Donovan Mitchell's mother Nicole spent more than a decade teaching at the Connecticut school where he and his sister were students on financial aid. Through his foundation, SPIDACARES, he works to give other children what that school gave him: a real chance, earned through education.
SPIDACARES
Mitchell's nonprofit foundation, SPIDACARES, aims to provide opportunities and resources that build a more equitable society, with education at its center. Its work follows the communities that raised and shaped him, from Connecticut and New York to Louisville, Utah, Cleveland and Panama, his father's homeland.
A $12 Million Thank-You
In 2020 Mitchell and his family pledged $12 million to Greenwich Country Day School, the largest single pledge in the school's history. The gift created the Mitchell Family Scholarship Fund for students who could not otherwise afford to attend, and the Nicole Mitchell Faculty Support Fund, named for his mother, to help teachers cover classroom costs.
The DON
Part of the family pledge built the Donovan Mitchell Family Athletic Center, known as The DON, at Greenwich Country Day. Mitchell returned in October 2024 to open the building and take the ceremonial first shot, in the school where his own story began on scholarship.
A Sneaker That Pays for School
With adidas and the University of Louisville, his alma mater, Mitchell launched a special edition of his signature D.O.N. Issue #2 sneaker in 2020. The release directed more than $200,000 to scholarships and academic aid for students.
Lunches, Courts and Classrooms
During his years with the Utah Jazz, Mitchell donated to provide lunches for children in the Granite School District and gave basketball courts to the community center where his grandmother once worked. He spent those seasons as a regular in schools and hospitals, and once gave a young fan the sneakers off his own feet.
Standing Up in a Hard Year
In 2020 Mitchell donated $45,000 toward the education of Jacob Blake's children after the Kenosha shooting, a gift adidas matched to bring the total to $90,000. He also served on the inaugural board of the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition, turning his voice into a formal role.
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