Kobe & Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation About

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OUR MISSION

The Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation is dedicated to improving the lives of youth and families in need, both domestically and globally, and encouraging young people to stay active through sports. The Foundation provides financial resources, develops unique programs and raises awareness for relevant issues in order to strengthen communities through educational and cultural enrichment opportunities.

ABOUT KVBFF

How KVBFF Started

In 2007, Bryant launched the VIVO Foundation — now known as the Kobe & Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation — in an effort to provide young people with life-changing experiences designed to broaden their global perspectives. Through this initiative, Kobe and Vanessa have sponsored international enrichment experiences for minority college students and provided domestic and international youth scholarships for the Kobe Bryant Basketball Academy. Following Hurricane Katrina, VIVO brought eight boys from storm-ravaged New Orleans to Los Angeles for the Academy and a red carpet tour of the Los Angeles area.

Kobe's Basketball Career

Kobe Bryant has led the Los Angeles Lakers to five NBA Championships and is a 16-time NBA All-Star and 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist. He is the all-time leading scorer in Lakers franchise history and currently ranks fourth on the NBA’s all-time regular season scoring list. Bryant earned the league’s Most Valuable Player Award in 2008 and led the NBA in scoring during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. He was the 2009 and 2010 NBA Finals MVP and ranks third all-time in NBA post-season scoring.

Bryant has been selected fifteen times to the All-NBA First Team and twelve times to the All-Defensive Team. Bryant won the All-Star MVP award four times (2002, 2007, 2009 and 2011), and won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 1997. Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school basketball player in the country. Selected with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, he became the first guard in league history to be drafted out of high school.

Kobe's Philanthropy

In 2006, Bryant and his wife Vanessa launched their Foundation to enhance the lives of young people through cultural and educational experiences. The Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation (KVBFF) is dedicated to improving the lives of youth and families in need, and encouraging young people to stay active through sports.

KVBFF operates Mamba FC, a youth soccer club in Orange County that teaches young athletes how to become leaders and independent thinkers, while working together as a group to achieve a common goal through health and fitness.

In order to make a measurable impact on the critical issue of youth homelessness, KVBFF partnered with a number of Los Angeles-based organizations including Step Up on Second, My Friend’s Place and United Way. Bryant has served as the honorary chair of United Way of Greater Los Angeles’s annual HomeWalk for three consecutive years.

Bryant volunteers his time to Make-A-Wish Foundation, NBA Cares and The Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and serves as an ambassador for After-School All-Stars. In 2007, he launched the Kobe Basketball Academy, at which he mentors and trains athletes ages 8-18.