LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation today was named as a 2021 winner of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Sports Award. The announcement was made during a private virtual ceremony.

“The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation is absolutely thrilled to have received the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Sports Award for our critical work to remove barriers to health equity through sports,” said Nichol Whiteman, CEO of the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation. “Through an approach that focuses on the comprehensive needs of young people, we aggressively tackle the most pressing challenges that Angelenos face by providing access and opportunity for those who need support the most.”

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Sports Award honors the innovative and collaborative efforts of individuals, organizations, and teams that are making their communities healthier through sport. LADF and co-honorees The Dance Institute of Washington, Make the World Better, Move United, and YEAH! YOGA will each receive a $25,000 cash prize. The prize will help LADF build a Culture of Health, and continue its partnerships with organizations like Up2Us Sports, Positive Coaching Alliance, We Coach, and RISE to include more racial and gender equity training for Dodgers RBI participants.

“I am amazed by the work of this year’s winners and their commitment to using sport as a vehicle to achieve health equity,” said Allyn Brooks-LaSure, RWJF’s vice president of Communications. “We know that removing barriers to safe play is essential to building a Culture of Health, and our winners provide wonderful examples of that.”

Since 2015, this award has recognized professional sports teams, athletes, coaches, and community-based organizations that use sports to catalyze and sustain changes to make communities healthier places to live, learn, work, and play. RWJF lifts up organizations that bring a deep understanding of community needs and acknowledge the power of sports to connect us and make us healthier, no matter our race, gender, abilities, or economic background.

For more information on the award, and past winners, visit www.rwjf.org/sportsaward.

About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation:

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is committed to improving health and health equity in the United States. In partnership with others, we are working to develop a Culture of Health rooted in equity that provides every individual with a fair and just opportunity to thrive, no matter who they are, where they live, or how much money they have. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook.

About the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation:

The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation is bigger than baseball with ambitions to be the city’s premier charity. We envision a city where everyone regardless of zip code has the opportunity to thrive. We are tackling the most pressing problems facing Los Angeles with a mission to improve education, health care, homelessness and social justice for all Angelenos. Since 1995, we have invested more than $32 million in programs and grants to nonprofits, and fundraising has increased by 1,000% since 2012. That growth has enabled us to do more.

In 2020, LADF was awarded ESPN’s Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year, Beyond Sport's Sport for Reduced Racial Inequalities Collective Impact Award, and the Aspen Institute Project Play Champion. To learn more, visit www.dodgers.com/LADF, follow them on Twitter, @DodgersFdn, Instagram, @dodgersfoundation, and like them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LosAngelesDodgersFoundation.