Stephen and Ayesha Curry on Leveraging Your Network for Greater Good

Michael Rivo: From Salesforce Studios. This is Blazing Trails. Welcome to Blazing Trails. I'm Michael Rivo from Salesforce Studios. Today, we are joined by a true power couple, one leveraging their extensive network to help children across the country, Stephen and Ayesha Curry. Basketball fans out there know Stephen Curry as the three- time NBA champion, two- time MVP, and point guard for the Golden State Warriors. But what you may not know is what Stephen and his wife, Ayesha, are doing with their nonprofit Eat. Learn. Play. to transform their local community and beyond. But before we get to Stephen and Ayesha Curry, a word about WordPress VIP who is making this show possible. WordPress VIP is the digital publishing solution that powers the world's top media companies, as well as marketing platforms for some of the best known brands like Time and Facebook. Later on in this episode, you'll hear more of our conversation with their CEO Nick Gernert. Now here's Stephen and Ayesha Curry speaking with Senior Editor of Fortune, Ellen McGirt.

Ellen McGirt: Hey, everybody. Having a good dream for us? I have a feeling it's about to get a whole lot better. I'm here to introduce two people who really need no introduction, but I'm going to give it a try. I like to think of them as a new American dream story, a love story. Two kids who met 14, 15 in youth group, became college sweethearts. Guided by faith and family and community and a tremendous sense of adventure. One grows up to be one of the most decorated professional basketball players in the modern era, three- time NBA champion, a two- time MVP to be exact. The other who has translated her love of home and hearth and food and cooking and writing into a growing restaurant and lifestyle Empire. All of this while raising the cutest family anyone's ever seen. But this is also a love story about their adopted city. A beautiful historic, creative, unapologetic, and necessary city complicated enough to produce both Boots Riley and BBQ Becky, I know you know who she is, city that's over policed in the streets but underfunded in the schools and where one in four kids are hungry. It's a city that could use some love and good ideas. I find it particularly poignant that as the Golden State Warriors are moving across the Bay to San Francisco, Stephen, Ayesha Curry decided to do something bold for their adopted hometown of Oakland. Here to tell us the story about their new nonprofit Eat. Learn. and Play. is Ayesha and Stephen Curry. Please welcome them.

Ayesha Curry: Hello. Thank you for that very kind introduction.

Ellen McGirt: Well, you really don't need an introduction, but I think Oakland does to the world and what you're doing is so extraordinary. Eat. Learn. Play. is still pretty new. You launched in July. Could you tell us a little bit about what it is?

Stephen Curry: Yeah. We're very excited. But I think in terms of what Ayesha and I have done, and what we've been on our heart since we've had the opportunity to being out here in Oakland since 2009. We've done a lot of things in the community and try to aspire to bring our passions in a way that can give back and really impact people, impact our community. It was sporadic, doing an initiative here. She's done a lot of work with No Kid Hungry in the past. But in terms of all of our different things that were disjointed, and we wanted to fill or bring away to bring all of our passions together, our expertise and build a team around those initiatives and to do it in Oakland. Eat. Learn. Play. was born out of that. It's been a very exciting journey. We did launch in July. But it's been something that we've been truly working on for about two years now. To be able to, again, impact the community is something for us. That's important. It's been ingrained in us since we were kids growing up, and then we have an opportunity to do it at a very, very large scale. Eat. Learn. Play. is that. You want to talk about Eat. Learn. Play.?

Ayesha Curry: Absolutely. I'll talk a little bit about our core pillars, which are very obvious, Eat. Learn. Play. We...

Ellen McGirt: Thank you.

Ayesha Curry: Our goal, really, is to provide healthy, nutritious meals for every child, regardless of where they come from, of course, starting in Oakland. The ultimate goal is to end childhood hunger. Like you said earlier, one in four children right here in our backyards are going to school hungry, and I feel like it's unacceptable. It shouldn't be the case. It's our mission while we're here on this earth to try and end that. Learn, we want to provide quality education and make sure that all kids have access to quality education, pre through high school, and then to college, but through college as well, because a lot of people, they have the ability to get somebody to college, but then what happens when they're there, and they don't have an example of somebody that's been there. It's our goal to make sure that they're seen through college and nurtured through college until they get into the workforce. Then creating safe spaces for children to play. Something so simple that sounds like, " Oh, a park?" But there are so many children and cities and spaces and food deserts and places that just don't have safe spaces to play. We want to change that narrative and allow children healthy, active lifestyles, which in turn, we've all seen the research, it lessens anxiety levels, it helps children thrive in school. It's just a whole full circle thing. These three key things are three things that we truly believe, help nurture and build up the best possible child so that they can thrive in adulthood. We're not reinventing the wheel, it's really been our goal to kind of collaborate because one is great, but together, we're better. It's taking all of these people and all these organizations that are doing amazing things, and combining forces and using our platform to be able to connect and bring everybody together so that we can amplify everyone's work.

Ellen McGirt: I do have to acknowledge that you did not name this nonprofit after yourselves. A lot of people do. Can you tell us a little bit about the decision behind that?

