PALM BEACH, Fla. – When the NFL launched its Inspire Change program in 2017, the goal was to reach $250 million over 10 years in its commitment to social justice initiatives. The league is almost five years ahead of schedule.
At the owners meetings Monday, the NFL announced that Inspire Change has eclipsed $237 million toward this commitment, up from $180 million revealed in December. That increase includes additional league funding as well as team and ownership efforts not yet tallied through the end of the 2021 league year.
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“We didn't realize we could be this close this soon,” Anna Isaacson, the NFL's senior vice president of social responsibility, said of the original $250 million target. "But it doesn't surprise me.
“The vast majority of the funds are from the 32 clubs and the commitment they have made. And it's not like we're going to stop at $250 million. We will keep going and it's a testament to that hard work and commitment.”
The money has gone to nonprofits and hundreds of grassroot organizations nationwide.
Inspire Change is built on four pillars: education, economic advancement, police-community relations, and criminal justice reform. Most recently, four organizations — Year Up, Wall Street Bound, Free Minds Book Club, and Get Schooled — received grants.
That the program has reached nearly a quarter-billion dollars when the COVID-19 pandemic impacted everyone is noteworthy.
“We didn't use the moment in time to step away,” Isaacson says. “We knew that this is a time to show responsibility, and 2020 was a banner year for community responsibility and commitment.”
Two of the focal points of Inspire Change, social justice and the digital divide, are still evolving.
“We've learned a lot, but the learning is never done,” she notes. "The more experience we get and confidence to know what we should be doing, the more of a commitment we have to keep going.
“The first few years we were listening and learning and figuring where should the NFL put its stake down in general, where should we dig in?”
During the pandemic, the league has dug in by trying to bridge the digital divide, providing opportunities for students who didn't have access to the technology so necessary in the education process.
“The access to tech and to fill that homework gap,” Isaacson explains, “we went in and focused under the education pillar. This has become an area we know what we are doing in now and the doors are open for us to do more.”
Staying power is essential for the program — and for any challenge, really.
“We have a societal responsibility because of who we are,” Isaacson says. “We understand that and we embrace it. We need to be consistent in this over time, not swoop in, put on a Band-Aid, and get out.”
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