This week’s Sports Philanthropy Podcast features Jim Dower, Founder of Urban Initiatives. Listen in as he sits down with our host Roy Kessel, Founder of the Sports Philanthropy Network as Jim shares the reasons that he started the organization, the growth it has experienced and how he empowers the participants in his program to grow into leaders of their own.
Learn how the organization started as a labor of love and has now grown into 50 full-time staff and 125 coaches.
Here are some of the highlights:
- 00:30 Why Jim started Urban Initiatives
- 02:00 Growth of Urban Initiatives
- 02:45 Jim’s views on travel sports at an early age
- 05:00 Skills developed from informal sports
- 07:00 How Urban Initiatives keeps kids involved through high school…and beyond
- 08:15 Passion drives Jim’s vision for the organization
- 10:00 Trip with young leaders to France for the Women’s World Cup
- 12:20 Challenges facing the community in Chicago
- 13:30 Values learned from trips with the kids
- 15:20 Fair play tournament at the Women’s World Cup
- 16:15 Evolution of Urban Initiatives’ programs
- 19:16 What Urban Initiatives did right in its growth
- 22:45 What Jim would do differently if he was starting over
- 28:00 How Urban Initiatives develops new leaders
- 32:25 Jim’s view of the next three years for Urban Initiatives
- 34:30 Support great citizens, not great athletes
- 37:20 Jim as the Commissioner of Sport for the U.S. Government
Make sure you do not miss Jim Dower appearing at the Sports Philanthropy World Congress. Hear his insight into measuring the impact of the programs developed by Urban Initiatives.
For more information about Urban Initiatives, please visit their website at www.urbaninitiatives.org.
