Updates

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation Grants Playworks $4,590,371 Over 132,250 kids in more than 350 schools will experience safe and healthy play every day as a result of this investment. This is the largest regional grant Playworks has ever received.  Detroit, MI—July 15, 2018—Playworks, the leading national nonprofit leveraging the power of play to transform…

On August 1, Playworks introduces its newest service, PlayworksU. Educators asked for bite-sized online courses to reinforce and introduce play-based strategies throughout the school day. Over a nine month period, over 1000 teachers, school staff and principals tested out 19 modules on topics ranging from Group Management to Games Facilitation. Based on their feedback and…

Golden State Warriors and Playworks have had a long-standing relationship thru our partnership with Kaiser Permanente and the GetFit program. Kaiser Permanente, Playworks and the Golden State Warriors have teamed up to educate Bay Area youth on the importance of healthy eating and active living. The program serves to reinforce healthy behavior and provide youth with the…

Thank You! A big thanks to everyone who came out to play with us at our 10th Annual Playworks Get in the Game Gala. It was a wonderful evening thanks to all of the amazing supporters who helped to make our fundraising efforts a success. Special thanks to this year’s host Andrew East, former Oakland Raider,…

Junior Coach Mabel is a 4th grader at the Boston Teachers Union School in Jamaica Plain. Although Mabel only joined the Junior Coach team in February, she has already made a big impression as a leader in her school. In the beginning of the school year, Mabel was very shy and didn’t always feel confident…

About a year ago, I spent a week with a group of other nonprofit leaders at the MIT Media Lab Open Leadership Camp. We explored the idea that open technology is a framework with relevance and importance for the social sector. I’m not a big technologist, but a very simple definition of open technology is…

National Volunteer Week is an opportunity to recognize and thank volunteers who lend their time, talent, voice, and support to causes they care about in their communities and around the world. Their stories serve to inspire others to take action and discover their collective power to unite in making a difference.

Quick: what comes to mind when I say service design? Now how about when I say nonprofit? “Service design” often brings up images of exciting, new, entrepreneurial and tech-y—probably in the Bay Area, Silicon Valley, or Copenhagen.  “Nonprofit” likely brings up a different set of images. I had the wonderful experience of talking with a…

After a year of hard work, playful trial and error, and generous feedback from teachers and principals, we are happy to announce PlayworksU! Courses are available to preview through June 1; school subscriptions will be available starting August 1. These new online courses and videos from Playworks are designed to reinforce in-person training and help you…