Professional basketball player and 2-time NBA MVP Steve Nash created the Steve Nash Foundation because he believes professional athletes are in the proper position to create a positive impact to the people around them mainly because of the public and media exposure they were getting. The Steve Nash Foundation is primarily centered on children’s welfare, with the focus zooming in on health, education, and individual well-being and personal development. The Foundation’s main areas of interest are Arizona, British Columbia and Paraguay.

Steve Nash is very particular about early childhood education. In an effort to provide learning opportunities and development for children during their early years, the Steve Nash Foundation has created the Educare Arizona program. The project is in collaboration with the State Governor of Arizona’s Office for Children and Youth and Families to create programs that promote kindergarten readiness in Arizona.

The Steve Nash Foundation also supports the use of computers in academic learning. Together with MDG Canada, the Steve Nash Foundation donated a total of 30 personal computers to the Lincoln M. Alexander Secondary School to bolster the school’s technologically-accessible learning resources. In another joint effort between MGD Canada and the Steve Nash Foundation, Crystal Beach Public School is now endowed with a computer lab of 12 wireless MGD notebooks. The computer lab now serves over 150 children from Junior Kindergarten through Grade 8.

The Steve Nash Foundation also helps in other areas aside from education. One of the most notable acts of charity the foundation did was the funding and equipping of a neonatal intensive care ward situated in Paraguay that gives basic necessities to infants and their families.

Steve Nash’s foundation effectively uses basketball to raise funds and promote awareness for various charitable projects. This is why the Steve Nash Foundation earned the prestigious Steve Patterson Award for Excellence in Sports Philanthropy. The said award is given annually to a professional athlete or a sports organization that exudes excellence and leadership in philanthropy.