Yahoo Sports Celtics to donate $25M to racial justice initiatives in Boston area
The Boston Celtics will donate $25 million over the next decade toward initiatives focused on addressing racial injustice and social inequities in the Boston area, the team announced on Tuesday.
The donation — which will be run through their Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation and be called “Boston Celtics United for Social Change” — will include $20 million in cash and $5 million in media assets.
“We feel both the urgency of the moment and the weight of the centuries of injustices as we undertake this critically important work,” Celtics managing partner Steve Pagliuca said in a statement. “The Boston Celtics have a proud legacy of being on the right side of racial and social justice, and we are more resolved than ever to take that commitment to another level. Our goal is to do everything we can to achieve progress on each of the targeted pillars, and we will work tirelessly to make real change.”
The announcement comes about a month after the NBA Board of Governors and the NBPA launched the NBA Foundation. Team owners are planning to contribute $300 million over the next decade to establish that foundation with the goal of “creating greater economic empowerment in the Black community.”
‘The time is now’
The Celtics said that they have identified six pillars through discussions with their players and community leaders in the Boston area that they want to focus on, including: Equity in education, economic opportunity and empowerment, equity in healthcare, criminal justice and law enforcement, breaking down barriers and building bridges between communities, and voting and civic engagement.
“We don’t need to pacify the situation with empty gestures,” Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said in a statement. “We need to hold ourselves, the Celtics organization and the city of Boston accountable.
“Monetary commitment is a great first step, but we need to commit to this process by creating a balance of short and long-term change. The time is now.”
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