Our Sport Impact Leaders

Originally from Niger, Hamsa Adamou Anarouwa is a former taekwondo player. An emblematic figure of taekwondo in her country, she was 5 times Niger champion, 2 times West African champion, and bronze medallist in international competitions such as the Francophone World Cup and the Olympic qualification tournament.

Hamsa has created the NGO “TKD un Sport pour Tous” to fight against juvenile delinquency and to promote the academic success of young people through sport in Niger. She accompanies 50 young girls and boys aged 6 to 25 in sports and school to help them integrate into society.

Bénin

Floriane Armelle Amegnanglo is a Beninese international volleyball player. Standing at 1.80m, Floriane was selected for the national team for the first time at the age of 16. At that time, she was the youngest player to join the group. After several years on the continent (Benin, Ivory Coast), she is now pursuing her career in Poland.

Floriane’s ambition is to promote volleyball in Benin and to use her sport to encourage the emancipation of young girls.

France

Born in Bordeaux, Emilie Andeol is a former French judoka. A golden medalist at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, she has won several titles all along her career, of which two are European championships and four French championships.

In 2018, aged 31, she announced her plan to retire as an athlete and became project-manager at the Ippon Foundation which fights the digital divide worldwide. She has also been engaged in the same fight since 2019 alongside the Didier Drogba Foundation.

France/Comores

Originating from the Comoros, Arnaud Assoumani is an international athlete, a long jump Paralympics champion at the Beijing Olympic Games. In 2012, he launched the Golden Arm Project, a contest enabling the graphic customisation of his left forearm competition prosthesis on the theme of comic-book superheroes.

Arnaud is engaged in several initiatives, notably alongside the PLAY International NGO, to support education through sport.

France

A former swimming new talent, Julie Benoist was an editorial coordinator first, then an officer in charge of international relations at Jeune Afrique group before joining Le Monde group in the summer of 2017 for the development of dedicated partnerships in Africa.

Graduate with two Master degrees in International Relations and in Diplomacy and Strategic Negotiations, she has been working for over 10 years on economic and social development issues in Africa, as a Senior Advisor at CDC Group, a British public investment structure notably active in Africa and South Asia.

Born in France and originally from Senegal, Hadja Cissé is a French-Senegalese handball player. She plays as a left back for Reims Champagne Handball in the Nationale 1, as well as for the Senegalese national team.

Silver medallist at the African Nations Championship in 2018, Hadja has largely contributed to the construction of the Senegalese women’s handball team in 2009 when she was only 19 years old.

In parallel to her career, the handball player is the head of a company that offers installation/construction services for sports equipment.

France/Cameroon

Originally from Kumba in Cameroon, Serge Betsen is a rugby player. Selected 63-times with the French National Team, Serge participated in two Grand Slams in 2002 and 2004. He played with the Biarritz Olympique, winning three French titles, before joining the English club Wasps.

Initially, his vision was to create a project to popularise rugby among disadvantaged young people in Cameroon with the «Enfants de Biemassy». His project now bears the name of the Serge Betsen Academy and aims to use the teaching of this sport as a vector of social integration, access to education for hundreds of disadvantaged children in urban and rural areas of Cameroon and more recently in Mali.

“Because of my rugby background and experiences, I feel like a citizen of the world. I have learned to adjust wherever I go. Thanks to my passion for people, I am an individual at the service of the collective and I believe that each one of us has the power to make our community evolve to change the world”.

France

Born in Vichy, Séverine is a former French international cyclist. Ranking among the world’s best all along her sporting career, she is currently running a consulting firm that assists companies in both France and abroad.

Appointed Robert Schuman Institute’s General Sports Advisor for Sport in Europe in 2016, she has also been serving as a UNSS ambassador. Séverine is putting her experience to good use and is bringing together the sporting, professional and military worlds as well as working for a better redeployment of elite athletes.

Born in Ziguinchor in Senegal, Hortance Diédhiou is a Senegalese judoka. Her athletic qualities and commitment have been rewarded with a dozen continental medals, including 4 African championship titles. Her career has been marked by her role as Senegal’s flag bearer at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Today, Hortance wants to promote social, cultural and sports development in Senegal, especially in Casamance. With her association Kassofor Sembé, she is currently building a sport study centre in Ziguinchor. The aim of this academy is to welcome and train the best African judokas for the next major competitions, namely the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games and the world championships.

Senegal

Born in Dakar, Balla Dieye is a Senegalese taekwondoist who won his first African Championship title in 2001. He is the first Senegalese to qualify for the Olympic Games (2016 in Rio). Double bronze medalist at the World Championships (2009 and 2013), he has carried the image of Senegalese taekwondo throughout his career.

