Cultural preservation is a critical and often overlooked part of equity. True inclusion starts by being seen and understood. WhatsApp and Giannis Antetokounmpo exemplify this spirit.

WhatsApp’s product and brand mission is to bring people closer to their cultures and communities, and Giannis is a global NBA superstar with cross-cultural roots. When Giannis and WhatsApp teamed up for the brand’s first-ever global partnership in 2023, they saw the potential to demonstrate the power of culture to create impact. They focused on the issue of language and literacy: mother tongue language books are one of the most cost-effective literacy interventions, yet 40% of children globally lack access to mother-tongue educational materials.

In Nigeria, Giannis’ home country, 70% of children cannot read with meaning. Together, WhatsApp and Giannis partnered to shine a light on this issue globally and make a direct impact—co-founding an on-ground arm of a literacy NGO in Nigeria and reaching 900,000 children globally in just six months.

Giannis’ origin story exemplifies the importance of cross-cultural identity. Greek-born and of Nigerian descent, Giannis credits WhatsApp with helping him stay connected to his friends and family around the world for years while he built a career in the NBA abroad. Growing up in Greece, his mother’s Igbo lullabies became a vehicle for passing on Nigerian culture and language. As a father and philanthropist with a vision to make an impact and connect more deeply to his roots, Giannis, his family foundation—the Charles Antetokounmpo Family Foundation (CAFF)—and WhatsApp teamed up with NABU, an international nonprofit creating culturally responsive children’s books in mother tongue language to preserve culture and improve literacy rates.

Together, WhatsApp, Giannis, CAFF, and NABU embarked on a collective mission to pass down Nigerian culture through mother tongue children’s books. As part of this collaboration, the group co-founded NABU Nigeria—bringing the organization’s work to a market where mother tongue language books can make a massive impact but where previously no on-the-ground presence existed—established NABU’s ABC Lab in Lagos, and sponsored the creation of dozens of children’s e-books in Igbo, Giannis’ mother tongue. The six-month campaign included global digital activations on socials and streaming, including the release of an original film “Ugo: A Homecoming Story,” which highlights Giannis’ visit to NABU Nigeria’s new lab. The campaign also included a local activation in Houston, TX, the U.S. city with the largest diasporic Nigerian population, engaging over 150 kids during a celebratory afternoon at a local Boys & Girls Club.

As a result of this partnership, nearly 900,000 children engaged with NABU globally over six months (a 45% increase over their monthly average), providing them with proven tools for increasing literacy and cultural preservation. In addition, direct search for NABU increased by 2,500,000%, engagement with NABU’s content nearly tripled globally, and over 2M unique users visited NABU’s website within the six-month campaign period. NABU continues to create and disseminate free mother-tongue children’s ebooks across the globe, working across 10+ countries and serving over 7M children.