Stephen Curry: I think in general, I mean, it's bigger than us. We have a see understand the platform that we have and the voice that we have in this world and we've been blessed with that and try to do everything we can to leverage that in every situation. But when we're talking about basically what Ayesha just described and taking care of the entire child and those three pillars. This is work that we're doing now to hopefully set up a very, very long- term run at really changing lives. Again, it's bigger than anything that Stephen and Ayesha, ourselves can do. That was important to make that a message at the beginning with how we named it and make that something that hopefully people can gravitate towards in terms of your experience, communities that you come and issues that need to be addressed, and how Eat. Learn. Play. can be something that you can gravitate towards and hopefully get behind and help and provide resources, time, whatever the case is. That will continue to hopefully have a snowball effect way beyond my playing days or anything that's short- term.

Ellen McGirt: Ayesha, you're going to be cooking for a long time. I'm pretty sure.

Stephen Curry: inaudible

Ellen McGirt: That's a nice sustainable career.

Ayesha Curry: No offense as long as my hands are still here and I inaudible. All right. I'm the type of person that likes to just address the elephant in the room for answers what's not. But I think for us like another reason why we didn't name the nonprofit after our namesake is our family is huge on impact over legacy. While it'd be nice to pass away and say, " Oh, look at their found... Stephen and Ayesha." Like, " Who cares about that?" That's not what it's about. For us, it's about how did we impact the community? What does it look like now? Where are we going? We felt Eat. Learn. Play. was a very direct way of letting people know what we do, so that at the end of the day, it's about how can we impact the community not what did we leave behind for our namesake? Nobody cares about that.

Ellen McGirt: Before we dig into the nuts and bolts of how this works and how busy you've been, can you just take us back just for a few minutes to when you first came to Oakland and how you fell in love with the city and how you've gotten to know it and just where your footprint is, footprints are.

Stephen Curry: Yeah. I mean, like I said back in 2009 when I got drafted by the Warriors and we're coming across the country, I grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina and... yahoo. We got some Charlotte people there? Oh.

Ellen McGirt: Okay.

Stephen Curry: Respect. Respect. It was a whole new world for me. Ayesha being from Toronto.

Ayesha Curry: Yes. That's what I'm talking about.

Stephen Curry: I feel kind of jealous. There's only one Charlotte singing in the bottom top. That's okay. Yeah. We got drafted out here. I mean, I was 21 years old. Didn't really know much about the Bay Area. Didn't know much about Oakland. Fast forward 10 years later, we've grown up here as adults and been able to raise a family here. Really get to know the people and the community, not just through the relationship with basketball, but just in your everyday life and the spirit of Oakland.

Ellen McGirt: Yes. Yes.

Stephen Curry: The history of Oakland, the cultural influence of Oakland. It is so present if you just walk down the street. I know it's changed a lot, but in terms of just what that city stands for, and just the hope that that is present every single day, that is something that is just contagious. The reputation that Oakland had from I just growing up for what I knew about it, it's just so different when you get into the streets and meet people that are doing amazing things. That's been our experience with Eat. Learn. Play. Like I used to say, " We're not trying to reinvent the wheel." There are so many people doing amazing work on the ground that their stories need to be told. They need to be amplified to be able to do the work even better and even more efficiently and impact many more people. Those stories that really just impacted us as a family. This is our adoptive home now. Obviously, there's been changed again with the Warriors and us moving to San Francisco. But Oakland has been where we've grown up and all of our experience has been just so special. We wanted to maintain a presence there as best we could.

Ellen McGirt: This would be a good time to tell some of those stories. I know you've had a pretty busy day today on Eat. Learn. Play. but business. Maybe you could tell us a little bit about that?

Ayesha Curry: Absolutely. We got to take a trip this morning to the Martin Luther King Elementary School, and did a visit with No Kid Hungry to check out the breakfast program that they've implemented there, and got to speak with some of the kids. We had a little assembly and First Partner, Jennifer Newsom came along with us and we were able to just see how these kids are thriving and what a difference something as simple as the breakfast can make, especially when it comes to education. We left there and then took a trip to the Oakland Unified School District Central Kitchen. This is actually amazing what they're doing. I don't know how many thousands of square feet it is, but it's a huge building that they built out with storage, commercial kitchen, and an education lab and a full garden to be able to provide 30, 000 meals for free for all of the students in Oakland to be able to have a hot lunch. I think that that's really spectacular. They also have, again, their education lab. Students will be able to come in, whether it's on a field trip, or a day trip from class and learn about their food, learn about how to grow their food, taking it from the land to the kitchen, and creating a meal, which I think is so important. Because especially when you go into places that there are so many food deserts. I feel the art of knowing where your food comes from, how to grow it. It's a lost art, if you will, because they just don't know and it's not accessible. For the fact that, OUSD Central Kitchen is making this so accessible for these kids, I think it's really going to create great change.

Ellen McGirt: How this works... inaudible. What else did you do?