Today President of the Federation of Senegalese Taekwondo and Peace & Sport Champion, he is organising the 12th edition of the African Taekwondo Championship which is an opportunity for Senegal to receive the best taekwondoists and thus inspire many young talents.

Côte d’Ivoire/France

Olivier Diomandé is a former Franco-Ivorian league rugby player, twice champion of Pro D2 France. His first selection in Côte d’Ivoire’s national team dates back to 2006. 

His commitment as from his professional retirement became real with his appointment as General Manager of the national teams at the Ivorian Rugby Federation in 2019. His objective is to turn this sport as a development vector notably off the preparations to the 2023 World Cup Rugby in France and to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

“Nothing great is accomplished without passion.”

Sénégal/France

Originally from Senegal, Fatou Diouck is a former enegalese international volleyball player. World traveller, she played in both european (France, Finland) and asian (Azerbaijan, South Korea, Thailand) championships. She’s now a member of Pays d’Aix Venelle (France). At 35, she is the most famous senegalese volleyball player but also the most successful.



With her organisation “Demoiselles de Keur, Sénégalaises de demain”, Fatou wants to democratise the practice of volleyball in Senegal and provide young girls with access to sports facilities, health, education and culture. 



“Being a leader is about making others grow”

Bénin/France

Born in Benin, Rock Feliho is a professional handball player who has played at the highest level in France since 2000 and was named best defender of the championship four times. He retired after the Final Four of the Champions League in Cologne.

While he resumed his studies this year at the EM Lyon Business School, Rock’s ambition is to popularise handball in Benin.

France/Mali/Senegal

Born in Paris from Senegal- and Mali-born parents, Diana is a former international Malian basketball player. A streetball figure in France and an activist of 3 on 3 basketball, she took part in the 2008 Olympic Games with Mali and is now among the Peace & Sport NGO’s Champions of Peace.

Committed to the development of 3 on 3 basketball in both France and Africa, she has taken part in several actions to renovate sports fields in Senegal and is currently striving to build a basketball academy in Mali with her sister Touty Gandéga.

“The best friend of the excuse is failure, so take your chance because you won’t always get it.”

France/Senegal

Originally from Senegal and born in Vitry-sur-Seine in France, Aby is a French international basketball player. French Champion in 2017 with Villeneuve d’Ascq, she plays for Charleville-Mézières in the French Women’s Basketball League.

A graduate of Sciences Po, Aby is behind the Terang’Aby initiative in Senegal, which aims to raise awareness, through basketball, among young girls on issues of skin depigmentation and self-esteem but also on issues affecting Senegalese society in general.

“What motivates me in sport is the idea of surpassing oneself, of looking for one’s limits and of knowing how far one can go with one’s potential, which is really unique to each person. From there, I understood that one should not compare oneself to others but to oneself. This is my only objective on a daily basis, which drives me to work and which allows me to remain motivated, to be my own motor.”

France

Born in Paris, Pascal Gentil is a former french taekwondist from Martinique. Double Olympic bronze medalist, triple world champion, 14-time France champion and multiple European champion, he has earned numerous medals during his career which have made him a legend of sport in France.

With his unusual physic attributes, he aims to pass on his experience and his love for taekwondo by advocating with youth. Champion For Peace of Peace and Sport, Pascal Gentil has reconverted himself as an entrepreuner and remains committed to sport for social change.

“The most important is the commitment of the athletes to give back to society what sport has given them.”

Born in the Yvelines (France), Laura George is a former French international football player. With 180 selections in the French team, she is one of the most capped women French players in history. The three-time French Cup champion and two-time UEFA Women’s Champions League winner imposed herself as a key player in her successive teams at the Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon.

She announced her retirement from soccer in May 2018 and devoted herself entirely to her position as secretary general of the French Football Federation, where she is responsible for the development plan for women’s refereeing.

Fully committed to the development and promotion of women’s soccer, Laura was an ambassador for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. She is recognised as a FIFA Legend for her contribution to her sport on and off the field. She is involved in ethics programs and solidarity projects to share her experience with young people (Football for School, Lebanon October 2019). Laura is also a UEFA ambassador and participates in women’s soccer development and humanitarian programs. Recently, Laura visited refugee camps in Jordan to share her experience with young people of the UEFA Foundation.

Senegal

Idrissa Gana Gueye is a Senegalese international footballer and former student of the Diambars Institute (2003-2007). He made his first professional appearance for Lille Olympique Sporting Club in 2010 and was called up to the national team for the first time in 2011 as part of the preparation for the 2012 London Olympic Games. After three years with Paris Saint-Germine, Idrissa joined Everton FC. 

