Laureus Sport For Good Index:
Honourees

Adidas’ work to improve gender equity in sport centres on its Adidas Breaking Barriers Project, through which the global sportswear giant supports 15 non-profits that are aiming to foster a safer environment for women and girls.

Working collaboratively with organisations like Common Goal, Women Win and Soccer Without Borders, Adidas provides leadership training to over 100 local role models and coaches with a view to positively influencing the lives of 50,000 people. The project encompasses a learning hub and an online educational platform comprising webinars, events and resources, a volunteer and mentorship programme delivered by Adidas employees, and an innovation lab designed to support women-led or women-focused startups.

Monitored and evaluated through qualitative and quantitative measures such as impact surveys, the project has reached some 23,000 bene􀂦ciaries to date. A partnership with research and technology company Substance has also been struck to measure the wider social impact using Social Return on Investment (SROI) modelling, while in May of this year a project white paper, based on a pan-European study assessing current barriers to sport for women and girls, outlined actions for sports industry stakeholders to address the challenges at hand.

Allbirds has committed to reversing climate change through better business, which has seen it identify regenerative agriculture, renewable materials and responsible energy as three strategic priorities to support its goal. Having been carbon neutral since 2019, the footwear and apparel brand also plans to cut its carbon emissions in half, per unit of product produced, by the end of 2025.

Further efforts include a collaboration with Adidas, another entry in this year’s Index, which saw the pair unveil the co-designed ‘Futurecraft.Footprint’ trainers last year. The shoes were hailed as the most sustainable in the world, boasting a carbon footprint of only 2.94kg of CO2 emissions per pair, compared to between 10kg and 15kg for typical Adidas trainers.

As well as footwear, Allbirds has produced a running apparel collection that consists of tree fibre, wool and recycled synthetics. Finding a natural or recycled alternative to elastane remains a priority for the company.

German insurer Allianz is using its investments in sport to support broader ESG objectives. Improving diversity and inclusion is a particular focus for the business, with its ‘All Are United’ initiative having been expanded this year to promote a fundraiser campaign launched by the United Nations to support women and girls fleeing the Ukraine war. Promotional activities centred around FC Bayern’s home match against Paris Saint-Germain in the Uefa Women’s Champions League in March – the side’s first-ever fixture staged at Munich’s Allianz Arena.

Elsewhere, through its partnership with England Rugby, Allianz helps fund and promote the national women’s team, the Red Roses, as well as serving as the title partner of the women’s domestic league. It also supports Inner Warrior, a grassroots programme which encourages women and girls to take up rugby through podcasts and other content.

Allianz’s UK sports partnerships are further supported by the Allianz Sports Fund, which donates UK£100,000 per year to grassroots sports clubs. In 2022, the company has focused specifically on disability and inclusion, with UK£50,000 donated to clubs looking to increase diversity or make adaptations to enable more people to get involved.

Since pledging to equalise its media spend across women’s and men’s sport by 2027, Ally Financial has become one of the most visible investors in women’s sport in North America.

Ally gained significant publicity in August last year when it increased its media investment with National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) broadcaster CBS to ensure that the competition’s championship game would be shown during primetime for the first time ever. That move met the objectives of the financial services company’s ‘Watch the Game, Change the Game’ campaign, which seeks to encourage viewership of women’s sport.  

Since then, Ally has signed a multimillion-dollar deal with the Walt Disney Company that ensures 90 per cent of its media investment goes towards women’s properties, bought advertising from female-focused media platforms like Just Women’s Sports, The Gist and Women’s Sports Network, and teamed up with Sports Innovation Lab to create the Women’s Sports Club, a network of women’s sport stakeholders committed to increasing deal-making in the sector. 

After the first year of Ally’s 50/50 pledge, the company has increased its investment in women’s sport by 300 per cent, meaning its media spend has gone from a 90/10 men-women split to approximately 60/40 in 12 months. 

