Share the Spirit: How Battle Tested Kids is providing mentorship to the next generation

Nita Simpson has lived more lives than many.

She’s coached basketball. She’s coached volleyball. She’s coached boxing. She’s run a record label. She’s been a radio personality. All of these phases of her life have allowed her to find her purpose.

Simpson is the founder and CEO of , a that formed in 2019 and provides mentorship and sports training for low-income and underserved youth in Oakland. During the in Oakland’s Town Jubilee, Simpson was recognized with the Town Hero award for her efforts.

Battle Tested Kidsnon-profit organizationfifth annual Juneteenth

Through East Bay Times’ annual Share the Spirit campaign, Battle Tested Kids is aiming to raise $25,000. That money won’t just allow 150 underserved youth in at-risk areas around the Bay Area to attend camp, but it will also support three internships for those wanting to pursue careers in sports, social media management, photography, web design, entrepreneurship or marketing.

“It’s being able to see what a person is lacking and what a situation is lacking,” Simpson said, “and then being able to fill those gaps. That seems to be my gift. Giving people my work ethic, tapping into the mind, that seems to be the gift that God gave me.”

With that gift, Simpson and her organization have been able to influence members of the next generation.

Like Jamahl Foster, one of the first people who Simpson ever mentored. Simpson, having shared a church with Foster’s parents, has known Foster his entire life. When she began coaching him in basketball when he was in the eighth grade, she wasn’t afraid to challenge him. Foster recalls learning the importance of “extreme numbers” like making 1,000 shots per day and, on one occasion, running around a gym while carrying a rice bag.

Simpson connected the work ethic needed to succeed in basketball with the work ethic necessary to succeed academically. Upon graduating from KIPP King Collegiate in San Lorenzo, Foster graduated with a degree in kinesiology at Cal State East Bay. Currently, the 29-year-old works as a financial consultant and personal trainer while serving as an assistant coach for Battle Tested Kids.

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