Dwayne Wade Family Foundation

Based on public tax records, the Foundation’s independent nonprofit arm has claimed less than $50,000 in revenues each year since 2017. ⁴ The Players Philanthropy Fund states that it fiscally sponsors the Foundation. ⁵

Activities

The Dwyane Wade Family Foundation was established to support low-income at-risk youth, primarily in Chicago, Milwaukee, and South Florida. The Foundation primarily hosted events featuring Wade, such as school visits and surprising ten families with $1,000 shopping sprees at Target. The Foundation partnered with By the Hand Club for Kids to launch a youth literacy program. The Foundation also financed community projects such as the Overtown Youth Center in Miami and the Tangelo Park Community Program in Orlando. ^{1 2 3}

The Foundation has not filed publicly available tax returns for its independent nonprofit identity since 2017, thereby indicating revenues of less than $50,000 annually from 2018 to 2023. ⁴ In 2017, the Foundation spent the remainder of its assets. ⁶ At some point, the Foundation became fiscally sponsored by the Players Philanthropy Fund. ⁵

The Foundation has donated funds to the Trevor Project, a nonprofit that provides support to suicidal LGBT individuals. ⁷

The Foundation has donated funds to the Transgender Law Center. ⁸

According to Wade’s personal website, in 2016, the Foundation launched Spotlight On in response to Wade losing a cousin to gun violence. The initiative “aims to give youth hope for a better future by shining a spotlight on youth in the community who are actively changing the city for the better and are empowering others to make change happen.” Wade also engaged in anti-gun activism by supporting victims of the Parkland shooting including its work with the gun-control organization March for Our Lives. ^{9 10}

Leadership

Dwyane Wade is the founder and president of the Dwyane Wade Family Foundation. Throughout Wade’s sixteen-year career in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most of which was spent with the Miami Heat, Wade was a frequent all-star and one of the league’s top earners. He retired in 2019 and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023. Due to his salary and endorsements, Wade earned just under $200 million throughout his career and had an estimated net worth of $170 million as of March 2024. Since 2021, Wade has hosted the game show “The Cube.” ¹¹

Wade has been involved in philanthropy since at least 2003 when he founded the Wade’s World Foundation. ¹² In 2010, Wade and former NBA player Alonzo Mourning raised funds to provide relief to Haiti after a major earthquake. ¹³ In 2017, Wade, then-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) and then-Deputy Mayor Andrea Zopp (D) co-hosted “Pitch Black,” a competition at Harvard Business School where graduate students pitched solutions to civic problems in Chicago. ¹⁴ In 2020, Wade co-founded the Social Change Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting Black entrepreneurs, training Black workers, and encouraging Black voter turnout. ¹⁵

Wade’s wife, actress Gabrielle Union, is a racial-issues and LGBT activist. ¹⁶

Lisa Joseph Metelus (sometimes known as Lisa Metelus, Lisa Joseph, or Lisa Joseph-Metelus) is listed as a board member on the Foundation’s 2017 tax forms. Joseph Metelus is Wade’s manager at Create Artists Agency, one of the largest talent agencies in the world, where she has worked since 2011. She oversees “all of Dwyane Wade’s business deals and partnerships.” ^{6 17 18}

Ginger Gorden (sometimes written as Ginger Gordon) is also listed as a board member on the Foundation’s 2017 tax forms. Gorden is or was the chief financial officer of Collegiate Sports Management Group (CPSMG Sports), a sports management company that has financial dealings with Wade. ^{6 19}

Dwyane Wade’s sister, Tragil Wade, was listed as the Foundation’s vice president in 2016. Earlier, she worked as the organization’s executive director. Tragil is a teacher who has also been involved in philanthropy; in 2017, she launched the America’s Big Sister Foundation (ABSF) which primarily supports Black female youth. ^{20 21 22}

Criticism

In 2019, the Chicago Tribune published an article criticizing the Dwyane Wade Family Foundation for operating inefficiently. The Foundation was criticized for having a “a small, insular board,” not spending enough on direct charitable aims, and for Dwyane Wade hiring his sister to work as the Foundation’s executive director. Additionally, the Foundation donated almost $7,000 to a religious organization run by Wade’s mother. ²³

Funding

In 2018, the Dwyane Wade Family Foundation received $10,000 from the National Basketball Association and Kaiser Permanente. ²⁴