Grassroot Soccer Receives Largest Grant in Organizational History through the ICONIQ Impact Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab

Grassroot Soccer has been selected as a grantee of the ICONIQ Impact Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab — a $200 million collaborative philanthropy fund supporting organizations addressing youth anxiety and depression around the world.

This transformational grant – the largest gift in Grassroot Soccer’s history – will advance Grassroot Soccer’s efforts in adolescent mental health, which seek to improve the mental health and well-being of young people in communities at heightened risk of poor mental health and with limited access to information and services. 

Grassroot Soccer’s model, developed in collaboration with world-leading mental health professionals and based on over 20 years of experience working with adolescents, uses soccer language, metaphors, and activities to improve young people’s mental health and well-being through a resilient mind, healthy body, and strong support network.

The grant will support Grassroot Soccer to scale its mental health work to reach more young people – through the expansion of programming in key geographies in Africa and beyond (including scaling the flagship MindSKILLZ program), broadening the reach of digital mental health programming (Digital MindSKILLZ) and media initiatives, partnerships, and continued research, innovation, and curriculum development and design.

“We are taking control of sound mental health at a young age to guarantee a beautiful future for ourselves.” — MindSKILLZ Coach, Kenya

Through ICONIQ Impact, ICONIQ Capital’s platform for collaborative philanthropy, the Youth Mental Wellbeing Co-Lab aims to help reduce youth anxiety and depression by ensuring youth have the resilience needed to withstand adversity, the agency needed to change their situation and society, and the sense of belonging that’s vital to build community and find shared purpose. Grassroot Soccer is one of 25 organizations selected to the Co-Lab.

“Poor mental health is the most critical health issue facing adolescents around the world, and especially now with dramatic changes in international development and global health, the need for our work in support of young people and their communities is greater than ever before,” said Dr. Tommy Clark, Grassroot Soccer Founder & CEO. 

“We are immensely grateful for this game-changing and transformative gift from ICONIQ Impact, which will allow us to innovate, scale our work, and ultimately broaden our impact to equip even more young people with the knowledge, coping skills, and resiliency they need for improved mental health throughout adolescence and into adulthood.”