Venky Ganesan, a Bay Area resident and the father of two Stanford undergraduates, sees Lifetime Cardinal as a game-changer for Stanford sports. 

“It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from or what your identifiers are,” Ganesan said. “When you’re cheering for a team, you feel like you’re a part of the same tribe. With Stanford sports, you have this unique opportunity where you can have excellence on the field, but also it’s a community moment.”

Founded in 2022 by a group of Stanford alumni athletes, including entrepreneur and former men’s soccer player Allen Thorpe ’92 and former NFL quarterback Andrew Luck ’12, Lifetime Cardinal connects more than 130 student-athletes with alumni through networking, mentorship, education and career opportunities. The initiative aims to ensure student-athletes are recognized as individuals with potential far beyond their athletic careers.

The recent transformation of the collegiate athletic landscape with the introduction of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) regulations in 2021 has encouraged universities like Stanford to invest in their athletes in multiple ways. Lifetime Cardinal is taking a unique approach, incentivizing athletes by compensating them for community outreach and social impact efforts. Supporters of the initiative, like Ganesan, recognize multiple avenues for impact with this model.

“We get student athletes to spend time helping our community and give them the opportunity to learn,” Ganesan said. “Unfortunately, I think there are communities around Stanford that feel it is too elitist… We are changing that by making the communities feel like they should embrace Stanford and by putting our athletes in places that they don’t normally get to see Stanford athletes, we are telling that community: ‘You and Stanford are together,’ and that Stanford is their team.”

The student-athlete experience

Sophomore defensive back Adam Rourke believes Lifetime Cardinal has benefited him both on and off the field. Through community service events and mentorship opportunities, Rourke has gained a deeper appreciation for his ability to impact others.

“There’s a lot more to football than just lining up pads and hitting a guy across from you at full speed” Rourke said. “I think community service is a large part of that, and being able to help people around you in whatever capacity it may be. It gives you a sense of gratitude.”

Having participated in activities with local organizations, such as mentoring at the Haven Family House in Menlo Park, Rourke has become a vocal advocate for service. 

“There’s always someone who needs help, and if you can serve something greater than yourself, that is always going to be more fulfilling,” Rourke said. The more you can be involved with the people around you and the community projects around you, the more it helps everyone and creates a better environment for what Stanford is meant to embody.”

Fifth-year linebacker Tristan Sinclair also values Lifetime Cardinal’s influence on his Stanford experience. The program has connected him with local organizations, like Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, where he participates in events that allow athletes to interact with kids through sports and informal hangouts. Sinclair underscores the importance of the Lifetime Cardinal staff who make these opportunities for community engagement possible.

“What Lifetime Cardinal has done is they have full-time people working on these events and coordinating with us, giving us more opportunities to give back,” Sinclair said. “Kate Dahlman at Lifetime Cardinal has been amazing — setting up so many events and opportunities for us to give back. Playing with kids in hospitals or with developmental disabilities is always the most fun thing. It’s always more fun than the game, and Lifetime Cardinal has opened the door for us to do even more of that.”

Reflecting on his experiences, Sinclair emphasized the joy of connecting with young fans. 

“I was just a little kid like them,” he said. “Even just being in the shoes now where I can go to the hospital and hang out with the kids, play sports, or watch a movie — it means the world to them. For me, it makes me feel like I’m giving back, and it’s something I love being able to do.”

Community connections

Lifetime Cardinal also collaborates with organizations like the Women’s Coaching Alliance, founded in 2022 by Pam Baker to address the lack of female coaches in the Bay Area. After her husband, a dedicated coach of youth female sports teams, passed away from pancreatic cancer, Baker launched the Alliance to train prospective female coaches through leadership programs offering mentorship and compensation.

Partnering with Lifetime Cardinal has amplified Baker’s mission. Benefit events hosted in collaboration with Stanford’s women’s sports teams, including the basketball team and its legendary former coach Tara VanDerveer, have drawn attention to the Alliance’s work.

“The more that we can showcase the athletes as partners with us, it not only raises their profile as making a difference in the community, but certainly for us it brings in new people to our community,” Baker said. “So it’s a nice win-win.” 

Having witnessed the collaboration between Stanford’s student-athletes and local, mission-driven organizations, Baker appreciates the lasting significance of these efforts. 

“I think that star athletes can get in a bubble, just because of who they are and the stature that they have,” Baker said. “I think that when they can step out and see the community around them and experience it, and recognize that in some cases just showing up can make a huge difference, is really powerful for them.”

Baker emphasized the unique synergy between Stanford’s values and Lifetime Cardinal’s approach.

“[Stanford’s] progressiveness in the institution, and certainly its leadership in sports overall, speaks to a focus and a value on doing things at the front end and leading rather than following,” Baker said. “I think [Lifetime Cardinal’s] focus on how we use this platform to make a difference in the community, certainly helps to elevate the Stanford brand, but also helps to really make a difference for kids and community leaders”