Chicago Fire at 12th EFDN Conference
We’re honoured to welcome Jessica Yavitz of Chicago Fire Soccer Club as a speaker at the 12th EFDN ‘#Morethanfootball’ Conference. This is the first time we’ve welcomed a guest speaker from the US and not only does it offer a fresh and different perspective on CSR in football but Chicago Fire are widely recognised as one of the leaders in sports-related community and social responsibility, not just in the US but in the World. Jessica will present their P.L.A.Y.S. Program, which is committed to enhancing the academic performance and development of key social and emotional (SEL) skills of elementary school students through a sports-based curriculum.
Off the field, the Chicago Fire Soccer Club’s goal is to contribute to the quality of life in Chicago and its surrounding communities. In order to leverage its resources and expertise in the area of soccer, the P.L.A.Y.S. (Participate, Learn, Achieve, Youth, Soccer) Program was established in 2013. The programme not only teaches soccer (we’ll go with the US version for this article) skills but also explicitly teaches SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) traits and values such as emotional control, goal setting and attainment, cooperation and respect and communication and teamwork. These SEL traits are tied to academic success and are used with sport training to improve the physical well-being and academic capabilities of the students. It is Chicago Fire Foundation’s belief that by teaching these values within the structure of an athletic activity, students will learn and adopt these values, transfer them from the athletic field to the classroom and thereby improve both their behaviour as well as their academic outcomes.
Jessica Yavitz – Chicago Fire
With more than 15 years of experience in professional sports and non-profit industry, Jessica Yavitz currently serves as the Vice-President of Community Relations / Executive Director for the Chicago Fire Soccer Club and Executive Director of the Chicago Fire Foundation. In this role, she is responsible for the strategic direction of the club’s overall philanthropic and community outreach efforts including the creation and management of social responsibility campaigns, events and programs, player initiatives and donor cultivation. Jessica is a motivated and innovative leader known for developing key partnerships through relationship building and development of strong community support.
Through her leadership, Jessica has evolved the Foundation into one of the most successful organisations in both Major League Soccer (MLS) and professional sports, winning both the 2015 Robert Wood Johnson Sport Team of the Year and the 2016 Beyond Sport Team of the Year among finalists like Arsenal, FC Barcelona, the Detroit Pistons and the San Francisco Giants. In 2018, the club was also recognised as a finalist for the ESPN Sports Team Humanitarian of the Year as well as the recipient of the Leaders in Sport Community Award. In addition, Jessica was named the 2007 MLS Community Relations Executive of the Year and guided the club to the league-leading six-time winner of the Community Relations Department of the Year.
Prior to joining the Fire, her experiences included marketing duties for the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks and serving as Venue Staffing Manager for the 1999 Women’s World Cup.