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Founded in 1989 by a group of local climbers, Canadian outdoor apparel and equipment brand Arc’teryx is now at the forefront of increasing access to climbing.  

 The past five years have seen Arc’teryx invest CAN$600,000 in community-led climbing organisations and professional-adjacent clubs in markets such as Toronto, San Francisco, Chicago and New York. Backed by more than 1,000 employees and with over 3,000 retail locations worldwide, the North Vancouver-headquartered company is doubling down on that support, announcing in September 2022 that it plans to invest another CAN$5 million over the next five years through its NextGen Climb Commitment, whose funding benefits newcomers to the sport and others at the semi-pro and elite level. 

Organisations that will continue to feel the support of the initiative include Flash Foxy, whose mission is to provide female and non-binary climbers a safe space to pursue their interest in the sport, along with Colour the Trails and Brown Girl Outdoor World. At the elite level, Arc’teryx sponsors Climbing Escalade Canada, the sport’s national governing body.  

A first-time Laureus Sport for Good Index honouree, the company’s other social responsibility work spans providing complimentary passes to gyms, putting on free climb nights for marginalised communities, and ensuring fair labour practices across its supply chain.

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Over 90 per cent of Asics’ running shoes produced in 2021 and 2022 contained recycled material. As it bids to become a more sustainable brand, the Japanese sportswear manufacturer also replaced 30 per cent of conventional polyester materials with recycled polyester in its products.

Having launched its Banner to Bag project, which recycled banners into bags, the company is an active advocate for sustainable solutions. For the 2021 financial year, Asics reduced CO2 emissions by 28 per cent from the company’s general operations.

Alongside the brand’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, Asics is also a supporter of gender equity, with 33.7 per cent of its managerial positions currently held by women. In June 2021, Asics released the Asics group Modern Slavery and Transparency Statement in accordance with the modern slavery acts of the UK, Australia and the US.

Last year, more than 100,000 youths were involved in Right To Play programmes supported by the company. Launched alongside the Right To Play charity, the initiative aims to bring sport to deprived communities across the world.

AT&T is a long-time investor in various leagues and teams, but the telecommunications giant has been concentrating its recent efforts on improving access to, increasing representation of and deepening investment in women’s sport.  

At the heart of that is the company’s She’s Connected content series, which spotlights female sports stars who have off-field careers or engage in philanthropic endeavours. Among those to have featured in the last 12 months are 2023 WNBA Finals MVP A’ja Wilson and USWNT forward Mallory Swanson, while retired basketball player Sue Bird and golfer Maria Fassi have participated since the campaign’s inception in 2020. The third iteration of the series includes a contest giving a female-owned small business the opportunity to win US$20,000 and feature in a She’s Connected episode. 

In addition, this year saw AT&T prolong its decade-long sponsorship deal with US Soccer, which means it will continue to support the national governing body’s SheBelieves platform, while it will also work with the federation on a new initiative celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.  

AT&T’s corporate sustainability efforts are being accelerated, too, with 75 per cent of open positions and 69 per cent of internal promotions in 2022 awarded to women and/or people of colour.

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Returning to the Laureus Sport for Good Index for a third consecutive year, female-focused performance lifestyle brand Athleta continues to live up to its mission of igniting a community of active, healthy, confident women and girls. 

The Gap-owned company’s devotion to gender equality manifests itself in the Power of She Fund which, since launching in 2020, has committed US$2 million in grants to organisations focused on female empowerment, impacting over 49,000 women and girls in the process. 

Last year, the fund spread grants across three areas, including a childcare initiative set up by Allyson Felix, the first sports star sponsored by Athleta, to provide athletes who are mothers with free childcare resources. Funding was also given to organisations working to get women and girls more active and others committed to making fitness more inclusive.  

The impact of Athleta’s social responsibility efforts is only set to grow after launching The Power of She Collective, a network of female athletes who will influence the company’s performance product, access personal and professional mentorship opportunities, and participate in the brand’s community initiatives.  

