Robert Castaneda is the Executive Director and co-founder of Beyond the Ball, a sport and play-based youth and community development organization located, on the west side of Chicago, in South Lawndale/Little Village. Known locally and globally for his work in the sport for development field, he is frequently a featured speaker at numerous events in the U.S. and abroad. In 2010, selected from over 400 organizations from 120 countries around the world, Beyond the Ball received a Beyond Sport “Most Courageous Use of Sport Award,” for Project Play, a program he co-designed to reclaim public play spaces with a history of violence. In 2011, he spoke on a panel for a world gathering of 1,500 U25s assembled to discuss global issues at One Young World, in Zurich Switzerland. He was selected as a 2012 Chicago Community Trust Emerging Leader Fellow for his continued efforts to develop his community, making it healthier both physically and socially. In 2015 he was recognized as a “Champion of Change” by the Obama White House. In 2018, he wrote the Light in The Night Handbook which is being used to guide a citywide strategy to reduce public violence in public spaces in Chicago. Robert serves and has served on several boards and steering committees for entities such as the Little Village Chamber of Commerce, the Little Village Violence Prevention Collaborative, Neighborhood Sports Little Village and Lawndale Christian Health Center.
 

Connect with the Board:

• Email:  commissioners@chicagoparkdistrict.com
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• Phone:  (312) 742-5034