DiverseCity

The prevalence of physical inactivity among racial and ethnic minorities is alarmingly high. This lack of activity has been linked to negative health outcomes among youth in these communities, including chronic childhood health conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. While several factors influence levels of activity, many youth in poor and urban communities of color do not have access to safe and convenient places to be active (parks, playgrounds, gyms) and the organized instruction typically offered at these locations.  

DiverseCity solves this problem by providing physical activity opportunities for youth that are safe, effective, and fun. Our virtual platform offers live-streamed multi-sport instruction and leadership training from expert coaches, all from the comfort of our users’ homes. 

The platform provides an outlet for human connection with endless boundaries. Our model is scalable and has the potential to produce positive health outcomes for participating youth from across the globe.

Rising physical inactivity in the US is a major public health concern. According to the CDC, inactivity contributes to 1 in 10 premature deaths. Inadequate levels of physical activity are associated with $117 billion in annual healthcare costs. Unfortunately, BIPOC communities have the highest prevalence of physical inactivity, which has been linked to long-term health risks such as obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.  

Youth in these communities are not immune to these negative impacts. As sports participation is declining across all races, we are witnessing an expanding equity crisis. An Aspen Institute study found that “33.4% of kids ages 6-12 from homes with $25,000 or less were physically inactive, compared to just 9.9% of kids from $100,000+ homes.” 

COVID has only worsened the situation. Schools and youth programs have been disrupted everywhere. According to Qustodio, worldwide screen time among children ages 4-15 is up 50% per day on phones, computers, and video games compared to pre-pandemic usage. These conditions have created more barriers to proper physical fitness activities and community engagement opportunities, two factors known to significantly improve health outcomes. 

Research demonstrates that strong community connection and regular physical activity significantly reduces health risks among youth. DiverseCity Online uses the power of sport to connect and inspire young people via a web and mobile application. The virtual platform provides a holistic learning experience whereby students 1) gain access to physical fitness opportunities that otherwise may not be available and 2) join a motivated community of people from around the world. The app provides sport-specific training (i.e. basketball, soccer, yoga, etc.) and sessions focusing on character and leadership development.

In virtual format, the potential to forge meaningful connections and influence positive health outcomes is greater as youth participants are not limited by geographic location. While beneficial to all youth, DiverseCity Online can specifically target cities/countries with high rates of chronic childhood health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity. 

While DiverseCity Online is accessible and beneficial to youth everywhere, our target demographic is youth ages 8-14 who reside in lower income and urban neighborhoods. Given that poverty and race are inextricably linked in the US, our user base is predominantly Black and Brown. Compared to their suburban White peers, this particular group is disadvantaged because they typically do not have access to similar physical/athletic outlets, quality instruction, and adequate facilities.  As a result, youth in these communities suffer from a lack of opportunity for regular physical activity and exercise, which has led to higher rates of negative health outcomes. 

DiverseCity Online fills that void by providing physical exercise opportunities, social-emotional education, and leadership training for youth in these communities. Our first-rate content is curated by our team of experienced professionals across a number of disciplines. These include educators, physicians, coaches, and professional athletes. Most importantly, we look to our on-the-ground community partners for their input to ensure we meet the needs of our participants and the community at large.  We rely heavily on their recommendations and feedback when making decisions about programming content, frequency, level of difficulty, etc.

DiverseCity Online targets the continually expanding health and educational disparities between BIPOC and white communities. At the recommendation of a MIT SOLVE Officer, we decided to apply for this Challenge. We feel our virtual platform provides opportunities for increased physical activity for BIPOC youth, while also creating dialogue centered around race, gender, and cultural humility, strongly aligns with the spirit and intent of the Antiracist Technology Challenge. Through our virtual platform, we have the potential to expand our antiracist and inclusive curriculum to more communities across the globe.

DiverseCity Online was launched as a business model pivot during the Covid-19 pandemic. Up until last summer, DiverseCity operated strictly as an in-person youth development program that connected youth from different communities via camps, clinics, and workshops. The spread of Covid-19  closed schools, recreation centers, and parks. Most major cities canceled summer programs. 

Our first iteration was launched in June 2020 with the intent of being a stopgap measure throughout the summer. Our goal was to help youth remain physically active and connected to a larger community. 

While the initial launch was successful and met our short-term goals, we quickly realized the platform’s potential for greater impact. DiverseCity Online’s second iteration (our prototype) includes additional features and tools that will allow us to scale the model more seamlessly.  We are currently testing this iteration before moving to the pilot phase.

There are no current youth sport and development programs offering a comprehensive online platform like ours. Pre-recorded videos can be found on video sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo, but these are often disjointed and lack the community connection value that we offer. There are also online courses for purchase but they aren’t individualized or flexible. There are almost no synchronous, virtual, interactive programs that target youth in the way we do. DiverseCity brings an exciting and interactive platform that helps youth get active, develop skills, and connect with a global community of peers. Simply put, nobody does it quite like us.

DiverseCity Online has/will served:   

Initial trial launch = 250 youth 

By next year = 50,000 youth 

By year five = 1,000,000+ youth 

As an organization, DiverseCity has served over 10,000 youth in the past decade with our in-person programs.

On the quantitative side, particularly for Impact Goals 1 and 3, we are concerned with metrics such as number of registered users, number of hours logged of exercise time, number of courses offered, and how often these courses are taken by users. We will also draw upon data collected via the synced Health Apps to assist in measuring our progress. 

