Spotlight on the Warriors Community Foundation
As the philanthropic arm of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, the Warriors Community Foundation supports youth development and education with the goal of helping students, schools, and communities to prosper. In the following, we look at the history of the organization and the vital work that it carries out across the San Francisco Bay Area.
The foundation has pledged over $12 million
Since its inception seven years ago, the Warriors Community Foundation has pledged more than $12 million. Crucially, this vital funding is delivered with a strategic focus. Team owner Joe Lacob explained in an interview with Forbes magazine that when he and his wife purchased the team in 2010, their ultimate goal was to make a difference in the community.
Joe Lacob’s wife, Nicole, serves as president of the foundation. As a former teacher, Nicole Lacob has always been invested in young people. Indeed, all of Joe Lacob’s previous philanthropic ventures centered around education, so it was by natural extension that the couple chose education and youth development as the focus of the Warriors Community Foundation.
Investment in local education
In 2018, the foundation provided $1.5 million in funding to 49 organizations operating across San Francisco and Alameda counties. Joe Lacob explained to Forbes that at the time, the foundation wanted to maximize its impact and make a difference in the lives of young people across the Bay Area.
As Nicole Lacob pointed out, across the United States and specifically in the Bay Area, the best way to solve poverty is through education. Enabling children to attend college can help to significantly increase their earning potential. With a bigger salary, they can contribute more to their community. The foundation’s ultimate goal is to help children attend college, which will not only improve their opportunities and prospects, but bolster and regenerate entire communities.
For those dealing with children who have undergone significant trauma in their life—which could include experiencing homelessness or the absence of parents—it can take a lot to get the child through college. The Warriors Community Foundation initially began with a kindergarten-through-12th grade program and expanded its operations to include college investing. The foundation offers matching programs where the foundation donates $300 per child with the hope that it will be matched by their parents, effectively doubling the chances that those children will be able to obtain a college education.
The Lacobs realized that while they were getting 4 out of 10 children into college, only 1 in 10 of them eventually graduated. In light of those statistics, they have pursued funding programs that include financial aid and one-on-one mentorship.
Today, the Warriors Community Foundation connects students with internships at Apple, Facebook, and other global organizations, so that when they graduate from college, they can benefit from significant opportunities that will make a difference in their career paths.
Dedicated to Empowering Students in Need
A 10-year college completion program, College Track is designed to empower students from communities that are underserved with the ultimate goal of helping them to attend and graduate from college.
In 2018, the Warriors Community Foundation partnered with College Track, providing $50,000 in funding.
College Track helps students to develop the necessary attitudes and skills to overcome systemic barriers to earning a college education and pursue a life of choice, power, and opportunity. The program was established with the ethos that each and every student has the potential to change the world. College Track helps young people to unlock their potential and obtain a college education.
By making a 10-year promise to its students, College Track removes financial, academic, and social-emotional barriers associated with attaining a bachelor’s degree. The program seeks to help students realize their goals. After graduating from college, those who have participated in College Track can rise above systemic cultural and social barriers and use their unique talents to make a real difference in the world.
Committed to improving communities
The Lacobs want to create opportunities, not only for individuals, but also for entire communities. As an organization and team, this can be achieved in a variety of ways.
The foundation operates a unique charitable model. Essentially, it is a “spend down” foundation. While many NGOs spend just a small percentage of their annual pledges—retaining the majority of funding for investment and future spending—the foundation spends all of the revenue that it generates each year, investing it directly in young people throughout the Bay Area.
Partnerships with local businesses
The Warriors Community Foundation does not work in isolation. It partners with local organizations to extend its activities in order to achieve maximum impact. For example, through its partnership with PG&E, the foundation helped to refurbish 70 basketball courts in communities and schools across San Francisco Bay.
Grants support education and early childhood development
The Warriors Community Foundation will bestow $1.7 million in grants this season, topping the previous year’s total of $1.5 million, the highest figure ever awarded in a single season in the history of the foundation.
Foundation grants support a variety of different organizations and programs, which include investment in elementary literacy, early childhood development, STEM education, middle schools, and college access initiatives.