Open Field
Play. Lead. Inspire
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
25% of first-generation immigrant children are living in poverty in the U.S. compared with 17% of non-immigrant children. Language barriers and cultural differences create challenges to accessing basic resources and educational support for immigrant and refugee youth. Access to extracurricular activities is severely limited due to a lack of parental involvement (conflicting work schedules), lack of affordable opportunities, and the geographical location of the neighborhoods where these youth and their families live. Furthermore, immigrant and refugee youth lack access to post-secondary school exploration employment opportunities. For immigrant and refugee students, completing any level of education beyond high school is difficult due to a limited understanding of the U.S. education system and minimal parental involvement caused by language barriers. In Pennsylvania, only 54% of students from immigrant and refugee backgrounds who begin college go on to graduate.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Sport-based Youth Development
Since 2019, Open Field has implemented SBYD programming twice per week for nearly 100 youth ages 6-18 in Crafton Heights and Northview Heights. We create a safe space on soccer fields in or nearby these communities so youth can walk to the field, eliminating one of the biggest challenges to participation in extra-curricular activities (transportation).
CHAMPS: Teen Employment and Leadership
CHAMPS - (CHange Agents Mentoring Peers through Sport)
After participating in training workshops and seminars, teenagers are employed as assistant coaches and referees. They learn transferable skills and how to apply and interview for jobs to prepare them for their future. They serve as role models to younger kids in their neighborhood.
College Program
Open Field partners with the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) to manage a club soccer team that supports first-generation, foreign-born student-athletes to earn their associate degrees and get higher-paying jobs.
After School Programs and Summer Camps
We are proud to partner with organizations across the region to provide high-quality SBYD programming for hundreds of youth every year. Partners include ARYSE, Frick Park Tennis Association, Latino Community Center, Mooncrest Neighborhood Programs, Pittsburgh Public Schools, South Hills Interfaith Movement, and Woodland Hills School District.
Competitive Teams & Community Play
Teams of high school-age youth represent their neighborhood on Open Field teams in the Citiparks futsal league each winter. In the fall, we partner with Elliot West End Athletic Association to register more than 65 refugee youth ages 9-18 in their annual soccer league, nearly doubling participation in three age groups, expanding diversity, and promoting equity within the league.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of youth who volunteer/participate in community service
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Sport-based Youth Development
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our peer educators take a leadership role in organizing community service projects at least twice per year in their neighborhoods.
Number of youth who demonstrate civic participation skills (e.g., compromise, perspective-taking)
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
CHAMPS: Teen Employment and Leadership
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Each neighborhood and program site has Youth Leaders who serve as mentors. Thelp to identify issues affecting youth to incorporate into soccer activities and develop community service projects
Number of participants engaged in programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Sport-based Youth Development
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Youth participants are girls and boys who are consistently and actively engaged in our programming on a weekly basis for most of the year.
Number of employment placements defined as temporary or seasonal
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
CHAMPS: Teen Employment and Leadership
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Community Leaders, Youth Leaders, Assistant Coach Mentors, and Youth Referees are employment opportunities for youth to learn future skills.
Number of individuals applying skills learned through the organization's training
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Sport-based Youth Development
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
More than 90% of youth participants self-report they apply what they learn from Open Field to their daily lives, in school, at home, or in their community with peers.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Open Field improves the lives and futures of youth through sport. We promote education, health, girls’ empowerment, leadership, and workforce readiness through the global game of soccer.
Open Field's framework for educational soccer-based activities promotes health, education, and leadership skill-building in youth ages 6-18. For young adults around the ages of 18-23, Open Field supports students from marginalized communities to explore postsecondary education options to secure their futures and get higher-paying jobs. The model is effective because it empowers teenagers and young adults from within the community to engage in key leadership roles and teaches transferable leadership skills.
Our programming provides hundreds of hours of leadership experiences for participants including mentoring, peer education, exploratory field trips, workforce development, and community service. Immigrant and refugee youth gain personal and professional skills, on-the-job training, resources to opportunities after high school, and access to future employment.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Open Field’s programming creates a safe space in low-resource neighborhoods where youth from diverse backgrounds come together to play and learn as equals. Our programming incorporates Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) for children ages 6-18 through activities and discussions on and off the soccer field. Working closely with community partners, we design our programming to meet the unique needs of the population in the neighborhood where we work, so it’s culturally relevant and meets youth where they are. We foster mentoring relationships with adult coach mentors using a trauma-informed methodology.
