New York City FC has announced the return of Cityzens Giving, the Group-wide global community initiative which helps Young Leaders around the world change lives through the power of soccer. The Club has participated in the campaign since its inaugural season. Once again, fans will have the power to choose which projects they want to support, with City Football Group and its partners contributing $500,000 towards the campaign, totaling over $3-million since Cityzens Giving started.
VOTE NOW:Six cities. Six causes. Fans decide how funds are split
From New York City to Manchester, Melbourne to Bangalore, and São Paolo to Kilifi, City Football Group has selected six urban soccer projects which it will help facilitate through funding and expert training, run by young people, for young people and all tackling challenging social issues and changing lives through innovative programming.
Focusing on a range of issues, including girls’ empowerment, social inclusion, connecting communities, safe water, education and HIV prevention, Cityzens Giving trains, supports and funds projects run by forward-looking Young Leaders who all share a combined love and passion for soccer and a desire to advance their communities.
Cityzens Giving will also unlock the expertise of City’s partners to support and facilitate projects. Water technology company, Xylem, will be getting behind a safe water project in Bangalore and software and technology experts, SAP, will be helping support City in the Community run projects in both Manchester and New York City.
Over the course of a six-week campaign, fans will hear first-hand from the Young Leaders in each of the six projects and will be asked to vote for the one that resonates with them the most. The more votes a project gets, the greater amount of funding it will receive.
Ferran Soriano, CEO of City Football Group and Managing Director of NYCFC, said:
“I am incredibly proud that at New York City FC and City Football Group, Cityzens Giving is once again investing in the future of these amazing soccer projects around the world and the inspirational Young Leaders who are using the power of soccer in the most positive ways imaginable. These young people have incredible stories and have committed themselves to using the world’s most loved, watched and played sport to impact their own communities and tackle social issues which need our support. Importantly, we can help them to change and challenge perceptions and stereotypes of life in their cities, which are rich in color, positivity and a shared love of soccer.
“We are very pleased to take our funding of Cityzens Giving up to $3m and we will continue to support these great projects. Over the past four years, we have helped to train 1,300 Young Leaders, who have in turn delivered programming to 40,000 young people. More than this, we want to engage our global fanbase in the work of these projects, by giving them the power to help direct where the funding should go.”
Starting today, fans from across the City Football Group network can vote for their preferred cause at: https://www.cityzensgiving.org/newyork