That announcement in March coincided with news of a US$175,000 donation from the Power of She Fund to the Women’s Sports Foundation.

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Perhaps best known for its ties to its hometown Bundesliga soccer club in Leverkusen, pharmaceuticals firm Bayer has a deep-rooted history of encouraging its own staff and the wider community to stay active.  

Bayer’s first sports club was established at the start of the 20th century by employees who simply wanted to make good use of their leisure time. That legacy remains strong today, with the German company now funding 22 sports clubs across Leverkusen, Dormagen, Krefeld-Uerdingen and Wuppertal, which cumulatively boast around 47,000 members and offer activities at recreational, club and elite levels.  

A sponsor of Germany’s National Paralympic Committee (DBS) since the turn of the millennium, Bayer also has a long-running commitment to raising the profile and improving the perception of disability sports. In 1950, it founded the TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen Disabled Sports Department which, with about 300 members, has grown to become one of the largest disabled sports clubs in Germany. 

Those efforts are not only inspiring more disabled people to participate in sport, but also delivering success for Germany on the international stage. Bayer-supported athletes have won some 90 medals at the Paralympic Games and have also competed at world and European championships.

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Clif Bar has made several environmental commitments, including using 100 per cent sustainable packaging by 2025 and removing or offsetting additional carbon emissions. Last year marked the US-based food and beverage brand’s 19th year of climate-neutral business operations and its partnership with American Forests aims to plant one million trees by 2025.

Clif Bar also encourages its staff to get involved with good causes, resulting in workers volunteering 8,058 hours in 2021. The company itself has donated more than US$6.2 million to non-profit partners and US$17.5 million worth of products to food banks, disaster relief efforts and community organisations.

The onset of Covid-19 saw Clif Bar take on further responsibility, working to protect migrant, immigrant, refugee and food and farmer communities across the US and Puerto Rico from the pandemic, in addition to reducing health inequities. That sits alongside continued work with the Indian Youth Group, which supports LGBTQ+ youth and people experiencing homelessness, and the Brown Girl Surf Foundation, which increases surfing accessibility for women of colour.

With a dedicated team of more than 50 motorsport specialists, DHL handles the logistics requirements for globe-trotting championships including Formula One and Formula E. Its chief focus is on reducing those series’ environmental impact and helping them achieve their sustainability goals through initiatives like the introduction of biofueled trucks, redesigned freight containers compatible with more sustainable modes of transportation, and logistics network optimisation. 

In partnership with Formula E, DHL’s ‘Together Green Award’ recognises sustainability champions from all over the world and is supported by a legacy programme that includes tree planting, community engagement, and promoting gender equality through FIA Girls on Track. One creative activation at the Mexico E-Prix saw the creation of a ‘carbon-eating mural’ in the centre of the city using photocatalytic paint that can sanitise air and eliminate toxic or harmful substances, helping to offset the carbon emissions from the equivalent of 28 cars over a six-month period. 

As further evidence of its ESG commitments, DHL Group’s Sustainability Roadmap includes a €7 billion investment in clean logistics operations with the goal of reducing emissions from 33 million tonnes in 2020 to under 29 million tonnes by 2030. The company also plans to electrify 60 per cent of its last-mile delivery vehicles and deploy more than 80,000 e-vehicles on the road within the same timeframe.

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US retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods has partnered with numerous organisations to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in sport, including the Beyond Sport Foundation, the US Soccer Foundation, Under Armour and Brooks Running. In 2021, the company invested over US$35 million to support under-resourced youth athletes, with US$6 million donated through its Sports Matter community grant programme to help families cover registration fees required for sports participation.

In recognition of the financial challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, Dick’s Sporting Goods invested over US$20 million to help kids return to sport. One such initiative, titled the Sports Matter Giving Truck tour, saw equipment provided to 25,000 children and 96 organisations in 24 US cities, with a girls-themed tour distributing sports bras to those in need.