Furthermore, our coach mentors create a safe space that encourages girls to participate in sport-based youth development programs that prepare them to play high school soccer and feel a stronger sense of belonging. We build trust with parents to ensure they have the same opportunities as their brothers
In addition, we employ teenagers as Youth Leaders through our CHAMPS youth leadership program, providing them with the skills and experience they need to be successful in school now and in the workforce in the future. After participating in training workshops and seminars where they learn transferable skills (communication, decision-making, and conflict resolution), teenagers are employed as assistant coaches and referees. They become role models to younger kids in their neighborhood
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We utilize a proven approach known as sport-based youth development (SBYD) that leverages the passion and character-building attributes of team sport to create positive outcomes beyond the field. Our approach to SBYD is informed by Open Field's decade of experience working in SBYD programs in Cameroon, Africa. Because soccer is an integral part of culture around the world, it provides a sense of familiarity, belonging, and opportunity that many foreign-born youths in Pittsburgh do not feel in other spaces.
Since 2010, Open Field’s global team has engaged more than 5,000 youth in educational soccer programming and mentoring relationships in Cameroon, Africa and Pittsburgh, PA. Open Field partners with several youth-serving and cultural organizations to reach youth from immigrant, refugee, and minority communities in the city. Open Field partnered with the Somali Bantu Community Association of Pittsburgh and Youth Places to launch our CHAMPS youth leadership program in Northview Heights for Black African and American-born children.
Additionally, we have teamed up with JFCS Pittsburgh and Alliance for Refugee Youth Support and Education (ARYSE) to run programming for newly resettled refugee youth in Crafton Heights. In 2020, we shifted our programs virtual to reach more youth through collaboration with the Bhutanese Community Association of Pittsburgh and Casa San Jose and launched our first Girls Program. In 2021, we facilitated programming for more than 450 youth across Allegheny County with seven partners. In 2022, we partnered with the Elliot-West End Soccer League to register over 25 youth participants across three age divisions to play a fall season of competitive soccer with peers from outside their community.
In 2022, Open Field launched its new College Program with the creation of a club soccer team at Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC). The program supports students from marginalized communities in the greater Pittsburgh region, primarily immigrants and refugees, to obtain their associate degrees and get higher-paying jobs. Program staff and mentors support students in obtaining the services they need, whether it’s course selection, academic support, financial assistance, or social-emotional support.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
A Survey of Long-time Program Participants Found That:
• 96% Gained leadership skills they use today
• 90% Performed better in school
• 85% Learned how to set and achieve goals
• 93% Noticed a 'big change' in themselves after participating
• 97% Say important decisions they made were shaped by their experience
In 2021, we administered pre-season surveys in the spring and post-surveys in the fall to participants and noted positive changes resulting from their involvement in our programs. Youth participants’ responses were significantly higher in the following areas:
• Proud of their talents which are different than their friends
• Like the way they look
• Believe they can do whatever they set their mind to
• Know many adults whom they can trust and go to for help
Through partnerships with Chris Nedelcovych Soccer Foundation (Guinea) and K'Powa Women (Liberia), Open Field is expanding our SBYD programming in two more countries in West Africa in 2023-2024. In addition to youth programming, we are exploring the potential for 'place-making' efforts to improve local soccer pitches and cultural immersion experiences to connect our supporters to service-learning opportunities abroad.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Open Field
Board of directorsas of 01/24/2024
Steve Harris
Dentons
Term: 2021 - 2023
Kim Cermak
Athena Group International
Sylvia Nanji
Nanji & Associates
Martell Covington
Legislative Aide for Senator Bob Casey
Matthew Weissberg
PNC Bank
David Hackworth
CNX Resources
Carly Carstens
The Ellis School
Steven Harris
Cohen & Grigsby
Jen Wagner
BNY Mellon
Danny McElhinny
Consultant
Tiffany Castagno
HR Consultant
Stephanie Harrison
Licensed Therapist
Alissa Repanshek
Price Waterhouse Cooper
Sally Nedelcovych
Retired
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
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Gender identity
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Transgender Identity
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Sexual orientation
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Disability
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