Peaceful Communities through Basketball, Equity and Leadership Development

Community Safety

South LA

Expand existing project, program, or initiative

Youth in South LA face a number of challenges in regards to community safety: Exposure to violence, limited recreational and access to safe spaces as well as socioeconomic factors are a few examples leaving young people with fewer options for positive engagement making them more vulnerable to negative influences or risky behaviors. Sports and play can help promote safety by engaging youth in positive activities, fostering teamwork, conflict resolution, connecting them to positive mentors and coaches and helping build communication skills. They build community engagement, provide mentorship, and support mental health. Additionally, Play Equity has a tremendous impact on the mental health of youth. Adverse childhood experiences, such as exposure to violence, poverty, family dysfunction, and trauma, can have a significant impact on the mental health of young individuals. Physical activity, social connection, and self-esteem building through sports contribute to positive mental well-being

Peace League is a leadership through sports program for youth in 3rd-8th grade. It aims to inspire future leaders who champion equity, community betterment, and empowerment. Through basketball, peace building, leadership development, and equity curriculums, participants develop valuable skills and values. Peace League welcomes all skill levels, fostering friendships that transcend community divides. The program runs for 10 weeks, with weekly 90-minute sessions. Each session includes workshop huddles exploring various themes, followed by basketball and leadership activities. Four overarching objectives guide Peace League: 1. Promoting Cultural Exchange: Basketball breaks down barriers, fostering understanding and appreciation among participants from diverse backgrounds, challenging stereotypes, and building bridges. 2. Empowering Marginalized Communities: We empower youth through basketball, providing equal access, developing confidence, discipline, and teamwork skills, promoting equity and personal growth. 3.Gender Equality: We encourage girls participation in basketball, challenging societal norms and providing equal resources and opportunities to achieve gender equity. 4.Conflict Resolution: We bring together participants from different communities, facilitating dialogue, relationship-building, and reconciliation through shared goals and cooperation. Using basketball as a catalyst, we cultivate a generation of peacemakers and equity advocates.

PeacePlayers envisions a world where young people are not limited by their background, location, or opportunities. The goal is to create a safe environment throughout LA County, providing youth with the resources and opportunities to fulfill their dreams. The theory behind our work is to develop a network of young leaders equipped with experiences, knowledge, skills, and ongoing advocacy to share their vision and create change. By nurturing young leaders and providing mentorship, PeacePlayers aims to build a network committed to peace and equity. Over time, the number of young leaders will increase, expanding the program's impact. KPI's are tracked annually to measure success, including individual change in attitudes and skills, community change through relationships and access to new networks, and systemic change through youth-led projects and improved collaboration with partners.

PeacePlayers' methodology and impact is informed by: participant engagement, access to opportunities; leadership development and engagement in advocacy and other forms of community engagement for improvement. PeacePlayers employs a rigorous (M&E) system to ensure our programs are increasing access for youth to equitable opportunities and effectively empowering youth to become advocates for peace (impact). We use a process of evaluation that operates on a continuous loop: Design: Process for outlining what our program will achieve and how. Monitoring: Ongoing tracking of progress towards results. (survey's) Learning: Results are shared and used to collaboratively improve programming. Evaluation: Assessments of the program's impact on participants, staff and their communities. We collect operational data (participant demographics, program plans, participant engagement, program retention, participant satisfaction and other key metrics.)