Coca-Cola and Notre Dame bring poverty alleviation efforts to FIFA World Cup 2026 host cities

Michael Morris, creator of the UPBI program, pictured with two entrepreneurs who graduated from the program and launched their own businesses.

The original article, written by Tracy DeStazio and April Toler, was published on Notre Dame News.

When the FIFA World Cup 2026 games kick off this week, bringing global attention to cities across North America, communities from Boston and Miami to Toronto, Dallas and Los Angeles will come together for one of the world’s largest sporting events.

In these same cities, the University of Notre Dame’s Urban Poverty and Business Initiative (UPBI), a program aimed at helping underrepresented populations create and grow independent businesses, is working with local partners to strengthen small business ecosystems. Propelled by a recent gift from The Coca-Cola Company in North America, Notre Dame has expanded its UPBI network into a total of 59 cities, including a strategic activation in 13 soccer host cities—11 in the United States and two in Canada.

Notre Dame and Coca-Cola hope that their partnership will lead to a permanent and sustainable economic legacy in those host cities long after the tournament concludes.

Housed within Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs at the McKenna Center for Human Development and Global Business, the UPBI program works through a national network of partners including universities and nonprofit organizations to equip and support disadvantaged entrepreneurs seeking financial stability through their own business endeavors.

Created by Michael Morris, professor of the practice at the Keough School, the UPBI program combines structured business training, consulting, access to capital, and shared research to drive economic mobility. As the national convener, Notre Dame coordinates this learning and maintains the research framework, proving that rigorous academic scholarship can, and should, result in measurable poverty alleviation and local job creation.

To date, the UPBI program has served more than 11,000 entrepreneurs nationwide, created more than 5,000 jobs, and helped launch nearly 4,500 individual businesses, reaching 3,000 entrepreneurs annually and advancing more than 750 ventures toward financial stability each year.

“Our goal with UPBI is to blend meaningful research with applied, on-the-ground action to assist entrepreneurs with the skills and know-how to help their businesses flourish,” Morris said.

“We are excited about the UPBI program’s expansion, but proud of the impact that universities and partner organizations have already made in their communities everywhere. Our partners have a profound commitment to strengthen their local economies; and, together, we hope this work will reinforce long-term economic opportunity—well beyond any single moment or event.”

The universities who adopt Notre Dame’s UPBI program will serve as the anchor institution for that locale, proving the public value and relevance of higher education as a vital economic engine for the surrounding neighborhood. Participating institutions deploy faculty expertise, engage students in applied mentoring, and provide connection to the broader community—as well as linking with their community-based organizations to provide a support system for participating entrepreneurs.

Read more about the UPBI network or check out the original article on Notre Dame News ›

The UPBI program empowers communities locally and throughout the country; it is one way Notre Dame’s Catholic mission comes to life. When you support the University, you make programs like these possible and give students and faculty an invaluable chance to serve others.