• November 13, 2012

NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France and NBA Commissioner David Stern shared the stage on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium for the New York iteration of Beyond Sport. On the panel, Sports Teams for Social Change the talked about how teams and leagues can use their resources to engage with their communities more effectively. The commissioners also discussed how community engagement and philanthropic efforts can also benefit teams and leagues’ objectives across departments and enterprises. In May this year NASCAR became a founding member of a coalition that includes Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL), the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), as well as the NBA, NHL and MLS.

The leagues are part of Beyond Sport's wider global network to promote, develop and support the use of sport to create positive social change. “Beyond Sport United is an event born out of the idea that professional sports teams, as heroic brands with historic resonance, have the profound ability to be hubs of positive influence and resource within their communities,” said Nick Keller, founder of Beyond Sport. “What impressed me at our London event was how much of what NASCAR was doing to drive social change here in the U.S. resonated with a global audience."

 NASCAR Hall of Famer and The NASCAR Foundation Board Member Rusty Wallace joined a "Players Panel" to talk about how teams and leagues have supported, and can better support, players in their philanthropic work. The panel, moderated by Mike Greenberg from ESPN, included Mark Teixiera (World Series champion and founder of the Mark Teixeira Charitable Foundation), Derrick Brooks (former Super Bowl champion and founder of Derrick Brooks Charities), Aimee Mullins (Paralympian, actress, fashion model and activist) and Swin Cash (WNBA Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist) and Swin Cash (WNBA Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist).