The Iconoclasts party was filled with legends, including the one and only skateboard legend Tony Hawk. He appears in the upcoming Sundance channel series speaking with Iron Man director Jon Favreau. Tony Hawk is no stranger to breaking barriers. He’s credited with landing the first ever 900, which consists of performing two-and-a-half rotations (900°) in the air before landing back on a skate pipe. But one barrier he’s claimed that no one can repeat is the creation of his Tony Hawk Foundation in 2002. We caught up with the extreme athlete to find out his inspiration and his goals for the foundation.

CGG: How can extreme sports make a difference in a kid’s life?

Tony Hawk: Well my charity is the Tony Hawk foundation. We support public skate parks in low-income areas. Our goal is to empower youth and communities that are trying to get a skate park in their area, and maybe are up against a lot of cut through the bureaucracy and red tape. We try to give them funding, and we try to give them resources to get it done. And especially kids and the at-risk youth need a place to go, and a lot of them are skating and riding BMX bikes. If you’re just telling them they can’t skate in the cities, in the streets, you’re just discouraging them from doing something active. And they just need a safe facility to go to, so we try to help them with that.

CGG: What is one story of someone who has really been affected by the foundation?

TH: It’s hard to quantify with one kid. I think that we’ve had some really great success stories in one kid that one was the catalyst for getting a park in their area. And they come to the grand opening, and they’re just amazed, that they started the whole project, that it actually came to fruition, and that we came to their aid. I think the best success story, in my eyes, is that at our last fundraiser, in Beverly Hills last year, we asked people to donate money for one specific project in Compton. And in a matter of ten minutes, we raised about $70,000. That park is opening in two weeks. And it’s opening before our next fundraiser, so the fact that people at the next fundraiser will be able to see tangible evidence of their money being used is amazing. You know, because a lot of charities, they do good work, but maybe you can’t really see what work they’re doing, because it just kind of goes off to research or whatever it is. And ours, there is cement being made. There are kids smiling. And they don’t have a place to go, obviously in Compton.

CGG: You just had a baby girl? Congratulations.

TH: Yeah, we have a three-month-old daughter, named Kadence. And this is the first night that mom has been away from her.

CGG: What kind of world do you want your kids to grow up in?

TH: I think a world of diversity and tolerance. I want them to not be afraid to approach anyone, regardless of their race or their economic background, and just to see people for who they are. I feel like we’ve made a lot of strides in that direction in the last, say, 20 years.

CGG: What advice do you have for your people who want to make a change in the world?

TH: Believe in yourself and believe that you can make a difference.