OUR STORY
Tennis in Africa was founded in June of 2015 as a non-profit organization in the State of Georgia, United States of America. It was started by a small group of women who are passionately committed to providing African youth with the opportunity and forum to develop life skills through the benefits associated with tennis and fitness.
This undertaking came about when our Executive Director, Patience Kodua, personally witnessed the lack of access to the sport for the masses on one of her visits to Ghana. Even those who have access are limited by inadequate resources, including dilapidated sports facilities and courts. In particular, coaches were hampered by the extremely poor conditions of the tennis balls and gears available for teaching in the local tennis clubs. Accordingly, our initial efforts will be focused in Ghana and later expanded to other regions in Africa, as the need is far greater than you can imagine.
VISION
Tennis in Africa is to promote the platform through which to identify tennis talent in our communities, talent that would have gone undiscovered otherwise.
We will accomplish this by:
- Providing a platform through which to identify talent amongst those who would otherwise have little or no chance of experiencing the game.
- Acting as a facilitative vehicle that will enable like-minded individuals and organizations to liaise and develop strategic partnerships that will improve the visibility and consumption of African tennis, thereby elevating the game to greater heights.
- Identifying harmonious collaborations that will enable global corporate sponsors and African organizations to capitalize on the opportunity to support our local communities.
- Improving the overall landscape of tennis as a sport in Africa, providing a lever to enhance local communities and compel sustainable progress and development.
Patience Kodua
Co-founder & CEO of TIA
Patience Kodua is the mother of two intelligent, independent young adults. She resides in the State of Georgia.
Mrs. Kodua teaches in a public elementary school; she holds an Education Specialist Degree (Eds.) from Nova Southeastern University in Florida.
When not in the classroom, Mrs. Kodua enjoys an active social and competitive tennis life within the Atlanta tennis community, and also within the various tennis clubs in Accra, Ghana, where she calls ‘home’. She envisages a time when tennis could become as easily accessible to Sub-Saharan youth as soccer is.
Patience Kodua is also the founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Reading Station Library Inc., a nonprofit with a goal to enhance literacy in Ghana, by ensuring access to reading books for youth in underprivileged communities.
You can email Patience at: pkodua@tennisinafrica.org
Aissatou Bah
Co-Founder & Vice President
Aissa is a mom of two lovely children who are currently attending Georgia Tech. She identifies herself as both Sierra Leonean and Guinean. Her parents are from Guinea (Conakry), but she was born and raised in Sierra Leone.
Aissa currently teaches special education at Gwinnett County Public Schools. She also operates the consulting and business support services company, SierraEdge Group, headquartered in Atlanta. Aissa brings over fifteen years of experience in the areas of administrative management, project management, customer relations, staff training and development, and other critical areas of administrative environments.
Aissa also spends her time as an active member of the local nonprofit community. She serves on the Board of Hope of Africa and on the Fundraising Committee of the Fullah Progressive Union of Georgia.
She holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Metropolitan College of New York and a Master’s in Business Administration with concentrations in Marketing, Risk Management, and Healthcare Management from the Walden University.
You can email Aissa at: abah@tennisinafrica.org
Partners & Affiliation
