Nowadays, we are becoming more aware of the problems that surround us (from climate issues to lack of education and inclusion) and sports changemakers have a huge potential of tackling these issues and produce a positive impact in society. To better understand the phenomenon in Romania, we teamed up with Decathlon to uncover who are the individuals considered sports changemakers by their peers and what insights do they have about their work.

We are proud to announce that on June 30th from 4 PM we will announce the results of our study and present the Sports Changemakers Map while discovering the stories of international social entrepreneurs who are changing entire systems through sports:

Diane Pereira Sousa, Ashoka Fellow from Brazil, founded Instituto Formação – Incubadora de Esporte e Cidadania to change the demand of children and young people for the human right to play and to practice different sports in a safe and inclusive way in marginalized rural and urban areas by the resignification of community spaces (squares and schools).

Fabrice Vil, Ashoka Fellow from Canada, created Pour 3 Points to systematically transform sports coaches into skilled “life coaches” to support vulnerable youth to overcome adversity, thrive, and become leaders and active members of society.

Mel Young, Ashoka Fellow from the United Kingdom is the founder of the Homeless World Cup through which he is catalyzing for decades the global use of football as a means to engage and empower homeless people to change their lives, and successfully bridge them into a sphere of inclusion.