Home / About
The Mario West Foundation was built on one belief: every young person deserves the resources and the belief system needed to defend their dream.
Mario West is a Douglas County High School graduate and former Atlanta Hawks player who went on to a professional career that took him overseas for five years with six different teams, including a championship run and Finals MVP with the Dominican Republic’s Caneros del Este. Known during his playing days for his defense, Mario has channeled that same discipline into a second calling: investing in the students, teachers, and families of the community that raised him.
It’s a full-circle story: Mario played basketball as a 7th & 8th grader at Stewart Middle School, and today the foundation partners with that same school, alongside Douglas County High School, Bright Star Elementary, Sweetwater Elementary, and others, to fund scholarships, support teachers, and mentor the next generation.
His debut book, Defend the Dream, distills that journey into a practical playbook for pursuing any goal, and gave the foundation its name and its mission.
The Mario West Foundation Inc. was founded to close the gap between where students and families are and where opportunity actually lives: through direct scholarships, financial education, mentorship, and community resources, not just awareness.
A community where every student has the tools, the mentors, and the financial foundation to reach their God-given potential and to defend their dream, no matter where they start.
✦
We root our work in faith and service, believing every young person has God-given potential worth investing in.
✦
We show up directly in classrooms, schools, and neighborhoods, not from a distance.
✦
We build leadership skills early, so today’s students become tomorrow’s mentors.
✦
From scholarships to signature events, we hold every program to a standard worth being proud of.
“Defend the Dream” is more than the foundation’s tagline. It’s the guiding message behind our scholarships, mentorship, signature events, and sponsorship story. Each year, we spotlight real “Dream Defended” stories showing how a student, teacher, or family was helped to take the next step toward a goal.
