Tveter to Serve as Ambassador for Three Not-for-Profits
LE CASTELLET, France, April 1 — America's Ryan Tveter will be an ambassador for three not-for-profit organizations that improve the lives of children, adolescents and young adults as he competes in the FIA Formula 3 series this year. The series, a proven training ground for future Formula 1 stars, kicks off its 2016 season this weekend with a tripleheader at Paul Ricard.
Tveter, 21, the only American competing in the series in 2016, developed the three "community partnerships" for Right To Play, MTV Staying Alive, and the Lessons for Life Foundation. The program will raise awareness and money for all three charities.
As part of his role as an ambassador for the organizations, logos for each charity will be embroidered onto his driving uniform, and decals for all three will be applied to the sides of his black and blue Carlin Racing #3 VW-powered Dallara. The car will be seen by some 650,000 fans at 10 tripleheaders on some of Europe's greatest road courses from April through October. Live, taped-delayed, and online broadcasts reach some 188 million more people annually, according to the FIA. Tveter's and the organizations’ press outreach, Web sites, and social media programs will provide additional exposure and engagement.
Right To Play is a global organization that uses the transformative power of play to educate and empower children facing adversity. Johann Olav Koss, a four-time Olympic gold medalist and social entrepreneur, founded it 16 years ago. Through sports and games, Right To Play helps children in almost 20 countries build essential life skills and better futures, while driving sustainable social change in their communities. It reaches more than 1 million disadvantaged children a week worldwide by engaging them in sports. Headquartered in Toronto, its Web site is at RightToPlay.com.
MTV Staying Alive, chaired by former chairman and chief executive of MTV Networks International and global health ambassador Bill Roedy, educates youth leaders to help adolescents and young adults make safe lifestyle choices to prevent HIV and AIDs. It is a person-to-person organization that makes it possible for heroic young people to tackle the AIDs epidemic at the grassroots level in brave, bold, inspirational and creative ways. Starting through an award-winning documentary in 1998, it is now also the world's largest HIV mass media awareness and prevention campaign. It has awarded more than 500 grants and distributed millions of U.S. dollars to 66 countries since 2005. Its Web site is at MTVStayingAlive.org.
Lessons for Life Foundation funds education projects in some of the toughest parts of Africa. It believes that education changes everything and that all children, no matter where they were born, have the right to an education that equips them for life. Lessons for Life Foundation’s mission is to create, support and develop programs that give the most disadvantaged children an education that really pays off. For more information about this London-based charity, see LessonsForLifeFoundation.org.
“It’s exciting and humbling to represent and support three incredible organizations by doing what I love," Tveter said. "Raising awareness, and hopefully some money too, for the amazing work that Lessons for Life, MTV Staying Alive and Right To Play do to give so many young people the chance to have happier, safer, healthier futures feels so great.”
Tveter, of Oyster Bay, N.Y., is entering his second season in the FIA F3 series. He drives for Carlin Racing, one of the most successful junior single-seater teams and winners of nine F3 championships.
Last year Tveter's best finish came at Zandvoort in the Netherlands. He's taking what he learned last year and building on it, and he's been very fast in pre-season testing. He's also proven to be very popular with his team members, his fellow competitors and fans. For more information see RyanTveter.com and follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
For more information on the series, see FIAF3Europe.com. Carlin's Web site is at Carlin.co.uk. Video of all the races will be available on YouTube.