Nita Simpson, CEO and founder of Battle Tested Kids, is taking her lived experiences and pouring them into the next generation of Bay Area kids
Girl’s varsity basketball head coach Nita Simpson, left, works with Miquerah Riley, 14, during practice at Oakland High School in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2024. Simpson founded the nonprofit Battle Tested Kids, which helps disadvantaged youth with personal growth and success through competitive athletics training and personalized mentorship. She’s coached basketball. She’s coached volleyball. She’s coached boxing. She’s run a record label. She’s been a radio personality.
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.
Like Shariff Salzman, who was, by his own admission, “going down the wrong path” when he met Simpson at 16. Before working with Simpson, Salzman recalls “not really doing anything with my life.” He relied on marijuana to deal with childhood trauma. What Simpson provided was structure. Fresh off graduating high school, Salzman now has his hand in several businesses and makes music under the moniker Young Legend.
Like Yuniqque Robinson, who won a state championship under Simpson last season at Oakland High. If not for Simpson, Robinson might have quit on basketball entirely. From Marin Academy, Simpson attended Whittier College. Along with majoring in business, Simpson started her first business, Prime Dymes Entertainment, with her friend, Rita Forte. Simpson served as a personality on Whittier’s college radio station, which allowed her to become familiar with working with record labels.
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