African champion in 2022, Idrissa was appointed UNESCO ambassador in February 2020. Founder of the association For Hope in Senegal, he raised more than 1 million euros during a gala dinner in 2022 where PSG players (Kylian M’Bappé, Neymar, Lionel Messi, Presnel Kimpembe… ), players from the Senegalese national team (Cheikhou Kouyaté, Moustapha Name, Ismaïla Sarr) and Senegalese personalities such as the Tiktokeur Khaby Lame, Boubou Design, Thione Niang…).

Sarah Hanffou is a French-Cameroonian table tennis player. After participating in the London 2012 and Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, she received the World Sports Development Foundation’s Athlete of Excellence Award in 2015. More recently (August 2022), the table tennis player won a bronze medal at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Turkey.

After her participation in the Jeux de la Francophonie in Niger in 2005, Sarah Hanffou created Ping sans Frontières, an NGO that seeks to develop table tennis to improve education around the world, particularly in Africa, and to fight against climate change. In 2018, she also became an ambassador for the ITTF Foundation to raise awareness of social issues and use her talent and status for positive social change. Also in this vein, Sarah Hanffou launched her brand, Tako, building table tennis tables in Ghana, with the profits going to charities in the country. 

France/Morocco

Born in France, Wassilah Imlak is a young Moroccan international football goalkeeper. At only 18 years of age, she already plays in the French Women’s first league (Ligue 1). 

Wassilah has committed to the Sport Impact Leaders community as of September 2020 with a view to carrying out high impact initiatives linking sport and economic and social development in Morocco.

“The only person to overcome is the person you were yesterday. DETERMINATION, DISCIPLINE, WORK.”

Born in Bingerville, Ivory Coast, Oumar Basakoulda Kone is a Paralympic middle distance athlete in the 400m, 800m and 1500m. Oumar started his career in 1994 and won his first medal in 1995 at the African Championships in Egypt. His sporting qualities and courage have been rewarded with 76 gold medals in all competitions, including 3 gold medals at the Paralympic Games, 5 titles at the World Athletics Championships and 6 victories in the World Athletics Cup. 

Today, Oumar is president of the Treichville Athletics Club and of Handi Treichville Athletics. He is also a coach at the Ivorian Athletics Federation. He works for the integration of handicaps through sport.

Souleymane M’Baye is a former French boxer of Senegalese origin. 3-times world champion, he ended his professional boxing career in 2017, after 49 fights, 23 of which were won by KO. But he did not give up the boxing gloves.

Souleymane wants to make a dream come true: to see the future boxing champion emerge from a boxing centre in Africa and more precisely in Dakar, Senegal. With this in mind, he founded the boxing gym “Keur of Champions”. The aime of this centre is to promote boxing among young people and to create opportunities to avoid the migration of young people to Europe. He wants to give hope to young people because “the future is here in Africa. Boxing is also a school of life, and a way out.”

France/Cameroon

Originally from Cameroon and born in Reims, Endéné Miyem, commonly known as Endy Miyem, is a French international basketball player. Captain of the French National Team and playing for Charleville-Mézières in the French Women’s Basketball League, she is a regular in international competitions (European Champion in 2009, silver medal at the London Olympic Games in 2012…).

With her father Jacques Miyem, Endy founded the Miyem Basket Academy (MBA), which aims to prepare young people and adults physically and technically, with priority given to girls, by organising sports events around basketball, in France and in Douala.

“Everything that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”

France

Estelle Mossely is a French boxer from the town of Ceéteil in France. She won her first silver medal, in 2014 during the European amateur boxing championships in the under 60 kilos category and then won the bronze medal at the World amateur boxing championships. She is best known for being the first French boxer to win the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Estelle is the founder of the “Boxer les Préjugés” action in order to raise awareness among young people about the practice of sport, the image that these activities convey and to open the debate on the practice of all without exclusion or prejudice. She has also deployed the action in DR Congo alongside the Foyer de l’Enfance Matumaini to support young girls in difficult situations through boxing.

“Sport for all is compatible with knowledge for each individual”.

DR Congo/France

Born in Bumbu, a commune of the city of Kinshasa, Youssouf is a Congolese international footballer. He started his professional career with PSG in 2006 before moving to the English Premier League with West Bromwich (2009). Today, he is the undisputed captain of the DRC national team and played in Scotland with Kimarnock FC before choosing to finish his career at home, in DR Congo, with FC Saint Eloi Lupopo.

Youssouf is particularly committed to the DRC through several initiatives already carried out and ongoing in favour of peace and social cohesion in several localities of the country through his foundation created in 2013.

« Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to unite people in an almost unique way. Sport can create hope where there was only despair ».

Senegal

Originally from Kaolack in Senegal, Astou N’Diaye is a former senegalese basketball player. She participated in many African Championships and the Sydney Olympic Games. She is known as one of the only player on the continent to have won the WNBA title (2003 with the Detroit Shock).

