Category Archive
Take the Lead Program Manager Preethi Varma shares her views on Team Captains playing an important role during National Mentoring Month. National Mentoring Month, every January, is a time to not only commemorate the great work adult mentors at Urban Initiatives or around the U.S. undertake, but also to recognize the power of consistent and…
Urban Initiatives is fortunate to count lots of amazing companies as Corporate Coaching partners for our fall season, but PwC takes the award for most volunteers and for coming out to play twice over the past twelve weeks. On October 23, nine volunteers met the teams from Gunsaulus Academy, Greene Elementary, and Walsh Elementary at…
For the last game day of the fall season, Urban Initiatives welcomed a team of Corporate Coaches from DayNine Consulting at Chicago Indoor Sports. The volunteers spent the afternoon working with teams of seven Urban Initiatives soccer players from Providence Englewood Charter School, Tarkington Elementary, Marquette Elementary, and Lee Elementary. After getting loosened up with…
On Friday, December 4th, a team of Kirkland & Ellis volunteers spent the afternoon coaching 90 second to fourth grade students from Urban Initiatives’ Work to Play program. The volunteers led small teams of students from Jordan Elementary (Rogers Park), Faraday Elementary (East Garfield Park), and Bateman Elementary (Irving Park) through friendly soccer games against each other.…
A day after United hosted Urban Initiatives’ Q2 Board of Directors meeting at its offices in the Willis Tower, Urban Initiatives’ players welcomed a team of United volunteers for an afternoon of Corporate Coaching. After introductions and coming up with team names, the players from Greene Elementary, Beethoven Elementary, Morrill Elementary, and Otis Elementary hit…
A few weeks before the start of the fall Work to Play soccer season, Urban Initiatives received a phone call from Julia Weiss, a former Wilmette Wings player who remembered playing in a Crosstown Classic with Urban Initiatives players a decade ago. Julia wanted to organize a Corporate Coaching day with her company, Huron Education.…
On November 6, a team of Corporate Coaches from IMC Financial Markets brought some soccer expertise to the Urban Initiatives teams from Morrill Elementary, Lee Elementary, Reavis Elementary, and National Teachers Academy. It was difficult to tell who was more excited—the coaches or the players—as the two groups warmed up together, and the excitement continued…
On a beautiful afternoon in October, a team of volunteers from Integrated Project Management (IPM) traveled to Jenner Academy of the Arts in Cabrini Green to coach Urban Initiatives’ players from Jenner and Otis Elementary for the day. While team Jenner and the volunteers waited for Otis’s bus to arrive, Jenner’s players led their new…
Beyond the glaring differences in pads, footwear, and playing surfaces, hockey and soccer share lots of similarities. Both require physical fitness, teamwork, and lots of practice, and both sports are way more fun when there are talented coaches to help with training. On October 2, Junior Board member Jay Wilson brought his players from the…
On September 25, volunteers from LinkedIn took the field with players from Kozminski Academy and Morton School of Excellence at Humboldt Park. LinkedIn’s last Corporate Coaching day came at the very end of the spring 2015 season, and it was great to have a few familiar faces in the mix to kick off our fall…
