Right to Dream Academy joined the Common Goal movement as an Impact Sponsor in May 2022 with the goal of disrupting the football industry’s status quo and make the game a true force for good in the world.
The partnership is built around a shared vision: elevating football’s place in the world by altering the narrative all while developing and testing methods and practices that enable the football world to maximize its contribution to social change.
Right to Dream Academy is a globally renowned purpose-driven football enterprise that uses the power of football to create opportunities for young people and promote a more equitable and sustainable future. They have a unique approach to combining player and human development, and a relentless commitment to demonstrating that sporting and financial success must be interwoven with sustainable social impact.
Right to Dream Academy has pledged to contribute a minimum of 1% of its revenues to Common Goal. This pledge applies to all employees within the organisation, including group leaders, academy administration, and staff, ensuring that everyone within the organisation can be part of the movement.
Changing the Narrative
The partnership between Right to Dream Academy and Common Goal will work towards changing the narrative around football’s purpose, inspiring others to join a purpose-driven journey, and develop testing methods and a blueprint to support everyone in football to drive change.
The partnership will also launch the “Purpose Project Platform” programme, provide £20,000 grants to ten entrepreneurs and create access to tools, techniques, and mentors, including subject matter experts from across the Right to Dream and Common Goal networks.
A Force for People and Planet
Held annually, the “Football Leaders Connect” gathering brings together leaders from the football industry - institutions, clubs, athletes, and other stakeholders. The purpose of the event is to identify and activate opportunities to drive football’s impact agenda forward collectively and to define strategies that support club owners and other leaders to embed purpose at the heart of their businesses.
Common Goal and Right to Dream will jointly develop strategies and opportunities based on the 1% Common Goal mechanic and Right to Dream’s experience, to help club owners to develop and infuse purpose into their clubs, from new strategies to access to insight and research.
An internship programme will be rolled out to create development opportunities and pathways for emerging excellence - talented youth who want to invest in their future and the future of their communities. This entails exciting work experiences that go beyond the football pitch and across both organisations and their respective partners.
Right to Dream and Common Goal will also publish a yearly ‘Football Purpose Report’ highlighting social innovation within the sport, sharing roadmaps and best practice suggestions for other stakeholders across football such as the clubs, and will look to measure success and progress on social issues benchmarked from one report to the next.
By partnering with Right to Dream Academy, Common Goal is able to amplify its impact and reach even more people, and together we hope to demonstrate the potential of football to be a true shaper of people and planet.