Named the first official sporting goods retail partner of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) in 2021, the Pittsburgh-based retailer is now working with the league to develop community programmes aimed at boosting the promotion of women’s sports, youth participation and player development.

DXC Technology is focused on providing technology education for the next generation, leveraging its role as the official digital transformation partner of Manchester United to deliver workshops and game day activities for young people. 

The global IT services firm provides opportunities for students through its Digital Futures Academy, an educational programme that uses a curriculum co-created by its technology experts, alongside Manchester United Foundation and local teacher advisory groups. Fifty students aged between 12 and 13 years old are part of the first wave of the programme, which will see them learn vital technology skills over the next four years. 

As well as educating young people, Virginia-based DXC is committed to improving societal outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities through its First Nations Program. Through this initiative, the company collaborates with indigenous communities and partners to co-design initiatives in education, business, employment and community engagement. 

As part of its broader ESG commitments, DXC has also made significant investments in indigenous businesses, as well as coordinating the donation of hundreds of technology devices to schools and communities. Additionally, the company has invested US$25 million in mental health research and neurodiversity as it aims to foster an inclusive, high-impact culture.

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Video game publisher EA SPORTS recently announced a new initiative called FC FUTURES, a plan to meaningfully invest in community-level soccer on a global scale with the purpose of growing the game for all. The plan will see investments over the next three years across multiple grassroots projects and follows EA SPORTS’ new brand identity, logo and vision reveal for its new game, EA SPORTS FC. 

Additionally, in the last year, EA SPORTS announced several initiatives dedicated to championing the women’s soccer community and growing the game both on and off the pitch. EA SPORTS unveiled the ‘Starting XI Fund’, an accelerator fund through which EA SPORTS has committed US$11 million, which will incorporate in-game, league, club and athlete investments to continue elevating the women’s game.  

EA SPORTS also announced that, beginning this year, it will fund a women’s soccer internship programme with each new and existing women’s league partner, designed to inspire and empower young females from diverse backgrounds to become involved in the world of soccer. 

EA SPORTS’ commitment to social change also extends to representation through the EA Madden Scholarship programme. To date, the company has committed US$2.5 million to the programme, which was created in partnership with the United Negro College Fund and awards 24 scholarships through historically Black colleges and universities in the US, with scholars receiving mentoring and consideration for new graduate roles at EA. 

Sustainability is at the forefront of Ecotricity’s operation. The British energy supplier provides green electricity to its customers, of which 20 per cent is produced by the company, and the remaining 80 per cent comes from other green generators. The company has set the ambitious goal of becoming a zero-carbon organisation by 2025.

Ecotricity partners with and powers more than 200 charities and organisations such as Forest Green Rovers, which is recognised by both Fifa and the United Nations as the world’s greenest soccer club. The Gloucestershire-based company will build the team’s new training facility at Eco Park, to be used by its women’s, youth and academy teams. The energy firm has also published its own ‘Ecotricity Guide to Going Green’, advising businesses on how to become more sustainable, and has started building free gas mills which utilise grass cuttings to create gas.

Multinational utility company Engie is a longstanding supporter of tennis in its native France and currently sponsors multiple International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournaments held in the country. Many Engie-supported events, including nine which carry the name Engie Open, are accompanied by workshops designed to raise awareness of renewable energy among young people, while the company also operates free online courses that provide education around sustainable development. 

Through its Engie Foundation, the company supports charities such as Yannick Noah’s Fête le Mur, offering opportunities for young people to get involved at tournaments as ball kids, watch matches and play tennis. Such initiatives feed into Engie’s wider commitment to help vulnerable people by supporting projects that promote inclusion through culture, education, health and sport. 

Elsewhere Engie also uses its long-running alignment with kitesurfing – a sport which uses a renewable energy in the form of wind – to amplify its message and accelerate the transition towards a carbon-neutral economy through more environmentally-friendly solutions. At each stage of this year’s Engie Kite Tour, the company has teamed up with the Fondation de la Mer to organise beach cleans involving schoolchildren and members of the general public.

