funder briefing

The Challenge & Promise of Youth Sports

PAST EVENT
January 14, 2026

Findings from the Million Coaches Challenge

On January 14, GTY, Susan Crown Exchange and the Million Coaches Challenge hosted a funder briefing on the transformative potential of youth sports to drive positive youth development, skill-building and belonging. As the Million Coaches Challenge marks its successful achievement of one million coaches trained since 2021, speakers discussed the importance of coach training and pursuing systemic solutions to inequity in access to sports, and outlined opportunities for additional funder investment.

Watch recording

Top Takeaway

Funders focused on thriving youth are encouraged to invest in youth sports to support young people’s social-emotional growth, skill building and positive youth development.

More Takeaways

  1. Findings from the Million Coaches Challenge show high quality coach training can transform the experience for young athletes.
  2. Susan Crown Exchange and funding partners welcome others to join their collaborative effort to effectively scale coach training, advance state level policies, change narratives and increase equity.

Resources

Empower Every Coach: A $1 Million Funding Call to Dismantle Systemic Barriers to Quality Coaching in the United States

Calls to Action: A Vision for Youth Sports Coaching

12 Coaching Strategies to Support Positive Youth Development: A Practice Guide for Youth Coaches

Youth Sports and Physical Activity Legislation Tracker

MOVE Fund

More on Million Coaches Challenge

What Can Philanthropy Do?

  • Support coach training in your community.
  • Invest in the Empower Every Coach Initiative, led by Susan Crown Exchange, focused on dismantling systemic barriers to quality coaching in the US (see also Open Call for Letters of Intent).
  • Invest in the MOVE Fund, a new collaborative funding effort to support collective action in cities across the US to build a shared agenda for inclusive youth sport, rooted in community needs and wisdom.
  • Amplify these opportunities with your partners, grantees and peer funders.

For more information about any of these opportunities, contact info@thrivingyouth.org.

Memorable Quotes

We’re not just training coaches; we’re redefining the most influential adult relationship in a young person’s life.

—Joe Kennedy, Obama Foundation

One of our biggest learnings from the Million Coaches Challenge is that solving systemic barriers is essential to scale and sustain the impact. The Empower Every Coach Initiative will support promising projects working at the systems level.

—Kevin Connors, Susan Crown Exchange

A coach who is trained to look for those moments, those small social-emotional wins, can change a kid’s entire trajectory for the week, not just the game.

—Julia Lankford, Laureus USA

Life skills in sports are not caught by chance; they must be taught by design.

—Samantha Bates, Ohio State University

No matter how many coaches we reach directly, it won’t be enough on its own. We must pursue systems-level interventions: 1) put in place minimum standards for what it means to be a trained coach; 2) support place-based coalitions pushing for minimum standards, accountability structures, and policy change 3) through the Move Fund, transform how youth sports is resourced.

—Megan Bartlett, Center for Healing and Justice through Sport

In our implementation study of the Million Coaches Challenge, 88% of coaches said that training has made them a better coach, and they shared with us different ways that they have changed their behaviors to build stronger relationships with athletes, to help athletes better relate to each other, and to take athletes’ mental health into consideration when they are coaching.

—Jessica Newman, AIR

Sports can do what few other systems can: foster belonging, resilience, joy, and mental health at scale.

—Haviland Sharvit, Susan Crown Exchange

Contact the Speakers

If you’d like to follow up with any of these speakers, please reach out to GTY.

Speakers

Megan Bartlett

Founder | Center for Healing and Justice through Sport

Megan Bartlett has 15+ years of experience supporting organizations that use sport to promote youth development and supporting coaches who use sport to help kids heal. She has co-created innovative coaching initiatives, built capacity with community-based organizations, and is part of the faculty for NM Sport.

She is the author of A Kids Book about Trauma and co-author of Re-Designing Youth Sports: Change the Game. She speaks regularly on the unique power of sport to promote physical and mental health and essential skills young people need to be successful on and off the field. Megan holds a BA in Psychology and Sociology from Wesleyan University and an MA in Urban Policy and Planning from Tufts University.

Samantha Bates, PhD, LISW-S

Assistant Professor, Social Work | The Ohio State University

Dr. Bates is a licensed independent social worker with 10+ years of experience working with socially vulnerable youth in schools, communities, afterschool programs, and sport. Her research explores how to leverage sport as a context for social-emotional learning, identifying evidence-based and culturally responsive mental health interventions, and harnessing the power of education to transform youth outcomes.