Stephen Curry: We went to College Track. That was actually a really cool experience. We went to College Track's location, third, and Broadway in Oakland. We were there with... how many kids? There's probably 40 or 51st generation high school students that today was the biggest day in their educational journeys. They were submitting their first rounds of applications to colleges.

Ellen McGirt: Oh, wow.

Stephen Curry: We got...

Ellen McGirt: Wow.

Ayesha Curry: Yeah.

Stephen Curry: If you ever want to get inspired by the next generation, like these type situations where you get to ask kids just what makes them tick, what they're passionate about, how they want to change the world. I don't remember talking like this when I was 16, 17, 18 years old. We sat around in a circle and everybody shared, some of the excitement or what they're excited about in the next journey in college, what they're nervous about, or anxious about, and it was a very open setting to get their feelings out. At the end, they all went over to their computers and all hit Submit at the same time. Really, just took that next step in terms of hopefully understanding where their future is going to be. Then they had a celebration, and that was where we were there just to celebrate them and their journeys. They had to hit a button and everybody announced themselves and said what their accomplishment was, and everybody going crazy. When you talk about inspiring the young kids to pursue their education, it was inspiring to us to be a part of that process to know that the work that's being done, not just what Eat. Learn. Play. Is doing and not just in Oakland, but around the country. The next generation is their force is to be reckoned with. It's pretty amazing to see.

Ellen McGirt: How Eat. Learn. Play. works now? It's a grant- making and support organization where you've partnered with some incredible local organizations. There's also brands involved, too. Let's talk about both. Let's talk about the organizations first. How do you choose them? Have you gotten to know them beyond their specialty and your three pillars? What are you looking for when you look for an organization that you want to partner with?

Ayesha Curry: Yeah Sure. I feel this sounds silly. But our team tends to move off of a vibe, truly. It always takes a couple of visits to immerse ourselves into organizational culture, and just to see how they're moving about what kind of change they're making for us to decide whether or not we want to be in a partnership, see how it's impacted the children that they're helping. Then from there, we, we make our decision. We love local right now. We've right now partnered with a lot of local organizations. Then for us just when it comes to brand partnerships, which I think is what you're asking?

Ellen McGirt: Also too. Yeah.

Ayesha Curry: When we look to work with a brand, one of the biggest components of our decision- making process is how can this create change outside of ourselves? We usually say no when they're not willing to participate in our Eat. Learn. Play. endeavors. That's it

Ellen McGirt: Do the CEOs have to go in the dunk tank like what you did on launch day? It's noble launch day for Eat. Learn. Play. and that was really fun.

Stephen Curry: I think a lot of it, like Ayesha said, it's just overall leadership too. A lot of parallels to the tech world and just from a nonprofit standpoint. Leadership and how people are represented and just a vision that those people in charge have, it goes a long way, and it's a huge indicator of success. Ayesha said, it's a lot of about vibe, but it's also about just many others, just spend time with them and see if our ideals are aligned. You ask those questions around, are you really going to be eager to participate, whether sending volunteers or if it's actually getting funds going towards initiatives that were passionate about, and those type of things. Those are the questions that you ask going into that process. For us, I think the reason that Eat. Learn. Play. is happening now is because it's ready to... have the ability to dedicate time to this because it is something that is... you can't just...

Ellen McGirt: You can't write a check.

Stephen Curry: ...you have to go into it and you write checks. It has to be something that you're really invested in, that you have that follow- up, that you have leadership. We've been fortunate enough to have on our side as well and really spending that time having those conversations really strategizing goal setting. Then following through and that's been a really rewarding experience through all of this even in a short six to eight months of actually activating and going out and executing what we want to do.

Ellen McGirt: Besides the fact that I think it would be a lot of fun to be in a planning meeting with the two of you.

Stephen Curry: Especially her.

Ellen McGirt: Okay. I'm 100%. I'm also sure that you know and I've known for a long time, that there are very serious and big reasons why kids are hungry. Why there's no place for them to play. Why we're losing talented people by first grade, second grade, third grade, they're not treated correctly in schools. They're disproportionately punished. All of these things I know that you know, because I know that you've got reams of research on it and that you behind the scenes are sharing this research. I'm curious how you want to address the bigger systemic issues that make this work possible. How do you plan to work with lawmakers and policymakers? Will there ever be a President Curry one day? It's not just because we're desperate.

Stephen Curry: I mean, a lot of is the relationship building and understanding. We have to listen. We have to be able to learn and to be educated. That's only with the people that you get in the same room with and I think that's a big part of just our presence here in the Bay Area and doors that have opened. Whether it's working with Mayor Libby Schaaf in Oakland or like you said, First Partner Jennifer Newsom, those relationships are ones that you can truly make sustainable difference, and policy change. That is a core goal of what Eat. Learn. Play. is about. I know Ayesha, you can talk about it in a second. Just about when you talk about kids going to school hungry and losing kids at that early of an age where they only have it... don't even have a chance to succeed because of fundamental deficiencies in their life. Those things should not happen and I won't see it done. You have a huge want to change that in material way.

