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OUR STORY

Our mission is to improve the lives and futures of youth through sport.​

Open Field (formerly CameroonFDP) is a Pittsburgh-based 501c3 and registered association in Meme Division (Southwest Region, Cameroon, Africa) with the mission to improve the lives and futures of youth through sport.

Open Field was founded by American, Justin Forzano, and Cameroonian, Peter Ngwane. The two met in 2006 during Forzano’s first trip to Cameroon, Africa as an engineering student working on rural development projects.

  • 2010 – Founding

    A team of volunteers begin 2 after-school programs in Kumba, Cameroon to educate 100 youth.
  • 2012 – Registration

    Officially a nonprofit in the USA and Cameroon, we gain support from across the Pittsburgh community and enhance our programs that reach 200+ youth.

  • 2014 – Improvement

    We innovate our modal with a grant from Rotary International to inocorporate health and life skills in community soccer laeagues in 2 cities for over 420 youth.

  • 2016 – Expansion

    FIFA Foundation provides funding to expand after school programs and community soccer leagues to 3 cities to serve 760 youth.

  • 2018 – Redefinition

    The crisis in Cameroon shuts down schools and travel between many cities for months at a time. We are forced to re-think our program model once again, this time to give youth an active leadership role in 5v5 neighborhood-based leages that engage 600+ youth.

  • 2022 – Evolution

    We re-brand and change our name to Open Field. We receive funding from UNDP to address the criss in Cameroon. We launch programming in Pittsburgh and virtual acitivites in response to COVID-19. Our reach is now 1,000+ youth.

We envision a world where youth succeed

Your financial support allows Open Field to scale our impact. Find ways to get involved here or click below to learn how you can contribute towards the mission.