Ed Foster-Simeon, President & CEO, U.S. Soccer Foundation Ed Foster-Simeon is committed to leveling the playing field for people of color and those living in underserved communities. As the former editor at USA Today who has been the President & CEO of the U.S. Soccer Foundation for 12 years, Foster-Simeon has unmatched insight into the challenges facing people of color, the history of how we got where we are today, and innovative solutions being implemented to create a more just America. Foster-Simeon can speak to issues of racism; racial inequalities; or systemic social, economic, legal or medical disparities in underserved communities.
As the head of the U.S. Soccer Foundation, Foster-Simeon has made the organization a leader in improving social and health outcomes for children in communities that are often forgotten and ignored—an issue that has been even further exposed as the COVID-19 crisis and Black Lives Matter movement have had an undeniable influence on the future of our country.
Foster-Simeon – a former journalist who served as Deputy Managing Editor at USA Today where he was responsible for Washington, political, and foreign news operations – grew up in Brooklyn, New York. There and while serving in the U.S. Navy, he saw firsthand how systemic inequalities affected individuals and communities of color. Today, he leads the U.S. Soccer Foundation to use youth sports—specifically soccer—as a catalyst for long-term, systemic social change. The U.S. Soccer Foundation’s work was recognized with the Steve Patterson Award for Excellence in Sports Philanthropy, presented by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health of and health care for all Americans. The U.S. Soccer Foundation’s work has also earned a prestigious Social Innovation Fund award in the Healthy Futures portfolio and a Justice Department Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Multi-State Mentoring award.
“We know that our communities are suffering. Suffering from systemic racism and racial inequities. Suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic that is disproportionately affecting underserved communities due to decades of health disparities. Suffering from the economic crisis and from other systemic inequities, such as lack of recreational opportunities and safe places to play,” Foster-Simeon, a Trustee of the NAACP Foundation, said recently. “While statements of support confirm that people’s eyes are open, the next step is even harder – doing the work in our communities to fix these injustices.”
