THE MISSION
The mission of the Erin Cowan Foundation is to invest in youth and basketball within the Portland community. Our goal is to promote education and athletics through college scholarships.
THE INSPIRATION
Erin “JoJo” Cowan was a Northeast Portland-native and always quick to tell someone he was “from the streets”. He walked the halls of Faubion Elementary School, played on the grounds at Whitaker Middle School and represented as strong as a person could from Jefferson High School. For Erin, ball was life and he was forever a Demo.
From a hoop his dad mounted above the garage of his childhood home through college years spent at Umpqua Community College and Idaho State University, that love for basketball never faded. Erin moved on to coach, train, become a certified sports agent but eventually create a career for himself as a Technical Consultant working on commercial shoots with a list of professional athletes too long to name. Even as his career took him around the world, when in Portland he was in the gym continuing to work with players aspiring to both amateur and professional levels.
To the many people Erin touched throughout his career and lifetime, it was not simply basketball that defined the relationships he had. It was his love for life and his ability to make everyone he came in contact with his “fam.”
The Erin Cowan foundation was founded to carry out the work he started, honor Erin as a coach, mentor and friend, and create a long-lasting legacy within the local community he left behind knowing the potential for this to spread much farther.