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US sportswear and footwear retailer Foot Locker has made a commitment to improving social equity, aiming to serve underprivileged communities around the world.

In December 2021, Foot Locker partnered with Laureus to launch a Foot Locker Foundation that supports underserved communities and seeks to address gaps in health and wealth. In August, this partnership provided grants of between US$20,000 and US$100,000 to nine organisations in European metropolitan areas to support youth in their communities.

Through the retailer’s partnership with the NBA, Foot Locker launched the #RaiseTheGame campaign in 2020, which has seen the refurbishment of numerous basketball courts around the world.

An organisation committed to supporting racial equality, Foot Locker pledged to invest US$200 million over five years into the Black community in 2020. Through its Open-to-buy programme, Foot Locker has launched more than 40 brands, investing US$10 million into Black-owned companies and creators.

Foot Locker’s other commitments include a sustainability objective of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and numerous projects during Autism Acceptance Month, including a US$25,000 donation to Next for Autism with Puma.

Gatorade commits to breaking down barriers faced by athletes in sport with the goal of creating equal opportunity regardless of race, gender, socioeconomic background, or sexual orientation. In 2022, the sports drink brand launched the Equity in Sports initiative, part of a multi-year commitment to level the playing field for millions of underprivileged children.

Equity in Sports is being delivered through Gatorade’s collaborations with social impact organisations such as Athlete Ally, Good Sports, Honest Game Foundation, Laureus USA and the Women’s Sport Foundation. Some US$10 million will initially be invested into those organisations to amplify their platform and advance their work.  

Through those partnerships, Gatorade has made donations to support specific causes. During the WNBA All-Star Weekend in 2022, the brand donated US$25,000 to provide girls from the Chicagoland area with greater access to sport, while it has also teamed up with NWSL side Angel City FC to deliver 70 new kits to certified female coaches. For the past three years, too, Gatorade has collaborated with espnW to back the WSF Sports4Life Grant Program, supporting around 40 female athlete organisations by providing resources to increase the participation of women in sport on and off the field.  

Last year, in partnership with NBC Sports, Gatorade also provided funding for the launch of Laureus Sport for Good USA’s Elevating Black Leaders in Sport Initiative, a fund designed to support grassroots, Black-led non-profit organisations who provide programming for youth from under-resourced communities.  

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Technology giant Google has chosen women’s basketball as the primary platform to showcase its commitment to advancing gender equality in sport.

At the end of August, the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) named Google as its first-ever global partner of the women’s game and the 2022 Women’s World Cup, building on the brand’s status as one of the WNBA’s changemakers.

That sponsorship, signed in May 2021, sees Google work with the WNBA and the North American league’s domestic broadcast partner ESPN to improve visibility. The brand serves as the presenting partner of the Disney-owned network’s coverage of the competition and also collaborated with the pair to showcase the stories of WNBA players on ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 documentary series.

In addition, as the league’s official trends and fan insights partner and an official technology partner of the competition, Google uses its tools to push WNBA news, scores, highlights and standings to the forefront of its search results to make it easier for fans to follow and discover the league.

Through its multi-year title sponsorship deal with the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), Hologic brings its expertise in women’s health to supporting the sport’s biggest names for the long term. 

As the WTA’s official health partner, it has provided athletes with a DXA scan, which analyses bone density and body composition in detail. This bolsters the WTA’s extensive health screenings that players are provided with, as part of both organisations’ joint goal of championing women and prioritising their health. 

Hologic also became the founding partner of Hologic WTA Labs, a WTA initiative focused on health innovation and research-based projects specific to female athletes. The medical technology specialist’s involvement has led to an expansion of health resources to tour players, increased panel discussions on women’s health, and more campaigns that educate the public on numerous health matters, including cancer awareness. 