Ayesha Curry: Yeah. I mean, I was talking about this morning with First Partner Newsome. I said, " We're one of the only thriving countries that have children going to school that don't have a proper lunch that's afforded to them. I think that just shouldn't be the case. It makes me question, are we really thriving? Are we? Our children are going to school hungry. Are we?" I just feel it shouldn't be a question. I was speaking with her, what do I need to do to make this happen? Where do we need to go? Who do we need to speak to? It's just trying to get in the right room, the right people to make it happen. I know it's going to be a journey. But I think with our organization, that is my biggest goal is to try in at some form of a government level have my meal program be the standard for all kids at any school, regardless of where they're going, where they come from. I think it just shouldn't even be a question. That's one of my biggest things that I'm... one of the biggest missions I'm on right now.

Ellen McGirt: I know you're surrounded by experts now and you've got access to some really interesting people. How else are you learning about what's happening and the reasons for it and how to rank those priorities because when I think about the work that you're trying to do, it's almost, it everything. Their parents are at risk. They don't have jobs, maternal health. How do you rank all of this?

Ayesha Curry: That's the thing. That's such a hard question, because how could you possibly...

Ellen McGirt: Pick and choose. Yeah.

Ayesha Curry: That's something we're figuring out. That's why we have a team of people in our corner, helping us to figure it out. Because if you left it up to us, we'd be trying to do... because we're not the like let's pick and choose type of people. Me, especially, I have to get reeled back in sometimes. I have way too many big ideas, and I want to solve the world's issues. But I realized that pinpointing and tackling one at a time is very important. We're in the process now of figuring out what steps to take first and where to go next.

Stephen Curry: Yeah. A lot of us, again, on just the relationships that you have with people on the ground and hearing what the community needs from the community. A big part of that is we've had, me personally, no, she's been a huge sounding board and help and getting us off the ground. But there's a lady named Regina Jackson from the EOYDC, the East Oakland Youth Development Center.

Ellen McGirt: Okay.

Stephen Curry: It's kind of funny, like how it goes through. I won my first MVP in 2015. As a part of the award, you get to donate a car to a deserving group that you choose on your own. That's where I first met her. I got to donate the car to the EOYDC to use at their disposal. We formed a relationship from there. She has been instrumental in terms of identifying those issues, providing real life examples of how these issues are affecting the kids at large. Then pointing those in the right direction to how we can potentially intervene at the level that we're at and strategize going forward. There's so many people that are... You have to listen. You can't come in and if you can think you have all the answers. I think that's been a huge part to our journey in the beginning is just being open- minded and have open ears to what the community is saying, and then trying to strategize from there.

Ellen McGirt: Showing up with a car is a pretty nice way to start.

Stephen Curry: Start.

Michael Rivo: We're going to take a quick break now to bring you a conversation with CEO WordPress VIP Nick Gernert. WordPress VIP is the leading provider of enterprise WordPress. They power companies like Facebook, Spotify, and more. My colleague Matt Jaffe sat down with Nick at Dreamforce, to discuss how his company is grappling with topics like the future of work, digital transformation, and more.

Matt Jaffe: We talk a lot here about business as the greatest platform for change. It's something that's obviously very front of mind for us, especially right now. I mean, obviously, we're at a pivotal moment in time in our democracy, the state of the world climate change, I don't think that needs any explanation. One of the messages that we've heard here this week at Dreamforce is that If you have that platform, you also have a responsibility to have a positive impact. How do you view that for WordPress VIP and making sure that you as a business are not just thinking about the bottom line, but are thinking about improving the state of your community and the world?

Nick Gernert: Yeah. It's that whole thing about stakeholders and shareholders.

Matt Jaffe: Exactly.

Nick Gernert: We can't just focus on the shareholder wealth. This is actually, I mean, what attracted me personally to WordPress VIP was really the thoughtful approach to this. One of the things that's just in our company create is I'm in a marathon, not a sprint. When we're able to really say, let's take long- term thinking about something and not make short- term compromises. You're really empowered to do that. That's put in front of you like day one at the company is this is a marathon and we're worried about impact. We believe that if we put those things at the front of what we're doing, then the financial well- being of the organs will be taken care of, by thinking about the greater good and that thing. That's what really brought me into this organization in the first place was like, " Okay, that's a great place to start from," because where I think a lot of things got went astray where was this thinking of like, " Look, we're just putting a platform out there. What people choose to do with it? Yes. We'll have terms of service. As long as it's not illegal, we don't want to be the judge of right and wrong and things like that."

Matt Jaffe: It's out of our hands.

Nick Gernert: It's out of our hands, like our terms of service. It's not good enough. I don't want to work in an environment where that is good enough. I want to be challenged to think critically about what is our time enabling? What are our resources really enabling in the world? Are we leaving the world a better place than refining it? Or are we not? I think this is a really refreshing time to say like, " Hey, let's think critically about this." What we're doing on WordPress VIP, I mean, it's a very specific customer segment. Every opportunity that we're looking at working with, we can think critically about, like, " Is this in the best interest of our organization of the broader stakeholders that are impacted by this?" We've had tough decisions where we're like, " No. You know what? This one is a pass for us." This is something that we're not necessarily going to focus on because...

