New Balance Athletics Inc. is putting additional funding into the hands of UMass Boston to bring more young people into the sports industry, with a focus on teaching equitable practices and social responsibility.
The Boston-based company is committing $10 million to establish the New Balance Institute for Innovative Leadership in Sport at UMass Boston. New Balance said the donation provides operational funds to launch the institute and endow it in perpetuity.
This gift builds on a $5 million donation the company made in 2018 to establish the New Balance Sport Leadership and Administration program at UMass Boston.
The program opened in fall 2019 and 127 students are now majoring in sport leadership and administration. Thirty-four students have already graduated from the program. These students have participated in a combined 10,000 hours of sports industry internships, and this forthcoming institute aims to expand internship and employment opportunities.
Professor Joseph Cooper, the J. Keith Motley Endowed Chair of Sport Leadership and Administration, said UMass Boston’s program focuses on “sport equity, sport innovation, and sport performance and holistic wellness.”
“This integrated specialization approach will allow us to engage in impactful equity-minded research, education, and programming that advances the sports industry across multiple levels and society more broadly,” Cooper said.
The new institute will try to increase student enrollment in the academic program to 200-300 students annually by funding new faculty and academic support, as well as increasing scholarships. The New Balance-funded institute will also conduct research on the sports industry, build external partnerships and look to expand its funding sources.
“We are proud to support his innovative and inspirational work to build greater opportunities for diverse communities within the sports industry,” said Joe Preston, New Balance’s president and CEO.
UMass Boston also plans to create sport industry labs and a certification program for sport industry professionals as the institute becomes operational and grows.
“Innovative and interdisciplinary, the program prepares students for exemplary careers in sports management while offering a robust social justice platform to advance excellence, equity, diversity, and human rights in sports. This aligns with our foundational idea that a UMass Boston education is designed to have impact and serve the greater good,” UMass Boston Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco said in a statement.
Sign up for The Beat, BostInno’s free daily innovation newsletter from BostInno reporter Hannah Green. See past examples here.
