Making community work a core part of the soccer club’s mission, Angel City launched a project to provide sports at little or no cost to approximately 14,000 children ages 5 to 17 at more than 100 facilities affiliated with the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

The Angel City Impact Fund’s goal is to address the significant challenges that girls and gender-expansive youth face in the soccer ecosystem, the team said. The program will provide access to soccer, leadership training and other skills to thousands of children across the city over the next two years, the team said.

The team, which created the initiative in consultation with many of its long-time supporters, announced its program in Paris on Sunday, a day before the team’s Equality Summit.

Since its inception in 2020, Angel City has reallocated 10% of all sponsorship revenue to community initiatives and programs, directly investing more than $3.5 million in projects impacting nearly 160,000 Angelenos. That earned it humanitarian team of the year honors at this month’s ESPYs.

Establishing the Angel City Impact Fund as the team’s nonprofit arm will allow it to expand this work by inviting the community to inform and invest in flagship initiatives.

“We thought about what we could achieve if we pursued this,” said Catherine Dávila, the team’s head of community and marketing. “This partnership could significantly increase our impact.

“This is a long-term game.”

Dávila said the program’s initial budget is $1.3 million a year for three years. The money for that will come not from the team and its sponsors, but from Angel City’s initial fundraising efforts from fans and the community.

Dávila said five supporters have donated $10,000 or more so far, but the fundraising model will allow for donations of any amount.

“It allows our fans to invest $24 a month or $24 a year into the club,” he said.

Early donors include Justin Morrow, who won two Supporters’ Shields and a league title during his eight seasons in MLS and is now head of sports partnerships and programs at the USC Center for Race and Equity.

The initiative will address issues such as lack of representation among coaches, particularly those who identify as black, indigenous or people of color, female or gender diverse; prohibitive participation costs of $5,000 or more for elite soccer programs, a barrier that disproportionately impacts families in under-resourced communities; and a lack of specialized spaces and programs designed specifically for girls and gender diverse youth.