Bates holds a doctorate from The Ohio State University (OSU), where she served as a social work supervisor in a local dropout recovery high school and led research for the Community and Youth Collaborative Institute and the OSU LiFEsports Initiative. Bates was recognized with the OSU CSW Undergraduate Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award in 2023.

Kevin Connors

Managing Director | Susan Crown Exchange

Kevin Connors oversees grantmaking, leads new initiatives, and co-develops organizational strategy at Susan Crown Exchange. Previously, Kevin served as the Founding Director of Personalized Learning at Chicago Public Schools, where he led a $25M initiative and partnered with 120 schools to lead the nation’s first large scale implementation of the Personalized Learning school model.

Kevin has also written for Education Week, is a Teach for America alum, and presents regularly at local and national conferences. His work has been covered by CNN, The Today Show, and Vanity Fair. Kevin holds a B.S. in Business from Indiana University and a Master’s degree in Education Policy & Management from Harvard University.

Joe Kennedy

Director of Athletics and Sports Leadership | Obama Foundation

Joe Kennedy is co-founder and Chairman of The Team and a lifelong basketball player and coach with extensive experience in both sports and the nonprofit sector. He believes deeply in the power of sports as a force for positive change. Kennedy is the inaugural Director of Athletics and Sports Leadership at the Obama Presidential Center (OPC), where he leads transformational programming designed to empower communities through health and well-being programs, leadership development, career exploration, and relationship-building through sports and play.

Under his leadership, the Center will launch Home Court, a 45,000-square-foot athletic center on the Center’s campus. Home Court is designed as a welcoming gateway to the Obama Presidential Center that champions the power of sports to teach young people teamwork, discipline, and the life skills essential for success beyond the playing field. Kennedy holds a degree in education and social policy from Northwestern University.

Julia Lankford

Director of Operations & Sport for Good Atlanta | Laureus USA

Julia has 19+ years of non-profit management experience, centered on the core belief that the best way to improve quality of life for those who need it most is to empower them, passing on a sense of shared responsibility and individual self-efficacy. In her current role, Julia manages day-to-day operations, DEI initiatives, and Laureus USA’s collaborative approach to strengthening metro- Atlanta communities through the power of sport.

Previously, Julia worked with Families First and East Athens Development Corporation to provide direct services in impoverished/under-resourced areas by speaking with community residents, determining their needs, and designing economic opportunities to empower these individuals to improve their own lives. Due to her keen insight and strong leadership, more than 1,200 Georgia residents gained economic security. Julia holds a BS in Political Science and MPA from Georgia Southern University and her Accounting Certification from Athens Technical College.

Jessica Newman, PhD

Principal Researcher | American Institutes for Research

Jessica Newman leads the national implementation study of the Million Coaches Challenge. Her work at AIR is primarily focused on positive youth development in out-of-school time and informal learning settings such as afterschool, summer learning, and youth sports. Dr. Newman has partnered to provide ongoing consultation, evaluation materials, and professional development resources with youth-serving programs and intermediary organizations including the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Every Hour Counts, National Afterschool Association, NatureBridge, and YMCA of the USA.

Dr. Newman is coauthor of the fourth edition of Beyond the Bell®: A Toolkit for Creating Effective Afterschool and Expanded Learning Programs and has authored multiple tools to build evaluation capacity for out-of-school time staff, including the series Recognizing the Role of Research and Evidence in Out-of-School Time. Newman holds a BA in Psychology and English and an MA in Developmental Psychology from George Mason University and a PhD in Educational Psychology from University of Illinois/Chicago.

Haviland Sharvit

Executive Director | Susan Crown Exchange

At SCE, Haviland Sharvit leads the organization’s strategy and grantmaking in digital well-being and social and emotional learning. She has worked with a variety of nonprofits across sectors including cultural institutions, human service agencies, educational institutions, and healthcare organizations. Prior to joining SCE she served as a senior consultant to nonprofit organizations in the areas of strategic planning and fund development.

Haviland serves as the Vice Chair of the Advisory Board of After School Matters and on the Metro Board of Metropolitan Family Services, one of Chicago’s first and largest human services agencies. Haviland holds an MBA in Strategic Management and Public Policy from George Washington University and a BS in Communications from Boston University.

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