Global Goals World Cup: Games for Good

SAP Next-Gen, the Global Goals World Cup, Startup Guide, The Female Quotient, and the United Nations are working together to enable women to advance awareness and commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals.

It has been three years since world leaders at the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to improve billions of lives around the world, but solving the problems facing our planet is complicated. The responsibility to embrace collaboration and innovate with purpose to create a world without poverty, a healthier planet, and a just, peaceful society must be shared globally.

During the upcoming United Nations General Assembly week in New York, SAP Next-Gen is
driving innovation with purpose, bringing together new partners to engage and inspire a
global audience of purpose-driven innovators to join with SAP to accelerate solutions to the SDGs.

During the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, SAP Next-Gen is bringing its global network together in New York to support of the company's vision to help the world run better and improve people's lives and to engage new audiences in new experiences while showcasing how SAP is a leader on the forefront of supporting global action to address and accelerate solutions to the SDGs.

With EIR Soccer, SAP Next-Gen is hosting the Global Goals World Cup, the first-ever activist world cup for women's amateur football, at the SAP offices in Hudson Yards in New York City on September 25.

Imagine if sports were not just about being the strongest and fittest, but also about being purpose-driven. During the Global Goals World Cup, scoring goals and taking actions for the SDGs through exemplifying 'Innovation with Purpose' and mobilizing others are equally important.

'We are thrilled to be partnering with EIR Soccer and its Global Goals World Cup program, and are so inspired by the teams of women who are dedicating themselves to working on solutions to specific SDGs,' said Ann Rosenberg, senior vice president and global head of SAP Next-Gen.

SAP Next-Gen is transforming the 48th floor at the Hudson Yards office into an indoor soccer arena in order to enable the teams of social change agents to play five-a-side soccer for the world we want.

Meet the teams and hear their inspiring commitments in this video :

From Denmark to Everywhere

The Global Goals World Cup was created by EIR Soccer, a small Danish organization with a big idea: to create sports events that inspire women to become champions of the 17 SDGs and drive progress and change in their communities.

'We want to bring the power of sport to the table in the push to realize the Global Goals,' says Majken Gilmartin, CEO of EIR Soccer and the Global Goals World Cup. 'We do this by creating a unifying event centered around inspiring and activating women to accelerate awareness and progress in the world.'

The Global Goals World Cup event showcases not only purpose-driven women competing for good causes, but also brings together global thought leaders, influencers, and celebrities who are joining with SAP Next-Gen to support the event's mission. Through unplugged talks and panels highlighting key topics of gender equality, as well as a broadcasting studio, an audience in New York and globally will be able to engage and join in a movement to accelerate action on the SDGs inspired by the teams and their actions.

Learn more about the panelists and special guests.

Startup Guide Launches in New York and Takes the Field for Purpose

Startup Guide, a creative content and publishing company that produces guidebooks and tools to help entrepreneurs navigate and connect with different startup scenes across the globe, is joining with other SAP Next-Gen partners to field a team of purpose driven athletes at the Global Goals World Cup.

'Startup Guide and SAP Next-Gen share a joint vision to connect entrepreneurs globally to purpose driven partners and institutions, enabling today's startups to become tomorrow's purpose driven enterprises driven to achieve profit as well as purposeful outcomes aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals,' said Rosenberg.

Entrepreneurs who own a copy of the Startup Guide book, whether it features New York or any other innovation hubs around the world, can now tap into the global SAP Next-Gen network of more than 3,600 educational institutions in 116 countries, including more than 110 SAP Next-Gen labs and hub locations at universities and at partner and SAP locations, and nearly 100 SAP Next-Gen Chapters, as well as startups, accelerators, tech community partners, venture firms, futurists, and purpose-driven institutions. Startup Guide New York launches on October 1, 2018.

'New York City has one of the most diverse and creative startup ecosystems in the world and we're excited to be putting a spotlight on the entrepreneurs, investors, colleges, accelerators, coworking spaces, and experts in the city,' says Sissel Hansen, founder and CEO of Startup Guide. 'We are pleased to be partnering with SAP Next-Gen to launch our first book featuring an American city that is fast becoming known as a leading innovation hub globally, and to bring a spotlight to the amazing SAP Next-Gen space at Hudson Yards.'

The Female Quotient Opens a Girls' Lounge at SAP Next-Gen in New York

The Female Quotient, a company and community dedicated to achieving workplace equality, will have a team playing for Global Goal #5, Gender Equality, and will be hosting a Girls' Lounge at the Global Goals World Cup. The Girls' Lounge is a destination-turned-movement at conferences, companies, and campuses for women to create connections and activate solutions for change together.

'Change will happen only if we work together,' says Shelley Zalis, CEO of The Female Quotient. 'We're channeling the power of the pack by teaming up with SAP Next-Gen, an organization which has passion and purpose in its DNA, to help drive the UN Global Goals and create the change we want to see.'

The Female Quotient has announced that in partnership with SAP Next-Gen, a worldwide network of Girls' Lounges on college campuses will empower young women to become business leaders and change agents. The Girls' Lounges @ Campus initiative leverages the network of 110+ SAP Next-Gen Labs at universities globally.

Earlier in June, the first Girls' Lounge @ Campus opened at the SAP Next-Gen Lab location at ESIGELEC in Rouen, France. In August, the second Girls' Lounge @ Campus launched at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. As the rollout continues, the Girls' Lounge @ Campus will soon grow to having a presence at campuses globally.

RSVP for the Girls' Lounge @ Global Goals World Cup.

SAP Next-Gen Recognized for Leadership in Making Tech and Innovation Work Better for Women and Girls

The EQUALS in Tech Awards annually recognize people who are helping girls and women get equal access, skills, and opportunities in the tech industry. On September 22, 2018 Rosenberg will receive an award on behalf of SAP in recognition of leadership in the SAP Next-Gen program driving a strategic partnership with UN Women where SAP and #sheinnovates supports the goals of the Global Innovation Coalition for Change (GICC). SAP and 24 other leading private sector, academic, and not-for-profit institutions are committed to making innovation work for women and girls, and to accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the 2030 agenda for the UN SDGs. The #sheinnovates program, founded by UN Women and led by Rosenberg, supports the mission of the GICC and builds up the community on behalf of the movement.

SAP Next-Gen will also be recognized for its leadership in fostering the next generation of purpose-driven entrepreneurs with Rosenberg serving as a judge during the MIT Solve Challenge Finals, being held September 23 in New York City.

Learn more about the SAP Next-Gen program