Our Team

Nelson benefits from fifteen years’ experience in financial engineering and impact investing. In 2013, he joined the Africa department of Lazard Frères before co-founding Emergence Capital, a corporate and financial advisory firm dedicated to African start-ups and SMEs.

• Career: Lazard Frères, DC Advisory, Africa Capital
• Sports: Basketball (center – regional level), football (right winger – leisure)
• Degrees: Master 225 (Paris IX Dauphine University) – French African Young Leader (2019 cohort)
• Motto: Work and perseverance are the keys to success

Convinced by the social impact of sport, Nelson has also led the creation of Sport Impact, the structure in charge of managing and running the Sport en Commun platform.

Syra Sylla, former sports writer, has more than 13 years of experience as a Content & Community Manager for leading companies of which Nike and NBA Africa. She is also the founder of the “Women Sport Stories” podcast, dedicated to the promotion of women’s sport.

• Career: Nike, NBA Afrique, Quai 54, Hoops Factory, Ligue Nationale de Basketball, EuroLeague Players Association
• Sports: Basketball
• Degrees: Master II MIAGE (Créteil – Paris XII University) – Sahélien.ne.s 2040 (2020 cohort)
• Devise: Sharing is healing

Syra is at the origin of several development through sport initiatives in France and Africa. She is particulary involved in the issue of gender equality through programs that promote the emancipation of young girls and women through sport.

Myriam Cissé became an expert in project management through her involvement with civil society organisations.

• Career: Volunteer with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Youth, Peace and Security Network (UNDESA-CI) and Social Change Factory
• Sport: Fitness
• Achievements: Master in Banking and Finance (African Centre for Higher Studies in Management)
• Motto: “No one has the right to be happy alone”

Outraged by inequalities, Myriam has conducted studies on the issues of poverty and financial inclusion of women.

• Career: TotalEnergies Senegal, BNDE, YUP, BHS, UEMOA
• Sports: Basketball
• Degree: Master in Digital Marketing
• Motto: Giving our children the best possible start in life.

After studying economics and business management at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, Célia specialised in international hotel management. Célia also specialised in pricing strategies and reporting tools. Her various experiences abroad have enabled her to develop her ability to adapt and her taste for versatility.

• Career: Courir, BWP Premier Sonasea Phu Qu’oc (Vietnam), Sowell Hotels & Residences
• Sport: Swimming
• Achievements: MBA Director in International Hospitality
• Motto: People only need two things to live happily: good health and inner peace.

Célia does not hesitate to put her knowledge and her time at the service of others.

Afua ATIASE has more than 10 years of experience in administrative management with renowned international organizations such as the World Bank, Caterpillar SN & CI, the British Embassy and the Swedish Embassy in Senegal. She has also worked for humanitarian organizations such as the TrustAfrica Foundation.

• Career: IFC-World Bank (Dakar), Caterpillar CI, British Embassy in Senegal, TrustAfrica Foundation, Swedish Embassy
  Sports: Fitness
• Achievements: Training in computer science applied to accounting, certifications in finance and accounting
• Devise: “The only failure in life is giving up”

Afua does not hesitate to use her knowledge and interpersonal skills to help the team.

Jean-Marc «Jimmy» ADJOVI-BOCO is a former professional football player. As former beninese national team captain, he spent most of his career at the Lens Racing Club in France. Graduated from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Lille, Jimmy is one of the co-founder and the General Manager of the Diambars association, which supports the prestigious football academy based in Saly, Senegal.

Diambars aims to offer the best opportunities to young african athletes by using football as a tool for social, economic and cultural development while ensuring a secure professional integration.

Member of the Presidential Council for Africa set up by the French President Emmanuel Macron in August 2017, he is now special advisor to the Minister of Sports in Benin and works for the development of sport and education.

Strong advocate for equality and inclusion in sport, Joyce COOK was assigned Secretary General of the FIFA Foundation in 2019 and is also in charge of FIFA’s Office of Social Responsibility and Education.

Thanks to her commitment and strong knowledge of football structure and governance, she leads initiatives for the development and implementation of diversity and inclusion programs at the national and international levels. She is the founder and executive director of the Centre for Access to Football in Europe (CAFE).

Joyce is currently a member of the FARE Board of Directors and the Sports Safety Authority (SGSA), and is also the Director of Women in Football.

Founder of SEED Project, Amadou Gallo FALL is the President of the Basketball Africa League.

Graduated from the District University of Columbia, he first served as director of recruitment and vice-president of international affairs for the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA. He officially joined the governing committee of the NBA after his great contribution to the opening of the NBA Africa office in Johannesburg (South Africa) in May 2010. Named vice-president, he led NBA development initiatives at the local level.

President of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) since 2019, he works to reinforce the central role of sport for development of Africa.

SEED Project has been working since 1998 to use sport as a vehicle for inspiration, empowerment and support for the development of African youth.

Three-time karate world champion and seven-time European champion, Laurence FISCHER is a passionate advocate of education and women’s empowerment through sport. After 11 years of professional career, Laurence decides to change her fight and invests again in her studies. In 2006, she graduated from the Ecole supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (ESSEC) and became manager at the global equipment manufacturer, Nike.

In 2017, she founded «Fight For Dignity», and set up a sport and social program specifically adapted to women victims of violence in France and Africa, especially in the Congo. She intends to duplicate the model in several countries around the world in order to sustain her commitment.

In 2019, the triple world champion is appointed Ambassador for Sport at the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs in France and has the mission to promote sport on all continents.

Kenyan marathon athlete with several world records and the first African athlete in history to win the prestigious New York Marathon in 1994, Tegla LOROUPE was considered the fastest woman in the world over long distances in the late 1990s. She is a three-time semi-marathon world champion and holds world records of 20, 25, and 30 kilometers.

For nearly twenty years, she has been putting her reputation at the service of peace and Africa through her foundation created in 2003 and is very involved in the fight for refugees and disadvantaged populations in Kenya.

Tegla Loroupe is a member of the Champions for Peace Club created by Peace and Sport and has been appointed for the second time as the “Head of Mission” of the Refugee Team for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo after Rio 2016.