Last summer, Nike Inc. announced several initiatives with Converse, Jordan Brand and Michael Jordan amounting to a $140 million commitment dedicated to addressing racial inequality and injustice in Black communities.
As part of its Black Community Commitment fund, NIKE, Inc. has donated a total of $1 million to Black-owned youth financial literacy app Goalsetter — the platform’s largest corporate donation to date — which will be used to seed 10,000 savings accounts for Black children.
“As part of Nike, Inc.’s Black Community Commitment, we are proud to announce our newest partner, Goalsetter,” says Craig Williams, President of Jordan Brand, in a press statement. “Their purpose to build financial literacy for Black families aligns with our goals – specifically focusing on economic empowerment to address racial inequality for Black Americans. Our partnership with Goalsetter is one way Nike, Jordan and Converse seek to transform how U.S. families, and in particular Black youth, access financial education and in turn, feel empowered to reach their goals.”
Goalsetter — founded by CEO Tanya Van Court — was created to offer culturally-relevant financial literacy tools for kids and families to save money and encourage them to act smarter with their funds.
Van Court has used her powerful platform — with the help of celebrities, musicians and athletes — to amplify a message to America’s Black youth who are often left out of in-depth conversations around finances.
The fact that NIKE, Inc. has allocated this much capital toward a Black woman-owned company is a strong testament to how they wish to inspire change in America and the way we’re educating the next generation of Black youth on financial freedom.
“Never before has America invested in a Black-owned, woman-owned FinTech company to educate kids about financial language and building wealth,” said founder Van Court. “Never before has a financial app been led by a person whose background is rooted at the intersection of gamification, play, and education. Nike is propelling a historic moment by helping to change the way America educates a whole generation of kids — using culturally-relevant, game-based content to excite and engage them, and start them on a path to financial freedom.”
In addition to NIKE, Inc., Goalsetter has garnered several strategic partnerships with organizations such as Black Girls CODE, NAACP Empowerment Programs, and LDF — all announced in 2020 — as well as Black Girl Ventures announced this year.
With the support of NIKE, Inc., Goalsetter hopes to help create one million savings accounts for Black and brown kids in America to combat the generational wealth gap that has plagued our communities for decades.
Goalsetter is taking it a step further with financial literary by offering kids a chance to jumpstart their financial wellness journeys at a young age to set them on the path to likely attend college and own stock in the future.
This partnership announcement arrives following NIKE Inc.’s rollout of its $2.75 million Black Community Commitment investments in local organizations across seven U.S. cities that are supporting social justice, education and economic empowerment efforts on behalf of Black communities.
