicated to ensuring novel, high-priority cancer
drugs, devices and treatment strategies can be tested in
patients at an accelerated pace. In 2019, the Peach Bowl
LegACy Fund announced the first five new clinical trials
led by oncologists at the Aflac Cancer Center.
Additionally, the annual Peach Bowl Touchdowns for
Children’s has inspired college football fans to
help tackle cancer by pledging donations for every
touchdown scored by their favorite team during the
season. Peach Bowl, Inc. matches every dollar raised by
fans throughout the entire college football season,
which culminated in a record $518,922 additional gift
following the 2019 season.
At the 2019 Sports Humanitarian Awards, the following
individuals, teams and organizations were recognized:
-
Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian
Award Winner: Chris Long (Retired NFL Player)
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League Humanitarian Leadership
Award Winner: National Hockey League
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Sports Humanitarian Team of the
Year Winner: Chicago Fire Soccer Club
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Corporate Community Impact Award Winner:
Under Armour
-
Sports Sustainability Leadership
Award Winner: adidas
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Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award
Presented by Anthem Foundation Winners: Harrison Barnes,
Matthew Diaz, Lisa Parks and Yasmine Sanchez
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Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award Presented by
UFC Honoree: Lina Khalifeh
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Stuart Scott ENSPIRE Award Presented by
Bristol-Myers Squibb Honoree: Tyler Trent
About ESPN Corporate Citizenship
ESPN believes that, at its very best, sports
uplifts the human spirit. Its corporate citizenship programs
use power of sport to positively address society’s needs
through strategic community investments, cause marketing
programs, collaboration with sports organizations and
employee volunteerism, while also utilizing its diverse
media assets. For more information go to www.espn.com/citizenship.
About Bristol-Myers Squibb
Bristol Myers Squibb is a global
biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover,
develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients
prevail over serious diseases. For more information about
Bristol-Myers Squibb, visit us at BMS.com or
follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
Celgene and Juno Therapeutics are wholly owned subsidiaries
of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. In certain countries
outside the U.S., due to local laws, Celgene and Juno
Therapeutics are referred to as, Celgene, a Bristol-Myers
Squibb Company and Juno Therapeutics, a Bristol-Myers Squibb
Company.
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