Matt Jaffe: Something that otherwise you might have said yes to, if you were just narrowly focused on" Hey, what's good for our bottom line?"

Nick Gernert: Yeah. I mean, you sit there and you go, " Okay, I go through our terms of service." It seems like a check, nothing there. But it doesn't pass the smell test. Really what happens is we look at it now. We're like, " Look, we have a terms of service, but we also have a set of values," like you've mentioned. That is really explained through our cream that we all ascribed to as individuals that this organization. When I compare it to that, it's actually not really in service of that. If one of the things that we really espoused to, is creating a diverse and inclusive environment, and we want to support that and see that proliferate and only grow, then we want to make sure that the work we're enabling through, or the customers we're enabling, also are in support of that. Where that runs counter to that, we can do better. I love that tension and thinking about like, " Look, it's not all about a bottom line." You can't just look at it and say, " We'll take whatever comes our way. We don't want to be the judgment on this." There are a lot of things that are stuck in legislation right now. We're thinking about privacy. Europe's ahead of the US right now in terms of privacy regulation. But that doesn't mean we have to sit around and wait for laws to come out in order for us to do things that are right for customers, that we can keep their data private that we can build that trust and do that. We don't need legislation to get us there. We can do these things as good corporate citizens.

Matt Jaffe: How has that thinking changed in the last few years. I feel there has been a shift in the business world, where now, it's actually on the businesses to do better. It's on the businesses instead of just saying, " Hey, we're falling back. I mean, look, this is what the law is. We're fine."

Nick Gernert: Yeah.

Matt Jaffe: Now, it's no longer good enough. Do you think that's mainly down to how customer expectations have really shifted?

Nick Gernert: I think customer's expectations have shifted. But I also think where we as individuals want to invest our own time, we all have... we need jobs to support our lives and things like this. People... We're all smarter about this. We don't have to just sit here and say, " Yeah. I just need a job." That's no way to be competitive in the marketplace. I think organizations that aren't thinking about purpose driven work, and that that matters to people. That absolutely matters there. I would say the majority of conversations I have about people that are joining our organization, one of the initial attractions was the purpose led work. That there's more to it.

Matt Jaffe: Same here. It always comes back to that.

Nick Gernert: Yeah. I think we need a greater purpose in the work. We need to feel good at the end of the day. We are doing stuff that is just beyond what that model was three, five years ago or whatever, where we're just building shareholder wealth. You're going to attract top talent in doing that. I think...

Matt Jaffe: I think in turn that leads to the sense of community that we see here at Dreamforce.

Nick Gernert: Yes.

Matt Jaffe: It leads to that feeling of" Hey, we're all in this together?"

Nick Gernert: Absolutely.

Matt Jaffe: "We're all in this for the right reasons."

Nick Gernert: Yeah. There can be different reasons. That's what's beautiful about this, too. We can all focus on what's important to us. We can help elevate society. I mean, it's a very different place right now, I think, where there's a lot of challenges that we're experiencing that are across sustainability, across diversity in the workplace, across, wage equality, things like this. It's one thing to say let's let legislation solve this. That's just not good enough. Those of us that are privileged to sit in a place where we can have a big impact through our work should absolutely use that platform to help enact that change.

Michael Rivo: That was Nick Gernert, CEO of WordPress VIP. To find out more visit wpvip. com. Now, back to Stephen and Ayesha Curry, and host Ellen McGirt.

Ellen McGirt: I just want to sidebar for a quick second, Ayesha. I mean, when I said that you were part of... you we're growing a rapidly changing Empire. I mean, it's really going fast. Could you just spend a... give us a couple of minutes just letting us know where you are? I mean, your New York Times bestselling author, your restaurant tour. You've recently not that... Well, a little while ago, you revamped your lifestyle website. Just tell us where you are.

Ayesha Curry: Yeah. Oh, boy, please. Okay. You're throwing me for a loop. Well, we're about to open our fifth restaurant location, which is crazy. That's been a joy. But even through that, working with organizations like the Bread Project, which is an organization where they bring either formerly incarcerated people or people that just need help getting on their feet, they teach them how to bake. They give them a place to stay. They nurture them until they can get back in the work field. Even things like the restaurant partners with them to make our buns for our burgers. We're always looking for ways to make an impact in that way. Fifth restaurant is opening in January. I'm opening my first permanent. I've had the pop- up in Jack London Square in Oakland for my store for going on a year now, which is crazy because it was supposed to be two months. Now we found a permanent location down the street in Oakland, on 23rd Street. I'm really excited for that. I'm actually in the middle of a rebrand right now.

Ellen McGirt: Okay.

Ayesha Curry: I can't talk too much about it.

Ellen McGirt: All right.

Ayesha Curry: But it's exciting. Yeah. There's a lot going on.