Beyond its collaboration with the WTA, Hologic has created ‘Project Health Equality’ to fund initiatives helping to overcome social disparities that have driven issues like systemic racism, bias and the well-documented history of mistrust between people of colour and the medical community. Additionally, it has provided philahropic assistance to organisations such as the National Alliance for Hispanic Health. 

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Hummel’s various eco initiatives, including banning all single-use plastics in favour of producing products from recycled plastic bottles, have resulted in it being named Denmark’s most sustainable brand for the third consecutive year. Other targets for the sportswear company include reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030, working towards a circular economy and eliminating pesticides from products.

Away from its environmental activities, Hummel marked last year’s World Pride and Euro Games events by producing apparel for 3,000 volunteers, with one per cent of turnover for 2021 donated to sports-related projects in the LGBTQ+ community.

As part of its kit supply tie-up with Everton, Hummel has funded players from the Premier League club’s community disability teams to take their first steps into soccer coaching. Added to that is the brand’s support of Football for A New Tomorrow (FANT), which works to improve gender equality and opportunities for women to participate in sport in Sierra Leone. Hummel has also sponsored LykkeLiga, which provides children with the opportunity to play sport.

A certified B Corp, UK-based running footwear manufacturer Hylo Athletics became a member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), an alliance of sustainable producers in the consumer goods industry, in 2021. Among other things, membership of the SAC commits the brand to ensuring compliance and minimum standards throughout its supply chain in areas like labour rights, worker wellbeing and environmental impact.

Though barely two years old, Hylo is already setting an example to the notoriously wasteful footwear industry. Extending the lifespan of its products is core to the ambitious young company’s mission to protect the planet and to keep old trainers out of landfill. To that end, its Hyloop platform promotes product longevity through care, repair and recycling, while customers are given UK£10 Hylo credit if they send the company any used pair of trainers, from any brand, for repurposing.

With the aspiration of creating inspirational women, Iberdrola has made it a key focus to spotlight leading female athletes. 

During the Fifa Women’s World Cup 2023, it produced an audiovisual piece that featured star Spanish sportswomen, including two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, taekwondo sensation Adriana Cerezo and swimming star Ona Carbonell. The campaign saw the athletes team up to recreate a huge playing field to demonstrate the support for the Spanish national soccer team from all of Spanish sport. 

The multinational electric utility firm also created the Iberdrola Supera Awards, which was first held in 2020 and has taken place every year since. It recognises programmes that focuses on several values, including gender equality and the empowerment of women through sport. Each of the award winners are rewarded €50,000, in addition to gaining recognition for their project. 

As well as this initiative, Iberdrola promotes 32 Spanish federations, including the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), through its ‘Women, Health and Sport’ programme. Its support impacts around 600,000 sportswomen in Spain, with 27 of them chosen as ambassadors that work to gain greater media coverage for women’s sport. 

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Kuehne + Nagel has demonstrated a strong commitment to sustainability through its sports partnerships with SailGP and the Rugby League World Cup 2021 (RLWC2021).

Aiming to minimise the carbon footprint of the sailing league’s events, the Switzerland-based transport and logistics company’s Net Zero Carbon programme aims to offset all CO2 emissions from all shipments through verified gold standard offsets.

In collaboration with SailGP, Kuehne + Nagel is striving to achieve a 100 per cent carbon neutral supply chain. For the final legs of SailGP’s second season, which saw the series transport its boats from Cadiz to Sydney, the logistics firm helped the league avoid approximately 342 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Also a partner of RLWC2021, Kuehne + Nagel launched a new ‘Tree for a Try’ campaign to ensure the delivery of the most sustainable edition of the tournament to date. The company pledged to plant one tree for every try scored throughout the 61 matches across the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments. In the build-up to RLWC2021, 21 ceremonial trees were planted across the competition’s host towns and cities in England.