For Impact Goal 2, we will rely on qualitative data gathered through pre- and post-surveys, interviews, and focus groups with users, their parents, and community members. 

Full-time: 1 

Part-time: 3

Interns: 1

I am confident that our team possesses the vision, skills, and gumption to bring this project to fruition. From a technical standpoint, we’ve built a core team of individuals with a range of professional experiences in all necessary facets of the solution. These include program design, coaching/teaching, finance and accounting, fundraising, legal expertise, marketing and communications, and web/app development. With additional funding, we hope to add more team members.. 

Personally, I would like the judges to know that I recognize that my leadership of an antiracist initiative as a white male may raise eyebrows.  However, given my upbringing and education, I feel uniquely qualified for this role. 

Growing up, I was the ONLY white student in my high school. It was a poor, urban, all-Black public school on Pittsburgh’s East End.That experience taught me to have empathy and understanding, as I was exposed to peers with vastly different life circumstances. Yet despite our differences, I learned that we had so much more in common than most people thought.   

I believe every child deserves that same transformational moment: learning there is more that unites us than divides us. For the past 14 years, I’ve devoted my life to bridging divides between segregated communities. DiverseCity has brought together communities of different races and economic status, teaching young people to collaborate, communicate effectively, and express empathy towards one another.  

I am 100% prepared to lead the team that delivers this solution. 

DiverseCity is an inclusive organization from top to bottom. We are intentional in our recruitment and hiring process for both leadership and staff to ensure that youth participants are instructed by capable, engaging, and highly qualified instructors who are representative of the population we serve.  Our leadership team and staff is a racially and socioeconomically diverse set of individuals; men and women who are former collegiate student-athletes, some of whom played professionally in their respective sport, and many of whom hail from the same communities as our students.

Becoming a Solver would open many doors for us. For years I’ve been actively seeking a “champion” supporter who shares a genuine interest in our mission and has the financial capacity to launch our organization to the next level. I’ve pitched my story to corporations, foundations, high net worth individuals, politicians, royalty, and anyone kind enough to give me a meeting. Suffice it to say, I have yet to secure the major support we need to realize our full potential. While we’ve affected thousands of young lives in communities far and wide, our impact can be so much greater through our virtual platform. I’m proud of our work but I’m hungry to do more. This award would help bring our vision to fruition.     

From a professional standpoint, the challenge is precisely what I need. While I’ve given serious thought to pursuing an MBA, I’m a trained social worker with no formal business education. Access to mentorship, coaching from experts, and increased exposure would help me tremendously in areas where I need to improve. Joining an international cohort of like-minded individuals who want to change the world as much as I do is wildly attractive. I want to be on that team.

Human Capital

If DiverseCity Online were a house, we have a solid foundation on which to build, and now seek to develop the infrastructure so we can expand our capacity and impact more lives. This process starts and ends with a Rockstar board of directors. We seek visionary board members, who can provide technical expertise, will promote DiverseCity to their networks, and have access to capital/can make introductions to potential investors. 

Financial

Secondly, we need initial funding to get the solution off the ground and additional funding to sustain it throughout its various stages of development. Pitching to investors is a necessary part of the process and a skill that we need in our toolbox. We want mentorship on how to effectively prepare and pitch to investors.

Public Relations

Lastly, the platform has the potential to produce lasting value and improve health outcomes on a global scale. The key to making this happen is a thoughtfully designed branding and marketing strategy that utilizes a global media network to reach our audience. 

3 Ideal Partners: 

Telecom Companies (Comcast, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc.)

While DiverseCity Online is a solution to lack of exercise options, a high percentage of households in our network lack basic broadband connection to participate. Telecom companies are targeting some of the poorest and most disadvantaged communities to grow their customer base. During the pandemic, companies began offering special rate TV/broadband internet services to low-income households. For example, Comcast’s Internet Essentials package addresses the connectivity issue by offering broadband to families in disadvantaged neighborhoods at an affordable cost. We offer a business case for partnership, in which DiverseCity Online serves as a lever for companies to gain access into these historically hard-to-reach communities. 

Health Insurance Companies 

We provide a viable solution for health insurance companies dealing with the rising costs of chronic illness in poor urban communities. We believe our platform will mitigate these costs by providing exercise opportunities in areas with high rates of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes. 

International PR Firm 

We intend to meet the current needs of a global community, create compelling content, grow our base, and continue impacting youth for years to come. We envision DiverseCity Online being live-streamed into living rooms, school yards, and playgrounds across the globe. Having a world-class PR Firm as a partner is vital to spreading the word and increasing participation.

Our solution meets the criteria for the prize. DiverseCity Online addresses physical and socio-emotional health and well-being for all youth participants but specifically those who come from lower income areas or marginalized populations. Our programs work towards providing greater equity within sports and amplifying the voices that need to be heard with regards to global citizenship and social injustice. When you combine the goals of our antiracist curriculum with our mission to get younger people living more active healthy lifestyles, we hope that our ability to impact lives will start to make small ripples into various communities across the nation.

Our solution meets the criteria for the prize. Since our inception, we have taught skills like empathy and understanding to young people, which are fundamental to their growth into actively anti-racist, allied individuals. Through the lens of physical fitness, DiverseCity Online addresses the disparities in health outcomes between underprivileged BIPOC communities and others with more opportunity. The Elevate Prize money will be invested into growing our business, while working alongside the cohort of other Elevate winners will spark new ideas and solutions to our challenges.