How Stephen and Ayesha Curry Use Their Platform for Social Change

Did you know one in six children in the United States, and one in four children in the San Francisco Bay Area, are affected by hunger?

Alarming, right? Ayesha Curry, a renowned restauranteur, chef, and New York Times best-selling author, thought so too. When her oldest, Riley, was old enough to go to school, she noticed how food insecurity affected her community and knew she wanted to use her platform for social change.

Watch our complete interview with Ayesha and husband, Stephen Curry, at the Commonwealth Equality Series on Friday, January 17.

Fast-forward to 2019, Ayesha and her husband, six-time All-Star NBA Champion Stephen Curry launched Eat. Learn. Play. with a mission to ensure every child has access to food, a great education, and safe spaces to play. The foundation brings organizations together to amplify these three pillars, particularly underserved children in Oakland, where the couple lived for many years.

“The dream is to start here in the Bay Area and ensure that every child that goes to school has a breakfast program or a lunch program, free of charge, and then we plan to scale that out nationally. It’s insane to me that is not already happening,” shared Ayesha at the on Friday, January 17.

From left to right: Michelle Meow, Ayesha Curry, and Stephen Curry
speaking at the Commonwealth Club

“You hear so many amazing stories of kids that are super, super talented. They have amazing vision and potential, but the opportunity is not there. If they just had a simple opportunity to get to the next level — whether it’s being fed a meal in the morning so they can be attentive, focused and energized in class, or a safe place to play — whatever we can do to give them even a step up on the ladder, that will go a long way,” shared Stephen Curry.

Stephen Curry on stage

Stephen took a moment to talk about the impact of sports, particularly on a growing mind, and the importance of creating safe spaces for children to play.

"Sports can teach us so much about ourselves and is important in building confidence and community,” he said. “For kids, we want to create those safe places for them to play and get involved in sports …. to give them that perspective from a young age they can carry through (to adulthood) whether they play professional sports or not.”

Salesforce Chief Equality Officer Tony Prophet, kicked off
the Equality Series at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco

Tony Prophet, Chief Equality Officer at Salesforce, kicked off the event by sharing, “At Salesforce, we believe in Equality and the equal value of every human life. We know that every child deserves access to quality education and I’m really inspired by the work these two are doing with their foundation.”

Ayesha Curry on stage at The Commonwealth Club

As Salesforce Co-CEO Marc Benioff often says, “businesses are a powerful platform for change,” and in that spirit, we partnered with The Commonwealth Club to elevate trailblazing speakers who use their platforms to make a positive impact on society.

Stephen Curry takes a selfie with event attendees backstage

At Salesforce, Equality is a core value and we believe in equal rights for all. Learn more about our journey and how to champion Equality in business: Salesforce.com/Equality.