Ellen McGirt: I just want to attest talking with you both. It's just so clear to me that this is caring about community. It's just baked into everything you do in every decision you make. That seems to be a great filter for thinking about how to choose a partner, that they think that way, too. That everything is an opportunity to do not center yourself, but to center the issues and the people who need you.

Ayesha Curry: Yeah.

Stephen Curry: A 100%.

Ayesha Curry: We've been really blessed that the people that we have partnered with so far have gone above and beyond the standard when it comes to getting involved with Eat. Learn. Play.

Ellen McGirt: I know that you both have sophisticated portfolios and giving. But I wanted to talk a little bit about your work with malaria and your travels overseas. Tell us a little bit about that program because it really is extraordinary. Of course, the... he's right in the... where is he?

Stephen Curry: It's interesting how you meet people.

Ellen McGirt: Yes.

Stephen Curry: When I was in college, my college roommate who's now my business partner. He started a... Huh?

Ayesha Curry: Your best friend.

Stephen Curry: Yeah. My best friend. He's probably watching this like, " Come on, man." Yeah. He started a three- on- three tournament called Nothing But Nets to raise money for malaria bed nets to be sent over to kind of Africa. And so part of that process, or sorry, it was called bus school that was raising money on behalf of Nothing But Nets to sent over to continental Africa. Part of that process... Sorry. It was Buzzkill that was raising money on behalf of Nothing But Nets to send to Africa. Part of that I got introduced to the cause and became a champion of Nothing But Nets. The CEO of our foundation now, Chris Helfrich, who's here, he was running Nothing But Nets at the time and doing a lot of amazing work with Nothing But Nets and UN Foundation. That's where we met. You think about just a common idea of how can we impact not just here in the States, but overseas as well. We identified that specific cause. I got to go to Northwest Tanzania, to a refugee camp where there were about 40, 000 Congolese refugees there. We spent three days, I believe, on the ground, passing out bed nets, just talking to the people there, and hearing their stories. One, it was just about just as a parent not being able to protect your child. There's an alarming stats on children under the age of five being affected by malaria. We just had rally at the time. It just cemented from a parental perspective how much those bed nets matter to them in terms of protecting their families. It was a really a rewarding experience. We did a lot of great work there. That's just springboarded this entire relationship that we've had and the idea of Eat. Learn. Play. has come to life. Again, you just find likeminded people that want to impact the community and are passionate about it. I can speak for our team that this isn't a job. This is what they've been called to do. You can see that through every single conversation we have and just how diligent they are. Yeah. It's really cool experience being a part of that cause and nothing but that's still on the race to end malaria in continental Africa. A lot of great work they're getting. That's just not happening here domestically, but internationally as well.

Ellen McGirt: Is that the first time you've seen that poverty or that post- conflict situation?

Stephen Curry: Oh, 100%. It's hard.

Ellen McGirt: Changes you.

Stephen Curry: It does change you and is something that is hard to really put into words to do that experience justice. But it's only just double down at that emotion in terms of any way that you can impact just one child, one parent, one family. You're doing amazing work.

Ellen McGirt: Did they know who you were?

Stephen Curry: They didn't. It's fun. I did see a bunch of those. I bet you now there's a 2019 Golden State Warriors NBA champion shirt there. I saw a lot of loosing wardrobe there. They didn't know who I was. But I did get to play on a clay. They made actually clay basketball court. Official regulation size with some makeshift baskets.

Ellen McGirt: Stop it. They knew who you were then.

Stephen Curry: A couple of people started to figure it out when I got started playing. That was just cool, just basketball. Sports in general, the play aspect of Eat. Learn. Play. sports connects so many people on a level that is unheard of in this world. Using that as an obviously an engine to create change and create exposure and awareness on issues that matter, and bringing people together. No better example than we playing basketball in Tanzania with some refugees and having fun. They gave me a little trophy to bring back home and all that. It's pretty rewarding experience.

Ellen McGirt: See, the power of play in a refugee camp. The two of you have an incredibly powerful network of powerful people. I have this, many of whom are public figures, many of whom are athletes, many of whom are business people, and who are increasingly moving into work social justice work, raising issues... Are you okay?

Ayesha Curry: No. I've been sick for the past couple days. I'm good. I'm fine. I'm here.

Ellen McGirt: Thank you so much for coming and showing up. I know. Sebring get you some ginger tea.

Ayesha Curry: Oh, yeah.

Ellen McGirt: In my mind, I have this, maybe it's just a group text. But I imagined a network of beloved powerful people exchanging best practices on micronutrients. How to get all of these things that we need to solve these systemic problems. How do you tap into your network? How are they supporting you? How are you supporting them?

Ayesha Curry: You want to take it?

Stephen Curry: No.

Ayesha Curry: That's something that's been, I think, hard for the both of us. We really don't like calling in favors. We were do- it yourselves kind of people, for the most part. It took realizing that Eat. Learn. Play. and our other daily work endeavors are two separate things. You have to tuck your tail in between your legs and ask for the favor when it comes to the organization, because that's what's really important. People should want to rally around it. I mean, a simple text, a simple call goes a long way, getting hold of people's publicists. I can't believe that's a thing. But it is. You just ask. You can't have any shame when it comes to this stuff, because we're trying to make a difference.

