Trust For Public Land and Nike Announce A $2 Million Grant from Nike to Help Communities Better Combat the Impacts of Climate Change 

Nike’s new Community Climate Resilience Program will advance access to green spaces and sport in communities disproportionately impacted by climate threats, including projects in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago

San Francisco – Today, Trust for Public Land [TPL] and Nike announced a grant of $2 million to the Trust for Public Land’s efforts to create more parks, trails and community schoolyards to increase access to the outdoors, while helping to combat the effects of climate change in communities most impacted. 

“Climate change is tightening its grip everywhere, and disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable communities across America. But as climate change risks increase from heat, floods and poor air quality, particularly in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods, TPL’s work to build parks, trails and community schoolyards has become a powerful driver of public health and climate resilience,” said Diane Regas, president and CEO of Trust for Public Land. “We are incredibly honored to be awarded this grant funding by Nike and proud to partner in advancing our work on outdoor recreation, while preparing our communities for the health and climate challenges of the future.” 

 Nike awarded TPL an inaugural $2M, 2-year grant through its new Community Climate Resilience Program to fund projects that advance a critical goal: build climate resilience in communities disproportionally impacted by climate threats. Its method: creating and cultivating public greenspaces. The first round of funding will focus on three areas: 1) transforming asphalt and concrete schoolyards into recreational spaces; 2) creating and maintaining parks and trails; and 3) advancing a nationwide movement to build community resilience through high-quality green spaces. Greenspaces play a critical role in reducing the effects of urban heat islands and flooding, which are both intensified in communities that are most vulnerable and underserved. Parks can be as much as 17 degrees cooler than surrounding cityscapes. Parks can also help disperse stormwater and floods, lessening the impact of climate-related natural disasters in communities and improving water quality. 

TPL creates parks and protects land for people, ensuring healthy livable communities for generations to come. Like Nike, TPL believes access to the outdoors for sport and play is a fundamental human need, essential to our health and well-being, and is an important tool in mitigating the effects of climate change. And yet, 100 million people, including 28 million kids, do not have access to a quality park within a 10-minute walk from home. The parks we do have are often not equitable. On average, parks in communities of color in the U.S. are half the size, lower quality, and in many instances more prone to flooding than parks serving predominantly white neighborhoods.  

 TPL is committed to creating more climate resilient places that bring us outside—parks, trails, community schoolyards, and public lands—and making them available and welcoming to everyone, everywhere. TPL also recognizes that not all communities feel the impacts of climate change in the same way, acknowledging that historically underserved communities are often first impacted and last served. TPL builds this recognition into their work and project selection. Today’s grant funding will support national climate outcomes, but will also specifically focus on communities in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. 

By creating, protecting, and investing in parks, trails, and community schoolyards in historically underfunded neighborhoods, TPL and NIKE together will improve climate resilience, bridge the park equity gap, and further advance access to sports and outdoor recreation.  

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