Our Purpose

Every athlete has purpose.

At PURPOSE PLAYS HERE, we believe the most meaningful impact in sports extends beyond the game. It lives in the people athletes bring together. The communities they invest in & the stories that inspire action. And the relationships that create opportunities for change. PURPOSE PLAYS HERE exists to connect the people, ideas, and stories shaping sports for good.

We build community through meaningful relationships and shared experiences. We amplify the people and ideas creating impact through original media. And we bring our community together to put purpose into action. Whether someone is an athlete, sports professional, community leader, or brand, PURPOSE PLAYS HERE creates space for people who believe sports can be a force for something greater.

Because purpose isn't something athletes find after the game.

How We Do It

Connect. Amplify. Cultivate.

01

Connect

Curated Community

We connect athletes, sports professionals, community leaders, and brands through a curated membership community built on meaningful relationships, shared interests, and a collective belief in the power of sports to create change.

02

Amplify

Original Multimedia

We tell the stories shaping sports for good through The Community Sections and the Purpose Plays Here Conversation Series.

03

Cultivate

Curated Experiences

We bring our community together to put purpose into action through service projects, community initiatives, and collective opportunities to give back.

About the Founder

Jermell “Mello” Stills

Founder, Purpose Plays Here

I didn't build Purpose Plays Here because I had an amazing athletic career. I built it because I spent more than a decade asking the same question: What if we helped athletes discover their purpose before someone expected them to give back?

12+ Yrs

In Community Impact

$5M+

Partnership Fundraising

100+

Nonprofit Partners

Where I Started

Racine, WI

I was born into sports. My mother was an 18-year-old Division I basketball player at the University of Wisconsin, and while she ultimately finished college, my grandmother raised me during that initial timeframe.

Before I understood what community meant, I was surrounded by people who sacrificed so the next generation could have more than they did. That lesson followed me everywhere.

The Work

Bucks → UNCF → ACS → United

It took me from the Milwaukee Bucks to UNCF, the American Cancer Society, and eventually United Airlines, where I led community impact initiatives across seven major U.S. markets, managed the BRG engagement portfolio, partnered with more than 100 nonprofit organizations, and helped build programs that mobilized thousands of employees to serve their communities.

SPORTS
Mello volunteering, packing food donations
COMMUNITY
STORYTELLING

The Moment

A Conversation

But Purpose Plays Here didn't begin in any of those jobs — it began with a conversation. At a Washington Commanders community event, a player's grandmother asked me how she could help her grandson become more charitable.

I realized there wasn't a place built to answer that question. So I built one.

Experience Includes

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