Over recent years, youth sports management software specialist LeagueApps has organised an employee-led crowdfunding campaign for its FundPlay programme, which has evolved into becoming the non-profit FundPlay Foundation. 

In 2021, more than 60 employees fundraised for Cycle for Survival and other FundPlay grantees as part of a pilot for the crowdfunding campaign. A year later, LeagueApps worked with its grantee South Bronx United to close a capital campaign, which resulted in the building of an indoor mini pitch at their new office. Academic space was also established close to Yankee Stadium as part of the initiative. 

The following year saw LeagueApps work with the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation to support the construction of two Dodgers ‘Dreamfields’ spaces for baseball and softball in Inglewood, California. Collectively, all three campaigns raised more than US$290,000, with a donation of US$50,000 made to each of the organisations that LeagueApps partnered with. 

LeagueApps has also provided free licenses to its software through FundPlay through the grant programme and partnerships with pro teams and leagues, which has created more than 600,000 youth sports opportunities in underserved communities.

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With its ‘Play Unstoppable’ campaign, Lego has demonstrated its commitment to championing young girls and relieving gender biases around sports, play and other activities. 

In 2023, the toy giant partnered with soccer stars Megan Rapinoe and Sam Kerr to promote women’s sport through ads and a soccer-themed Lego set called ‘Unstoppable Girls’. The company also released the ‘Play Moves Us’ short film that features the aforementioned players and explores the connections between building, fashion, games and music, while emphasising the importance of playing ‘without boundaries’. 

Lego has also become the first official partner of Football Australia’s Legacy ‘23 programmes, which aim to inspire the next generation of soccer players through inclusive play. As an official partner of the CommBank Matildas and Subway Socceroos, it has launched content campaigns and promotions to further encourage participation among young people. 

Ahead of the Fifa Women’s World Cup 2023, for example, Lego encouraged the public to visit the Lego Play Stadium at the Matildas’ final warm-up game before the tournament. As well as providing visitors with an immersive experience, it also unveiled a life-sized Sam Kerr minifigure build, showing its continued support for women’s sport. 

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Microsoft is using its partnerships with high-profile athletes and organisations, such as rising tennis star Coco Gauff and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, to empower women and enable children to learn STEM-based skills across sport.

Through its Game Changers programme, the technology giant has set out to highlight the stories of trailblazing females who are breaking new ground and inspiring the next generation. In partnership with Parity, a minority-founded organisation established to help close the gender pay gap in sport, Microsoft is leveraging its Teams virtual co-working platform to facilitate conversations between elite athletes and a global community of female fans, whilst also developing co-marketing opportunities and social media campaigns.

In tandem with the Mercury, meanwhile, the company has hosted technology clinics offering girls in Phoenix the chance to develop STEM skills through the lens of basketball. Elsewhere, Microsoft worked with the BWT Alpine F1 Team and Handy, a Florida-based non-profit that supports children in foster care, to create an educational programme ahead of May’s inaugural Miami Grand Prix. Children were given the chance to learn coding skills and program and race robotic cars, giving them an insight into the role of team engineers in Formula One.

New Balance is working to improve health and fitness among children and young people, encouraging running to tackle poor physical health, boost mental wellbeing, and celebrate individuality.

The Boston-based footwear and apparel brand has launched several challenges which set goals as a means of promoting physical activity. Its ‘Run Your Way’ campaign, operated in partnership with fitness app Strava, inspires people to achieve various milestones and has drawn over 250,000 participants to date. Diversity and representation are showcased in the campaign advert where runners of different genders, ethnicities, and athletic builds are celebrated.

Alongside incentive-led campaigns, New Balance contributes financial support to a range of causes. In 2022, New Balance Foundation grants totalled US$8.5 million and provided 25 sports programmes which benefited 1.6 million young people.

Through its foundation, New Balance contributes to tackling childhood obesity, providing US$18 million in funding to the Obesity Prevention Centre at Boston’s Children’s Hospital. In addition, the Harlem Lacrosse project supports 900 students in 22 school-based programmes across five US cities, while the 100 Mile Club challenges students to run, jog or walk 100 miles over the course of an academic year.

