We've seen what happens when you hand a kid a jersey and tell them to design it. The jersey becomes a hook, an access point. It becomes a canvas for them to express themselves, their dreams, and what they want the world to know about them.

Hundreds of jerseys later, and after nearly a decade working in classrooms across the US and UK, we've seen the power of bringing sport and design together firsthand.

Design FC is a non-profit built on that belief. Through our programs and collaborations with the world's biggest athletes, teams, and brands, we give youth a creative outlet, build their

What started with 11 students in a small classroom has turned into something I never could have imagined.

Back in 2018, when I was a student at Swarthmore College, I got a grant to launch a social impact project and took a year off school to build it. At the time, I was also a fellow at the Stanford d.school, learning all about the world of design thinking. I started asking myself how I could take what I found most essential to the model and bring it to a younger audience.

Having been a competitive athlete most of my life, I started thinking of ways to incorporate sport as well. I started wondering: what if students designed their own sports jerseys as a way of learning creative skills?

I started volunteering at a soccer nonprofit in Chester, PA, a ten minute drive from campus. The school I was placed at had no arts programming at the time. I started having conversations with students, teachers, principals, and parents, asked for feedback on the idea, and started building a curriculum and program around what I heard.

Nearly eight years later, Design FC has grown from that single classroom in Chester to a creative movement spanning 20+ cities in the US & UK, working alongside some of the biggest names in sport, design, media, and tech. The support of close friends, teachers, students, and parents kept this organization growing, from a small idea into the organization it is now.