Jill C. Vialet is the founder and President of Sports4Kids. Jill has worked for more than 20 years in the non-profit sector, during which she focused her entrepreneurial skills on conceiving of and growing two successful non-profit organizations. Jill launched Sports4Kids in 1996 with two schools in California. Currently the organization brings play and physical activities to more than 65,000 children in 170 low-income schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, Baltimore, MD, Boston, MA, St. Louis, MO, New Orleans, LA and Washington, DC, with continued plans for expansion.

Jill’s idea – to engage kids on the playground in a playful way so they could return to the classroom ready to learn – emerged from a desperate plea from educators to address the chaos and conflict dominating their schoolyards. Sports4Kids provides a unique and positive approach to recess and physical activity through play. As a result students are prepared and focused when they return to the classroom – literally transforming the learning environment. Prior to Sports4Kids, Jill founded the Museum of Children’s Art (mocha) in Oakland, California. Jill served as the Executive Director at mocha for nine years, ultimately expanding its programs to reach 20,000 young people each year. Jill is currently a board member emeritus at mocha.

Jill graduated from Harvard University where she studied medical sociology, played rugby, and became actively involved with Harvard’s service-learning community. Jill served as the Director of Harvard’s Public Service Program during the 1986-87 school year. In 1996 Jill was awarded Radcliffe’s Jane Rainie Opel Award for achievement by a young alumna. Jill was a Eureka Fellow from 2000 to 2001, and in 2004 she was selected as an Ashoka Fellow, recognizing her unique contribution as a social entrepreneur.