Women’s Soccer Stars Partner with FIFA to Drive Global Change
- Jason Longshore
- 2 minutes ago
- 4 min read
When you put some of the most influential players in the global women’s game into one room, something powerful is bound to happen. That’s exactly what FIFA set out to spark with the launch of its inaugural Player Impact Programme, a new initiative designed to help professional women's soccer players turn their platforms into real, measurable social change. This is vital in a moment when the women’s game has more visibility and momentum than ever.
This is a pilot group: 14 players representing World Cup winners, club icons, and rising stars. They began their journey in Paris back in August. The goal from day one was clear: give the players the tools, mentorship, and seed funding needed to design and lead their own community-focused impact projects.
And as the first edition wraps its three-month cycle, we’re starting to see what that empowerment looks like when players take the lead.
A Program Built on Personal Experience
Unlike many top-down development initiatives, the Player Impact Programme wasn’t about a funding agency creating a menu of projects to choose from. It was about players building their own unique initiatives. Each participant was encouraged to dig into the issues that shaped their lives and then design solutions that could help someone who’s walking the same path today.
For Canada international Kadeisha Buchanan, that meant going home.
Buchanan grew up in Toronto as the youngest of seven girls in a single-mother household. Her project focuses on providing access to the game for single mothers and their daughters, from registration fees to travel costs to mentorship.
“It really took a community to get me where I am today,” Buchanan said. “My foundation is built to create pathways through soccer.”
Her story is emblematic of what this FIFA program is trying to surface: players using their lived experiences as a foundation for genuine, lasting change and she’s far from the only one.
Three Months of Work, One Big Moment in London
After the Paris kickoff, the players spent three months receiving personalized guidance from FIFA and an external specialist in sports social impact. It was essentially an accelerator for soccer-based community work.
This month in London, they reconvened for the program’s defining moment: pitching their projects to a three-person panel featuring FIFA Chief Football Officer and two-time World Cup–winning coach Jill Ellis, former Afghanistan national team player and activist Khalida Popal, and philanthropist and Firebird Collective founder Olivia Hall.
The result? Seed funding awarded directly from FIFA, allowing the players to bring their plans to life in their home communities.
Projects That Reflect the Modern Game
Some initiatives focus on leadership pathways for young women. Some target access to sport. Some address economic barriers or social stigma. All are shaped by the individuals behind them.
A few standout examples:
Alessia Russo (England)
Project: “Power Her Play”
A development initiative centered on helping girls play with pride, learn with purpose, and live with power. Russo sees it as a natural extension of her own role as a role model.
“I've always wanted to have an impact away from the pitch,” she said. “It’s really important to develop the next generation.”
Tierna Davidson (USA)
Project rooted in a year battling injury
Davidson used the downtime of a difficult year to rethink how players support one another through the emotional and professional challenges of the game. The programme’s structure helped her turn those reflections into something actionable.
“To be able to have FIFA’s support is incredibly crucial,” she said. “It’s so difficult to get something off the ground.”
Kadeisha Buchanan (Canada)
Supporting single mothers and daughters
Her foundation aims to remove financial and logistical barriers — often the biggest roadblocks in community soccer.
Football’s Global Influence, Directed by Those Who Live It
At its core, the Player Impact Programme is a recognition of something obvious but often overlooked: soccer players have enormous reach and unique experiences. In the women’s game, that influence has often been under-leveraged because players haven’t historically been given structures, funding, or guidance to build initiatives of their own.
This program is trying to change that.
FIFA provided:
Three months of tailored coaching
Workshops and mentorship from global experts
Seed funding for project execution
A platform for global promotion
It’s a strong start and an acknowledgment of the expanding leadership role women’s soccer players are ready to take on off the pitch.
Why This Matters
The program hits at a deeper truth about the women’s game in 2025: players aren’t just athletes; they’re community anchors, activists, and cultural leaders.
Supporting them doesn’t just lift their projects. It lifts their communities, their federations, and the sport itself. This is how the game truly grows. It needs to come from the grassroots, led by people who understand those roots best.
The global soccer landscape is evolving with more investment, more visibility, and hopefully more responsibility. Initiatives like these help ensure that the growth of women’s soccer also translates into growth for women, full stop.
#soccer4good is a hashtag with real meaning. The game brings us together, teaches us about one another, and with initiatives like these led by the players themselves, it can genuinely change the world for the better.