Oakland, California – Playworks, the leading national nonprofit harnessing the power of play to help kids stay active, enhance learning, and develop key skills, has been awarded a transformative $10 million, five-year grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. The funding will accelerate Playworks’ mission to ensure every child in America can experience safe and healthy play every day.
“This extraordinary investment from Lilly Endowment is a powerful validation of 30 years of work by Playworks teams across the country,” said Elizabeth Cushing, CEO of Playworks. “It recognizes that play matters and that it strengthens character, builds relationships, and helps kids thrive. We are honored that one of the nation’s largest and most respected foundations believes in our vision and impact.”
The grant is awarded through Lilly Endowment’s through Character Development Through Youth Programs, a national initiative designed to help youth-serving organizations create, test, implement and sustain strategies that support character development in the young people they serve in chapters and affiliates throughout the nation. Playworks is one of 14 organizations being funded through the initiative.
Through play, Playworks uses an evidence-based approach to help educators and youth leaders build qualities like teamwork, respect, perseverance, and joy, equipping them to intentionally cultivate these traits in the youth they serve.
Over the next five years, the Lilly Endowment funding will help Playworks:
- Enhance programming by embedding character development practices across Playworks’ trainings for adults.
- Advance evaluation and research to identify the most effective strategies for engaging educators and other adults in implementing Playworks’ play-based practices.
- Grow reach and visibility, supporting outreach to expand partnerships with schools, districts, community-based organizations, and donors.
- Fuel innovation through the expansion of TagTeam, a collaborative model with community-based organizations, and SparkPlay, Playworks’ new digital service bringing play to more educators nationwide.
The grant supports key goals of Playworks’ 2028 strategic plan, including reaching more schools and communities, strengthening adult engagement, and creating sustainable revenue streams to ensure long-term impact.
About Playworks
Celebrating 30 years on the playground, Playworks believes in the power of play to bring out the best in every kid. Since 1995, Playworks has helped 5.3 million children across more than 6,000 schools and community organizations get in the game by building skills, forming friendships, and staying active through play. Today, Playworks partners with schools, districts, and community-based organizations to provide a range of services, including on-site coaches, professional training for staff, consultative support, and digital tools. For more information, visit: www.playworks.org.
About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly and his sons, Eli and J.K. Jr., through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. Although gifts of stock remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, the Endowment is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. The Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion.
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