Nike, Spotify partner to launch Make Moves Fund to improve girls’ mental health

14 / 10 / 2023

By Marwa Nassar - -

Nike has marked the World Mental Health Day with engaging in a new partnership with Spotify in the United Kingdom to create the Make Moves Fund, which aims to use the power of music and dance to help girls move and improve their mental well-being.

Both brands recognize the current barriers to play and mental health: In England, some 80 percent of girls feel that they do not belong in sport. What’s more, Black British, African, Caribbean, Arab and Asian girls from low-socioeconomic backgrounds are the least active in the country. And by the time girls in the UK reach 18, they’re more than twice as likely as boys to report poor mental health.

Given these needs, Nike and Spotify have joined forces to help create lasting change and support girls to take their first steps into dance. Their Make Moves Fund will award grants equivalent to approximately $25,000 USD each to UK-based community organizations who propose pioneering, creative, girl-first program ideas that combine music and dance to inspire girls aged 10 to 17 to move on their terms.

“We’re committed to increasing girls’ participation in play and sport because we know that an active generation means a more equitable future,” says Dan Burrows, Senior Director, Nike Social & Community Impact EMEA. “Reaching girls requires innovative, creative approaches that put them at the center. Our UK-based partnership with Spotify represents a unique opportunity to do that — combining the power of music and dance to inspire girls to get and stay active while also improving their mental well-being.”

A panel of experts will collectively determine the awardees for funding. The panel will include four teenage girls (nominated by Black Girl Fest), Nike dancer Joelle D’Fontaine, Nike and Spotify social impact teams, and Ciara Dockery, a mental well-being expert from Gurls Talk. FLO, a London-based girl group that aims to empower girls and women through their music, are ambassadors for the Make Moves Fund.

Grantee programming will run for six months, and Nike and Spotify will measure each program’s impact.

The Spotify partnership and Make Moves Fund is the latest example of Nike’s worldwide efforts to take action to create a better world by getting girls moving.