Ellen McGirt: That's right.

Ayesha Curry: That's right. I think it was for us realizing the difference between asking a favor and asking someone to help impact the community is what's really helped us. Yeah. I don't know. You have anything to add?

Stephen Curry: I think just in terms of... It seems more and more that the people that we come in contact with, whether it's my teammates or people from other industries and whatnot, there's a overwhelmingly a parent initiative to use your platform in a way that, I don't know, in generations of past has been there. Those conversations come somewhat naturally, in terms of what people are doing and what's going on with Eat. Learn. Play. celebrating what other people are doing, and finding ways to just, say, rally around those causes and those efforts. There isn't a group chat. Sorry. There's no... I just flint. There's no... it's just a matter of just having that shared perspective that we're all doing things in our own authentic ways, but there are connectivities along the way that you should definitely be able to support. I mean, even just being here in the Bay Area might not be... they use that word famous, but people with notoriety and the ability to help are very willing to do so if they feel a connection to do what you're doing. It's been apparent just here with even our launch event that we had and our golf tournament we had here on the Bay Area, just trying to create those relationships even more, people came out. The who's who of Silicon Valley, the CEOs that are just extremely excited about, their philanthropic endeavors as well, and just whatever resources they have available, just being so generous. I'm blessed to be here in the Bay Area to have those relationships and whatnot, hopefully that I continue to create a fire. Again, it's just about finding people that are doing it in their own authentic ways. I think we all have a say in that.

Ellen McGirt: You're both excellent at technology. I mean, your Instagram and you just... everything you do.

Stephen Curry: You saw me in the back trying to do my own ...

Ellen McGirt: I know. I did. I did. I did.

Stephen Curry: ...story post. I was struggling. Maybe it just because I only I had one hand.

Ellen McGirt: I know. He's got the lame paw there. But I know. But you understand how it works?

Ayesha Curry: For the most part.

Ellen McGirt: I did witness an unfortunate event, failing to post. But you must. I mean, you do have the resources of the Bay Area at your disposal and people do love you and care about these kinds of things. How do you envision using technology to get some of the stats? I mean, even just getting the stats out, the fact that you even say the numbers. This isn't my actual beat at fortune. I'm out there for three and a half years. It's like kids are dying. They're being...

Stephen Curry: Awareness.

Ellen McGirt: ...school to prison pipeline. These are real things. That's where your next black CEO is in the prison somewhere.

Ayesha Curry: Yep.

Ellen McGirt: How do you plan to use this, your root?

Ayesha Curry: That's one of the... I mean you love it and you hate it. That's one of the reasons why I love it is because with the click of a button, you can raise awareness to millions and millions of people. I think it is really just getting the statistics out there and getting the numbers out there and letting people know how they can help something as simple as that. Just to put it into perspective. In Oakland, the child going to school hungry numbers one in four across the states, it's one in six. What are we doing? It's literally in our backyards. Just letting people... People don't know that. Because if you don't know, you don't know. It's just figuring out how to make sure we're using our platform and that gift of technology to the best of our abilities. I think honestly, just putting it out there whenever you can, weaving it into whatever we do, goes a long way.

Stephen Curry: I also think, both inaudible we're trying to find ways to just use every channel. Whether it's just our own social media pages, or the organizations that we work with, try to find ways to cross pollinate across all the different endeavors that we have, like she said. In terms of brand partners that you select, to go into partnership with making sure they have a like mindset and that the things in the campaigns that you're doing have some give back perspective and make that a priority. Make sure that's weaved and it has a synergy through everything that we're doing in our... we're both dabbling now in then the media space and have our own production companies. Trying to find ways that if you find a project that has a stat or some ability to make people aware of a situation that they might not have come in contact with, get behind those and be champions of them and share those with the world and let people tell their stories. Those type of opportunities. You want to be selective about them, because you want to make sure that they're powerful and that they're moving the needle and something that we really believe in. But those opportunities, you have to have a perspective on using every opportunity, every distribution channel, every brand partner, every company that we invest in, all those different angles. There's so much opportunity there. It's important to have that perspective going in.

Ellen McGirt: Sort of an organic approach. Do you have any idea? Are you reviewing scripts? Do you have any related projects in the works that you could talk about even in a general way? I'm curious.

Stephen Curry: Yeah. We have some wins. Ayesha has her endeavor that she's done. Her cooking show on Food Network and ABC, sorry, the Family Food Fight that we had or there's so much opportunity in terms of now if it's on with a partnership with ABC, like we had or if we had the ability to do. I had a movie breakthrough come out in theaters this past summer, a documentary called a manual about the shooting that happened in Charleston, South Carolina back in 2015. Those opportunities can continue to set the stage for how we can store retail, through media and through entertainment and impact families of all generations, whether you're laughing at it, you're crying with it.

Ellen McGirt: Right. You're understanding it.