Currently a trainer at the NBA Africa Academy in Saly (Senegal), Astou is also the founder of the Astou N’Diaye Foundation, which aims to raise awareness among women and young girls about wellness and sports and to educate them about gender equality, self-confidence and empowerment.

Côte d’Ivoire/France

Born in Côte d’Ivoire, Monny Esther Niamke is a former basketball player. Winner of the junior french championship in 2010 with Mondeville (France), she played for many years in the professional league in France and was also part of the young selections with the French National Team.



Founder and Executive Director of LaBASE Amerique, Esther’s mission is to help young basketball players in West Africa seize opportunities in the US. With the LaBASE Academy, she aims to provide a solid foundation for ivorian youth in order to boost their academic and sporting success from primary school.

“Having a solid BASE is very important at all levels and in all areas, be it sports, school or social. Finding and maintaining this solid foundation is one of the priorities for the stability and security of any project.”

Gabon/France

Born in Port-Gentil in Gabon, Géraldine Yema Robert is a former professional basketball player. A champion of France in 2024 and voted Most Valuable Player of the 2013 Championship, she played for 13 years at the highest level in France.

Géraldine Yema is behind the Yemaly Association initiative the main object of which is to use basketball as an educational tool for the Gabonese youth. She has lately been appointed the General Coordinator of School and University championship in Gabon.

“Sport has the power to change the world.”

France

Born in Paris, Louis is a former French international football player (20 caps), crowned twice as champion of England, European Champions League winner with Manchester United and vice-champion of Europe with France in 2006.

Very active about issues relative to integrity in the sporting world, his reconversion led him in 2014 to founding the Axis Stars platform dedicated to supporting elite athletes in the management of their career and assets.

Born in Paris, France, to parents of Mauritanian origin, Myriam Soumaré is a French athlete specialising in sprinting. At the age of 15, Myriam made her first appearance on the international scene, winning a gold medal at the European junior championships. She went on to win several medals at European and world championships.

Myriam doesn’t just shine on the track. She is also a strong voice for inclusion and equality in sport. Aware of the impact she can have as a role model for young girls, she is actively involved in programmes to encourage the participation of women in sport and promote diversity, particularly in Mauritania.

France/Cameroon

Originally from Cameroon and born in Villepinte, France, Diandra Tchatchouang is a French international basketball player. French champion in 2015 and 2018 and European vice-champion in 2013, 2015, and 2017 with the French team, she played for Montpellier in the Ligue Féminine de Basketball (France). Diandra ended her career in June 2022.

Diandra is behind the Take Your Shot initiative, which has been accompanying girls aged 11 to 15 in La Courneuve since 2017 and helping them achieve their dreams. She recently created the Study Hall programme, which offers tutoring to young members of sports clubs in La Courneuve. She is also working on the foundation of a sport-study orphanage in Bafoussam, Cameroon.

A committed athlete, she is also a member of the Paris 2024 athletes’ commission.

Senegal

Born in Senegal, Amy Mbacké Thiam is a former international athlete. Seven times a champion of France, she is the only athlete in the history of Senegal, men and women combined, to have won a world title (400m in 2001 in Canada) in her discipline.

After a sporting career at a very high level, Amy is currently working as a Sports special advisor at the Presidency of the Republic of Senegal and is committed to assisting young athletes and helping massively to the development of sport.

France/Vietnam

Born in Montpellier from Vietnamese-born parents, François is a French international rugby league player. He is currently playing in Racing 92’s first team, after playing for Montpellier HR, where he was trained in the first place, then for RC Toulon. A vice-champion of France in 2011 and 2017, François has played 66 matches with the team of France since 2008

He has been participating, since 2010, in several humanitarian operations in Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Hong-Kong) alongside the “Pour un sourire d’enfant” association.

Benin/France

Born in Godomey in Benin, Isabelle is a French international basketball player. European champion in 2013 and silver medallist at the London Olympics in 2011, she plays for Tarbes, the French club where she made her first steps in Europe.

Isabelle is behind the “Isabelle Yacoubou” basketball camps organised in Benin in Porto Novo and Cotonou since 2017. She has also joined a committee for the professionalization of basketball in Benin, alongside Ian Mahinmi and Mouphtaou Yarou.

France/Algeria

Born in Paris from Algeria-born parents, Lisa is a world-renowned French freestyle football player. Aged only just 21, Lisa has a remarkable track record, as she has not only played with the greatest football players in the world, but with NBA players and other athletes as well.

In 2019, she was nominated among the 20 women of the year by the UN. She has also democratised freestyle football by proving that a woman could shine out in this discipline.