The University of Massachusetts Boston has received a $10 million commitment from Boston-based New Balance Athletics, Inc. to establish the New Balance Institute for Innovative Leadership in Sport on the Columbia Point campus. The gift will provide operational funds to launch the institute and endow it in perpetuity.

The commitment and the institute build on the New Balance Sport Leadership program founded at UMass Boston with a $5 million gift in 2018.
“This is a brilliant partnership,” said UMass Boston Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco. “UMass Boston is the natural academic home for the New Balance program and this new institute. Innovative and interdisciplinary, the program prepares students for exemplary careers in sports management while offering a robust social justice platform to advance excellence, equity, diversity, and human rights in sports. This aligns with our foundational idea that a UMass Boston education is designed to have impact and serve the greater good.”

Since the program opened in fall 2019, it has grown to 127 students majoring in sport leadership and administration, with another 34 students having already graduated. Students in the program have participated in a combined 10,000 hours of internships in the sport industry.

“We are excited to expand our investment in UMass Boston through this institute, which reflects New Balance’s focus on advancing opportunities for transformational leadership, innovation, and diversity in our industry,” said Jim Davis, New Balance Chairman. “Chancellor Suárez-Orozco and Dr. Joe Cooper have done a tremendous job to establish the Sport Leadership & Administration program. We look forward to seeing how this institute will enable the power of sport to positively impact our communities and create change-making sports leaders for the future.”