Stephen Curry: You have an experience with it, or you're being presented with information and you're processing it. There's so much opportunity there as well. Again, it's all about being authentic, and that's the hardest part about. There's so much opportunity there. But it's really resonate with us and who we are and what we're trying to do.

Ayesha Curry: Yeah. I think storytelling goes a long way, too, especially, I mean, just speaking back to Oakland with what Oakland is going through this transformation in a sense, but it's how do you keep the heart and soul there? I'm in the very, very, very early stages of working on a documentary about a block of women in Oakland, five black female owned businesses, and just telling their story and how they're keeping that heart and soul in Oakland and, okay, I'm one of the businesses. But ...

Ellen McGirt: That's okay.

Ayesha Curry: But the other four women...

Ellen McGirt: Sometimes it's okay to be in the story.

Ayesha Curry: But the other four women are incredible. They're what really drew me to wanting to be in that space and Just seeing the potential and just knowing together us as businesses what we can do for the community. I'm really... I can't talk too much about it because again, it's an embryo right now. But look out for that. I'm really excited about it. But I feel something simple like that with everything and all the changes Oakland's go. That can draw eyes to it once it comes out and create some an impact and change. Hopefully, get people excited about Oakland and bringing their businesses to Oakland. I feel I've never experienced being in a place before. Where there's so much heartbreak and heartache and need. But people are still so passionate and loving and caring and proud of their city. Who doesn't want to be a part of a place like that that's evoking so much change, but still has so much heart to it. That's why we decided to start there, because Oakland really has nurtured us. It really is a special... I'm sorry, I'm rambling. It really is a special place to us.

Ellen McGirt: We only have a few minutes left. Now is the time in front of the greatest conference audience in the world...

Stephen Curry: That was a beautiful audience.

Ellen McGirt: You are a beautiful audience. I do. I love coming here. I wish I could see what you look like from up here because you really do look like hope in the future and all good things.

Ayesha Curry: It's pretty fantastic.

Ellen McGirt: Yeah. But now is the time to put out the big vision, and how you think this can scale and how your community approach can be meaningful and other communities that are specific in their ways, and what we can do to be part of it.

Stephen Curry: I mean, it's been an amazing journey so far that we've talked about. The process now that we're on. We've identified our initial run of grantees. Then we're really excited about, again, telling their stories and broadcasting the work that they're doing on the ground. We've talked about Ayesha's mission on you getting sustainable policy change around food programs in schools. Our work in Oakland is a priority. It's again, I started adoptive home is where we want to start. But every community has its own set of needs and issues and problems and things that we can all be a part of that journey. For us, it's about continuing again, to listen to what is going on at the ground level. That's a process and a long journey. We want to be very impactful and efficient in how we go about our business. I think that's what we've started on right now. In terms of just following our journey and our path, we're going to be broadcasting everything, every single step of the way. If you can find ways that... in any of those three pillars, you have people that are on the ground doing amazing work and you want to put that on the radar. We got a way to get that information and we can hopefully, create those relationships. It's just all about continuing to build hope for the next generation. Because like Ayesha said, it's so profound in Oakland and I know that is a similar thread in a lot of different communities. But that's something that we're all about right now.

Ayesha Curry: Yeah. Good job, babe. I feel especially in a room full of changemakers. I feel like everybody's always talking about scaling.

Ellen McGirt: I know.

Ayesha Curry: Everybody is so quick to scale and we want to grow. We want it big and we want it now. For me, especially when it comes to this. I think crawling before you walk is the best decision because people are quick to scale. Then you scale and you have a beautiful ship that doesn't sail. I want to make sure that we do this the right way and that we make the change first in the place that we intended to start that out for. Once we feel we've gotten to a great point there, then we think about scaling out. But until then I really believe in the village approach. For us, no matter where you go in the world, everyone has their tribe. They have their village. They're saying it takes a village to raise a child. Really right now, in the here and now, our goal is to truly just be the village for the people around us that don't have that village. I mean, we're here today because we have our little village at home. But there are several people that can't even go to work and take their children to school because they don't have anybody around them to do that. It's really our goal to find those people to wrap our arms around them and to create change in that small... what some people might seem think is small and insignificant is a big, big, big change. We're going to crawl for a little while. I think that that's always smart...

Ellen McGirt: Beautiful.

Ayesha Curry: ...fundamentals.

Ellen McGirt: We're going to crawl right along with you. Thank you so much for being here. Enjoy the evening, folks.

Michael Rivo: That was Stephen and Ayesha Curry joined by Ellen McGirt at Dreamforce 2019. To learn more about their nonprofit Eat. Learn. Play., go to eatlearnplay. org. If you enjoyed this conversation and want more like it, be sure to hit Subscribe on Apple podcasts or on your favorite podcast app. That'll do it for another episode of Blazing Trails. Thank you for listening and thank you to WordPress VIP for presenting this show with us. We'll be back next Thursday with more great conversations like these. Blazing Trails is a production of Salesforce, a customer relationship management solution committed to helping you deliver the personalized experiences customers want, so they'll keep coming back again and again, Salesforce, bringing companies and customers together. Visit salesforce. com/ learnmore.