Angel Reese, a basketball champion, recently announced the formation of the Angel C. Reese Foundation, with the goal of empowering girls and women via sports, education, financial literacy, and other projects.
The 2023 NCAA women’s basketball champion disclosed her plans to launch her own foundation to promote equal chances for young women in industries where they have historically been underrepresented at the Variety and Sportico Sports and Entertainment Summit.
According to AfroTech, Reese has the “highest projected earner in all of Women’s College Basketball,” with a name, image, and likeness (NIL) valuation of $1.3 million as a result of signing deals with companies such as Coach, Amazon, JanSport, Wingstop, McDonald’s, and Raising Canes, among others.
According to a recent press release provided to ESSENCE, “The Angel C. Reese Foundation will aim to foster equity for girls and underrepresented groups through innovative and impactful initiatives, develop practical solutions to overcome systemic challenges, and provide comprehensive resources that empower a new generation of girls to excel in sports and successfully transition to the real world.”
The nonprofit will begin offering girls’ basketball camps, financial literacy initiatives, scholarships, holiday festivities, and continuous community programming on August 19.
The Angel C. Reese Foundation, according to Variety, will be formed at Saint Frances Academy in Baltimore, where Reese previously attended.
The debut event will include a “Back-to-School Giveback Block Party,” where the foundation will donate school supplies, backpacks, clothing, food, hygiene products, and other basic essentials to children in need in the Baltimore area.
Reese’s activities show how the NIL era benefits both athletes’ communities and themselves. She is not, however, the only athlete working to impact change.
Earlier this year, AfroTech spoke to Chase Griffin, a quarterback for UCLA, who contributes a portion of each NIL deal’s profits to charity. “As a Christian, I feel compelled by my faith to give and to be in a position where I’m on scholarship and I’m earning money,” Griffin said. “I consider it a blessing to be able to be generous and to give a piece of all of my NIL deals to various initiatives.”