MICRO-GRANTS TO HELP YOUTH
SERVE THEIR COMMUNITY
As proud recipients of a grant from The Allstate Foundation, the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program supports youth committed to improving youth sports. Inspired by our School Sports Equity Toolkit, Service Learning Through Sports is a one-year program that provides micro-grants and mentorship programming to select U.S. high school students who lead, or aim to lead, a project or initiative that improves the youth sports experience and/or increases opportunities for sport and play.
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR
2025 GRANT RECIPIENTS
Carol Yan
Diamond Bar, CA | Diamond Bar High School
Project: Hosting golf events with experienced high school players to spark young golfers’ love for the game .
“Through Golf on Top, I hope that our monthly GOT events will inspire young golfers to continue to pursue the game of golf.”
Chandler pointer & Chloe Anders
Chapel Hill & Durham, NC | Trinity School of Chapel Hill and Durham
Project: Play It Forward hopes to bring accessible sports clinics and opportunities to underprivileged Durham elementary schools while implementing skills of goal setting and personal growth to carry forward.
“Play It Forward is aimed to bring exposure to underprivileged communities as an inclusive initiative to promote physical fitness, teamwork, and community engagement. We will teach kids the values and benefits of being active and the essential life skills gained through sports.”
Daniel Watson
Baton Rouge, LA | Madison Preparatory Academy
Project: Offering instruction in baseball fundamentals, mental health, and leadership skills to inspire growth both on and off the field.
“The project could foster a greater love for the sport by providing accessible, high-quality instruction to youth in the community. It can build essential life skills such as teamwork, resilience, and confidence through mental health and leadership sessions integrated into the program.”
Niam Taylor
La Cañada Flintridge | Flintridge Preparatory School
Project: AndOneSports is a youth-led initiative that provides sports equipment and youth-to-youth coaching to underfunded schools and community organizations, creating a cycle of youth leadership where high school athletes mentor and coach younger kids.
“I want to make sure kids get exactly what they need to play, whether it’s specific equipment for a school’s program or coaching support for an organization with more kids than coaches.”
Rishin Tandon
Issaquah, WA | Issaquah High School
Project: YESS, the Youth Eco Sports Scorecard, is a tool that measures and promotes sustainable practices in youth sports, empowering teams to take action for a greener future.
“YESS aims to drive awareness and action by providing youth sports teams with a clear, data-driven understanding of their environmental impact. By equipping players, coaches, and communities with education, measurement, and actionable guidance, we aim to reduce the carbon footprint of youth sports while fostering a generation of eco-champions.”
Meet the Mentors
Isha Gupta
Isha is pursuing the Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) degree at Georgetown University, concentrating in Global Politics and Security. Isha previously graduated from the George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Affairs and a double concentration in politics and economics. In 2017, Isha founded the Manjula Gupta Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on girls education equality around the world. She has grown this organization to target underlying limitations to education such as teenage pregnancy and sports participation.
Rishan Patel
Rishan Patel is a senior at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, CA. He is the co-Founder and CEO of Alley-Oop Kids, where he has partnered with organizations to expand sports access worldwide, raising over $300,000 in gear and grants. Today, more than 300 Lending Lockers equip over 200,000 kids across eight countries with the gear they need to play. His passion for play drives both his research with UC Berkeley on equitable recess policies and work with California State Senator Josh Newman, where they’re advancing his California & National Recess Day Resolution in the CA Senate.
PROGRAM INFORMATION
Service Learning for a better future
For school-age youth, service learning begins with organized acts of service for real-world challenges. The more that act of service can meet a recognized need and improve systems or lives at scale, the better. Leaders are born from such work.
IMPROVING YOUTH SPORTS ACROSS COMMUNITIES
Through Project Play, the signature initiative of its Sports & Society Program, the Aspen Institute learned that sport opportunities were not meeting youth needs. As illustrated in our School Sports Equity Toolkit, motivated high school students like Noor Abukaram, Ashley Badis, Matt Diaz and Rishan Patel have shown that young people can take it upon themselves to improve sports in their communities. Their stories make clear that not only do youth want quality sport experiences, but the act of bolstering access and quality for others can produce meaningful service learning.
a program FOR youth COMMITTED TO IMPROVING YOUTH SPORTS
Service Learning Through Sports is a one-year program that will identify and support a small number of U.S. high school students who lead, or aim to lead, a project or initiative that addresses an issue in sport in their community. Recipients will receive a micro-grant and mentorship programing to support their project and develop them as future service leaders. The program includes:
$2,000 micro-grant
Through an affiliated non-profit host organization, students will receive a $2,000 grant for a sports-focused project or initiative that they actively lead.One-day learning retreat at the Project Play Summit
Students will travel for discussion and brainstorming with the full cohort, a set of peer mentors and Aspen staff. Costs for travel and hotel will be included.Ongoing peer mentorship and guidance
Over a one year period, students will receive periodic feedback and guidance from peer mentors and program staff through virtual meetings for themselves and the full cohort.
program details
Program period: January 2025 to December 2025
Hear from our 2024 Cohort
Ayanna Shah
Overseeing youth-led equipment donations for Title I high schools through Second Serve, a not-for-profit organization Ayanna co-founded to break down barriers of entry to tennis
Dean Butler
Expanding an inline skating curriculum in the Bronx by adding floor hockey and including more public school students, in partnership with Public School 86 and Go! Sports USA
Josie Portell
Leading a new wheelchair basketball camp for disabled elementary school girls in greater St. Louis, with support from the Disabled Athlete Sports Association
Brianna Zhang
Miles 4 Smiles, a charity 5K race that uses proceeds to make youth sports more accessible. Organized through Aid 4 All, a youth-led organization Brianna co-founded.
Arden Pala
Expanding youth-led, after school sports clinics in low-income elementary schools through Sports4Kids, a not-for-profit organization founded by Arden
With support from:
The Allstate Foundation empowers youth ages 5 to 25 to serve and improve communities.