| Right To Play | |
| Key People: | Susan McIsaac (CEO) |
| Founded Date: | 2000 |
| Founder: | Johann Olav Koss |
| Location: | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Origins: | Olympic Aid |
Right To Play is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to use play to empower vulnerable children to overcome the effects of war, poverty, and disease. Right To Play's work is connected to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, and focuses on four outcome areas: quality education, children's health and well-being, girls' empowerment, and child protection.[1] Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, the organization has programs in 15 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and has national offices in Canada, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Right To Play was founded by Olympic speed skater Johann Olav Koss. Koss had been working as an ambassador raising awareness and funds for Olympic Aid since 1994. In 2000, he incorporated Right To Play, marking its transition from "fundraising vehicle" to a non-profit to directly implement programs benefitting children.
Over time, Right To Play has shifted from sport for development programs to play-based learning. It has also expanded form offering programs directly to collaborating with governments and educational institutions to create systemic change at national scales.[2]
In October 2008, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) announced that Right To Play would be banned from an official role at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.[6] The two committees cited sponsorship conflicts as the reason behind the ban, identifying Right To Play sponsors such as Canon, Scotiabank, and Mitsubishi as competitors to Olympic sponsors Kodak, Royal Bank of Canada, and General Motors.[6] Right To Play had been present in an official role at every Summer and Winter Olympics since 2004, and since 1994 as Olympic Aid.[7]