Basketball helped him survive poverty; now Adeola Ajay is rooting for other children to rise in his home country
February 20, 2026 | Austin Barnes | Minority-Led
When school let out each day, young Adeola Ajayi didn’t get to go home or outside to play. Instead, he clocked in for a job he created for himself, selling seasonal produce with his brother by an African roadside so their family wouldn’t go hungry.
“Survival was the daily priority,” Ajayi said of his upbringing in Sango Ota, Nigeria. “My family of seven lived in a 9-by-9 room. … Hunger wasn’t an occasional experience — it was a constant companion.”
Adeola Ajayi, founder and executive director of Adeola Ajayi Foundation; photo by Austin Barnes, Startland News
“I played basketball barefoot because we couldn’t afford shoes,” he continued. “At one point, we were evicted [from our home]. And that moment felt like the official end of my childhood.”
Although such hardships weren’t yet behind him, a move to Lagos — Nigeria’s largest city — actually extended a slice of his youth and opened a door to opportunity, he said. It allowed Ajayi to pursue basketball as a means for getting out of extreme poverty.
“I lived in tenement housing filled with bed bugs, rats, roaches, and mosquitoes. Clothes were chewed through, food spoiled quickly, and every day felt like a battle between hope and survival,” he recalled.
“Yet basketball gave me a sense of belonging — a way to see beyond the limits of my environment.”
Ajayi ultimately made his way to the United States on a basketball scholarship, joining the family of Dr. Jackie Walters — familiar to many as a star of Bravo’s “Married to Medicine” — and her husband, Curtis Berry, a coach and former professional basketball player drafted by the Kansas City Kings in 1981.
The experience of his upbringing is chronicled in Ajayi’s newly released memoir, Footprints on Concrete.
“I knew what it felt like to lack opportunity, safety, food, mentorship, and resources. I promised myself that if God ever lifted me out of that environment, I would go back and create pathways for children who grew up just like me — children whose futures were being shaped by circumstances they didn’t choose.”
He committed to doing so in 2019, founding the Kansas City-based Adeola Ajayi Foundation, where he also serves as executive director.
“Every program we run today is rooted in what I needed back then: a safe place, guidance, education, shoes, meals, hope, and someone to say, ‘Your life can look different.’ … Everything I experienced is the reason this foundation exists. My story is their story. And my hope is that sharing it — through the book, the foundation, and the work we do — inspires others to help these children walk a different path than the one I had to navigate alone.”
Ajayi is hosting the foundation’s 4th annual gala — the Bloom Ball —Saturday, Feb. 21 at The Gallery Event Space, presented by Walter’s 50 Shades of Pink Foundation.
“The gala has become a celebration of resilience, culture, community, and possibility. It features a cocktail hour, silent auction, plated dinner, live performances, speeches, and a powerful message about why this work matters.”
Click here for tickets.
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“The theme of this year’s gala is Root to Rise, because when we nourish the roots — the children, the families, the community — we all rise together,” Ajayi previewed. “I want people to know that this isn’t just a nonprofit — it’s a mission born from survival, gratitude, and faith. Every child we help is a reminder of where I came from and what’s possible when someone is given a chance.”
“If we pour into these kids today, the world will feel their impact tomorrow.”
Throughout the year, the foundation hosts its annual AOA Basketball Camp and other community initiatives that provide Nigerian families with meals, scholarships, hygiene kits, and more.
“My family, coaches, and volunteers in Nigeria continue to serve our community on the ground. Each camp is powered by local volunteers, teachers, and coaches who pour their hearts into the kids we serve,” Ajayi explained, noting local supporters of the gala and foundation such as Kryger Glass, Bukaty Companies, Dynamic Dental Services Group, and the Kansas City Power & Light District — in addition to individual donors who collectively provided more than 300 hygiene packs for the foundation’s 2025 visit to Nigeria.
“This foundation is truly a community effort — built by the hands, hearts, and generosity of people who believe that every child deserves a chance to rise,” he added.
Editor’s Note: The Adeola Ajayi Foundation was chosen as the nonprofit beneficiary of Spark Coworking Kansas City’s 2025 Every Startup’s Holiday Party, co-hosted by Startland. As such, the coworking hub committed to raising funds from guests and members to support the work of Ajayi and his partners. This story was produced independently of that partnership.
