Array of pro sports teams kickoff youth benefit initiative in KC
October 18, 2016 | Meghan LeVota
Kansas City is serving as a hub for a national sports initiative that will host a handful of professional teams hoping to help young people around the U.S.
Kicking off Friday, Play for Tomorrow — the brainchild of Kauffman Fellow Pankaj Sood — will feature seven professional sports teams from North America, including the Kansas City Royals.
Expecting to draw hundreds of people from Kansas City, Toronto and Palo Alto, the event will offer local attendees a chance to network with representatives from the Kansas City Royals. Other locations’ participants will interact with those from Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, San Francisco 49ers, San Francisco Giants, San Jose Sharks, Canadian Football League and Toronto Argonauts.
Sood, now director of Toronto-based iBoost, synced up with the Kauffman Foundation and the Palo Alto-based nonprofit StartX to create a multi-city initiative that and aims to leverage the power of sports to create social change in communities. Spanning from Oct. 21 to 23, the event will showcase industry speakers, sport and community panelists with the goal to reshape youth development via emerging technology.
The panels will be located at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City will be simulcast to the Toronto and Palo Alto locations, but each city will host their own hackathon.
“Like our foundation’s founder, Ewing Kauffman, we believe that real change happens when everyone is working together to solve a problem,” Kauffman Foundation CEO Wendy Guillies said in a release. “This unique event is designed to bring together entrepreneurs, community members and our youth to create innovative solutions.”
Here are some of the Kansas City events:
- Sports as an Effective Vehicle for Change Panel — Mark Donovan, president of the Kansas City Chiefs, speaks, will be one of many to speak on the importance of sports and education.
- Overview of Community & Youth Development Initiatives including Potential Opportunities — a panel focused on Kansas City specific problems.
- Intro to Design Thinking — a workshop session hosted by the Stanford Centre for Design research.
- Hackathon — participants will be assigned into teams and tackle problems related to urban youth and sports. With prize money on the line, each team will pitch their solution on Sunday.
Featured Business
2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
KC’s first innovation officer reflects on work, city’s tech future
After more than two years of service, Ashley Hand is leaving the driver’s seat of Kansas City’s innovation efforts. Hand, who soon will be departing as Kansas City’s chief innovation officer, was tasked with implementing innovative strategies to improve how city government can better serve Kansas Citians. The city will be accepting applications for the…
Welcome to Startland News
Scrappy. Determined. Gritty. Those often were the words attributed to the Kansas City Royals as the team unexpectedly surged into the 2014 World Series and captured the national spotlight. Those very words are apt for this city, which has been built on the grit and determination of successful entrepreneurs like Ewing Kauffman, Joyce Hall, Henry…
Kansas budget woes render uncertainty for angel tax credits
As state budgetary concerns loom in the background, early-stage firms in Kansas are hoping a bill to extend the Sunflower State’s Angel Investor Tax Credit program will become a priority for legislators. Scheduled to sunset after the 2016 fiscal year, the program annually allocates $6 million in credits to entice investments in early-stage, growth-oriented companies…
KC virtual reality firm partners with KU, NFL coaches
A Kansas City-based virtual reality company hopes some marquee partnerships will plug it into a market projected to reach $150 billion in five years. Founded in 2013, Eon Sports VR recently landed the University of Kansas football team as a client for its mobile virtual reality platform to help players train without the risk of…