NWSL, Nationwide Announce Nationwide Community Impact Award

Season-long initiative focuses on giving back to community partners
Kansas City NWSL and forward Darian Jenkins to work with Kanbe’s Market in 2021

KANSAS CITY (September 9, 2021) ­– The National Women’s Soccer League, in partnership with Nationwide, announced today details around the Nationwide Community Impact Award, a season-long, community-focused initiative that will promote community partners and local service projects chosen and led by each NWSL club. The first annual Nationwide Impact Award will be presented at a postseason ceremony where one club and its partner will be recognized for their exemplary commitment off the field.

The platform, which will continue through the duration of Nationwide’s partnership with the league, officially kicks off in September with appreciation games that will recognize each club’s community partner during a home match.

“All of our clubs are situated within passionate, tight-knit communities, and it’s important for our teams to give back to their cities and fanbases in meaningful ways,” said NWSL Commissioner Lisa Baird. “We’re so excited to launch this incredible program and can’t thank Nationwide enough for helping us serve our communities. We hope that through this project our teams can continue to leave a positive impact on their communities in more ways than one.” 

As part of the league-wide initiative, each team will partner with Nationwide to select one season-long community partner. Each community organization will receive a grant to support its program and serve as the focus of a team-led service project, with a designated player ambassador to champion the effort.

Forward Darian Jenkins will be KC NWSL’s player ambassador, and together Jenkins and the team have chosen Kanbe’s Market to be the team’s 2021 community partner. Kanbe’s Markets is a nonprofit organization providing access to fresh, affordable, and healthy foods to people experiencing food insecurity.  By providing innovative food delivery systems that are more inclusive, enhance small businesses and empower individuals to make healthy choices, the organization aims to create a more equitable future of food. Kansas City NWSL will honor Kanbe’s Market on Oct. 2 when the team hosts the Houston Dash at Legends Field.

“Nationwide has a long history of aligning our values and our passion for community support to our sports partnerships. Creating this platform to showcase the great work being done in each of the NWSL club communities was a natural fit for us,” said Ramon Jones, Nationwide’s chief marketing officer. “We’re excited to see each team-community partnership come to life – especially with the support of the player ambassadors – and we look forward to presenting the first Nationwide Community Impact Award later this year.”

At the end of the season, one team-community partnership will be selected as the winner of the Nationwide Community Impact Award and their collective efforts will be honored during the 2021 NWSL Championship weekend in November. The winning community partner will receive a $20,000 donation from Nationwide to further the efforts of their program.

A full list of player ambassadors, community partners and appreciation nights can be found below.

About NWSL

The National Women’s Soccer League is a 12-team Division-I women’s professional soccer league featuring national team players from around the world. The clubs are the Chicago Red Stars, Houston Dash, North Carolina Courage, Orlando Pride, Portland Thorns FC, OL Reign, NY/NJ Gotham FC, Kansas City, Washington Spirit, and Racing Louisville FC, with two California-based teams, Angel City FC and San Diego, set to join for the 2022 season. Based in Chicago, the NWSL is partners with the Canadian Soccer Association and the United States Soccer Federation.

About Nationwide

Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the United States. Nationwide is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. An industry leader in driving customer-focused innovation, Nationwide provides a full range of insurance and financial services products including auto, business, homeowners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, annuities and mutual funds; excess & surplus, specialty and surety; pet, motorcycle and boat insurance. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

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