These 8 Portland-Area Social Entrepreneurs Just Got A Huge Boost For Their Organizations Through Adidas Community Lab
It’s graduation season, and these Portland-area entrepreneurs are being celebrated for a special reason.
Adidas recently held a graduation at its headquarters in Portland, Oregon, to celebrate eight inspiring social entrepreneurs who completed the Adidas Community LAB program.
The nine-month accelerator program is designed to support social entrepreneurs in making sports more equitable, focusing on closing the opportunity gap for Black and Latino/a/é social entrepreneurs.
Participants in the program receive $75,000 in seed funding for their businesses, along with mentorship from industry experts, weekly workshops, exclusive meetups, and networking opportunities.
During the event, the social entrepreneurs presented their organizations. They explained why they deserved additional funding for their initiatives to an audience of over 60 special guests and a panel of judges, which included members of the Adidas leadership team, key business partners, and other community leaders.
To emphasize diversity within the program, Adidas selected eight BIPOC entrepreneurs from Portland, Oregon, for the 2023-2024 graduating class.
Learn more about the entrepreneurs and their programs, via the official descriptions, below:
Anibal Rocheta, Loco Por La Aventura: Aims to inspire the Latino community to embrace outdoor activities equitably. The initiative aims to make outdoor education accessible to all, fostering a sense of connection and appreciation for nature. The meaningful experiences they create outdoors are breaking barriers and empowering communities.
Brennan Scarlett, Big Yard Foundation: Envisions a future where historically marginalized and disadvantaged communities, with a primary focus on children and youth, thrive through an integrated approach to literacy, creativity, and physical wellness. The foundation aspires to become a leading institution known for promoting academic excellence, technological innovation, and holistic well -being, serving students from kindergarten to 8th grade. The vision extends beyond local boundaries, with the goal of expanding to multiple locations, transforming lives, and providing equitable pathways for all students, ultimately leading them toward brighter and more promising futures.
Julian Alexander, Street Soccer USA PDX: Envisions a future where soccer becomes a powerful force for social impact and community empowerment, both in Portland and beyond. We aspire to have our own dedicated field in Portland, providing free access to soccer for youth and adults who would traditional be excluded from the existing pay to play model and while doing so direct them to other social services, as needed. With this field, we aim to serve people of color and those who have been pushed out of their homes due to gentrification and rising cost of living. In the lead-up to the 2026 World Cup, we’re working to create not only opportunities for participation in soccer but also meaningful career pathways, including coaching and other roles. Ultimately, the vision is to use soccer as a driving force to fight poverty, strengthen communities, and offer alternatives to traditional pay-to-play youth sports models, fostering social impact both in Oregon and beyond.
Lestarya Molloy, Fridie Outdoors: Envisions a future where outdoor knowledge is accessible to everyone, enabling joy, confidence, and freedom in the great outdoors. We aim to evolve our app into the leading platform for camping, serving a diverse user base, making offline access to essential camping skills a reality, and fostering a community grounded in diversity, equity, and inclusion. The ultimate goal is to empower individuals, regardless of their background, to camp comfortably and confidently.
Mashari Tyson, Black Excellence Group: Envisions a future where black students are poured into every week and thrive in the reality that they belong, are valued, loved, able and excellent. That children’s wellbeing is prioritized in such a way that produces limitless thinking and a contagious trajectory. The ultimate goal is to create a nationwide, fully-scaled program (in classroom and digital curriculum) that empowers students with a strong sense of belonging, a positive racial identity, access to sports, and essential life skills. This program aims to be a sustainable solution to empower black children with the skills, confidence, and experiences to propel them into their full potential.
Pamela Slaughter, People of Color Outdoors: Seeks to provide people of color in Oregon with a community that is safe, educational, inclusive, and healing. We offer recreational, artistic, educational and other outdoor events that foster better physical, emotional and spiritual health, and a sense of belonging and inclusion in spaces that are not always welcoming to people of color. We seek to develop a community of good stewards that are environmentally aware, lifelong nature lovers.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/pdxpoco/posts/2144607442583167/
Tory Campbell, Play It Safe Flagging System: Aims to create a more equitable system to decrease the threat of vehicle-related accidents, especially in densely populated urban areas and communities lacking access to play spaces. For most kids, outside the front door in the neighborhood street or apartment complex parking lot is the first place of play they experience. Riding, running, skateboarding, playing freeze tag, and hooping it up are ideal for exercising their boundless energy in earshot or under their parent’s watchful eye. However, the threat of increased vehicle traffic and delivery trucks makes such accessible areas of play far less safe.
Vanessa Gomez, Flow in the City: Urban yoga sanctuary. Our mission is to embody Portland’s beauty through the lens of local artists while cultivating safe space for you to practice intentional movement on your yoga mat. Owned and founded by a Latinx woman with the purpose to create and hold space for people to experience ease and belonging through their yoga practice. We offer a variety of classes for all levels. Our instructors are fueled by passion and intention.