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As the world’s largest supplier and manufacturer of athletic footwear and apparel, US sportswear giant Nike arguably carries a greater responsibility than most to ensure its business practices are sustainable.

As of the end of financial year 2021, 77 per cent of the energy used at Nike’s owned or operated facilities is renewable, while 100 per cent of its footwear manufacturing waste (at their finished goods footwear suppliers) has been diverted from landfill and incineration through increased recycling. Central to those sustainability efforts has been the Nike Refurbished programme, which takes back gently worn, like-new or slightly imperfect Nike footwear and restores them by hand, and then offers the refurbished products to consumers at select stores.

The Oregon-headquartered company has also been taking strides to improve participation in sport, especially among young girls. That mission has been supported by the Play Academy with Naomi Osaka, a programme created through a partnership between the Japanese tennis star, Nike and Laureus Sport for Good which provides grants and capacity-building training for grassroots organisations. Originally launched in Tokyo, the initiative is now operational in Los Angeles, Haiti and Japan.

Nissan’s sustainability strategy comprises of three themes – the climate crisis, social equality and highly conscious customers. The Japanese carmaker’s long-term vision – Nissan Ambition 2030 – aims to support the company’s goal of contributing towards a safer, greener and more inclusive world.

Nissan’s Formula E team is at the forefront of showcasing the potential impact of electric vehicles in the future, which ties into the company’s objective of ensuring more than half of its cars globally are electric by fiscal year 2030. In 2021, it launched the ‘Electrify the City’ campaign with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, which reached 27 million viewers and generated an uplift of 21 per cent in viewers’ consideration of Nissan electric vehicles.

Through its partnership with City owner City Football Group (CFG), Nissan’s technologies are being used to support sustainability and long-term community improvement. Through its Possibilities Project, too, the company is working to promote diversity and inclusion in the UK. In year one of the project, it aimed to make the sport of running more welcoming for LGBTQ+  runners, as well as providing four people access to running prosthetics.

It is estimated that 20 billion pairs of shoes are sold worldwide each year. However, 90 per cent of shoes are never recycled and some can take more than a millennium to decompose. To combat those startling statistics, planet-focused running brand NNormal created the No Trace Program, a scheme that takes used outdoor gear from any brand, regardless of the condition, and repairs it to give it a second life. 

With an emphasis on durability, circularity, transparency and carbon neutrality, NNormal was founded in 2022 by ultra trail running great Kilian Jornet and Spanish family-owned shoemaker Camper to revolutionise outdoor gear production. A certified B Corporation and member of 1% for the Planet, the company now works closely with the Kilian Jornet Foundation to inspire people to protect nature, raise awareness of climate change, support environmental research, and broaden the debate around sustainability in sport.

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Sustainable packaging startup Notpla has expanded its reach by introducing its flagship Ooho product, an edible bubble for liquid that replaces the need for single-use plastic, into vending machines at the London Aquatics Centre, one of the main venues of the London 2012 Olympics.  

A six-month trial that kicked off in July marks the latest milestone for Ooho, which is made from seaweed and provides an on-the-go drink solution, having already replaced 36,000 plastic bottles at the London Marathon. Other venues to get a taste of Notpla include cricket’s Kia Oval, which forms part of Surrey County Cricket Club’s vision to transform the famous ground into a carbon-neutral venue by 2030. Notpla’s seaweed-coated sustainable packaging is now part of the matchday experience at the county’s home.  

Further highlights in Notpla’s eco efforts include being named the winner of the Earthshot Prize in the ‘Build a Waste-Free World’ category last December. Founded by Prince William and the Royal Foundation, Earthshot is a global environmental prize aimed at discovering, accelerating and scaling groundbreaking eco-solutions to repair and regenerate the planet. 

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