About us We level the playing field for young people to thrive in partnership with the AFL industry and players. The Ladder Project Foundation (Ladder) is an independent not-for-profit organisation born out of the Australian Football League (AFL) industry. We level the playing field for young people to thrive. This mission is at the heart of everything Ladder does. Ladder delivers tailored, holistic development and mentoring programs to help young people in need across Australia. We build critical skills, self-belief and meaningful opportunities for young people to create the future they deserve. Ladder specialises in addressing youth disengagement and disadvantage. We tackle this national problem by working with local communities to design and implement local solutions. We deliver a tailored prevention and intervention model which can be scaled and taken to many different communities, whilst still being responsive to specific needs in each local context. The young people we support have highly complex needs and may be experiencing hardship due to trauma and adverse early life experiences. With Ladder’s positive intervention, these young people are able to break free from the intergenerational cycle of disadvantage and shape their own life trajectories. Ladder exists because of the vision and action of three AFL players who saw a need and the role of the AFL industry in achieving social change. Ladder was established in 2007, and has worked closely with the AFL industry since this time. We are the official charity of the AFL Players’ Association and a charity partner of the AFL. Ladder has levelled the playing field for thousands of young Australians and this number grows as our critical work continues. Ladder Strategic Plan 2023-2025 - digital version Ladder Strategic Plan 2023-2025 - print ready version Manage Cookie Preferences