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 Battle Tested Kids, a nonprofit organization that formed in 2019 and provides mentorship and sports training for low-income and underserved youth in Oakland.

“It’s being able to see what a person is lacking and what a situation is lacking and then being able to fill those gaps. That seems to be my gift,” Simpson said.

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. She began coaching him in basketball when he was in eighth grade, and she wasn’t afraid to challenge him. Foster recalls learning the importance of “extreme numbers,” like making 1,000 shots per day, and running around a gym while carrying a rice bag.

Simpson helped Foster connect the work ethic needed to succeed in basketball with the work ethic necessary to succeed academically. Upon graduating from KIPP King Collegiate High School 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.

Simpson envisions one day having a dedicated facility, one that will allow the organization to stop renting out other spaces. From there? She wants a full-blown campus.

“It’s just a matter of getting in the room with the right people to be able to make it happen,” Simpson said.