Women’s History Month 2026: How two Community Impact Hub leaders are using the power of tennis to inspire youth in Atlanta
In celebration of Women’s History Month, the USTA Foundation is highlighting Community Impact Hub leaders who are furthering Billie Jean King’s mantra of “see it to be it.” Two of these leaders include Mackenzi Stewart, Director of Tennis at the L.E.A.D. Center for Youth, and Kirsten Robles, executive director of the Atlanta Youth Tennis and Education Foundation (AYTEF)—both organizations are part of the 10 USTA Foundation Community Impact Hub pilot locations.
Stewart’s tennis journey began young, when she first picked up a racquet at 3 years old. She recalled struggling to truly feel “seen” in the sport, and said it wasn’t until learning from Black coaches and playing with Black players that she truly felt empowered. She would eventually play tennis at the college-level, at Southern University and A&M College as well as Georgia State University.
“If you can see somebody that looks like you—you have the same skin tone or hair texture or—it just really speaks volumes and really makes you feel you can do this too,” Stewart said.
That sense of belonging her coaches created is something she’s carried with her into her own career and hopes to pass on to the girls she coaches. Within L.E.A.D., Stewart shepherds the Lady Ambassadors Tennis Program, which uses tennis to facilitate training, mentorship and leadership development to help Atlanta-area girls succeed on and off the court. The program features two different tracks: a school-based track, which introduces young girls to tennis at select partner schools, and a cohort-based track, which offers in-depth, year-round lessons.
Community Impact Hub leader Mackenzi Stewart with a young tennis player at an L.E.A.D. event. Photo by iSmoothMedia.
Through both paths, Stewart hopes to not only bring the joy of tennis to young Black girls, but to also foster the same sense of empowerment her coaches gave her.
“Sometimes as an African American girl, you feel like you have to minimize yourself in order to make other people comfortable, especially in a historically predominantly white sport like tennis,” Stewart said. “[My coaches] encouraged me to be loud and proud about who I am and not feel like I had to shrink to make others comfortable. I hope that I'm passing that on to my girls.”
Kirsten Robles teaching a group of young tennis players with AYTEF. Photo courtesy of Kirsten Robles.
Kirsten Robles, executive director of AYTEF, had a similar tennis journey. Her intro to the sport began at 8 years old, when a neighbor was offering tennis lessons to children in the community. From there, her love for the sport flourished, and she went on to play NCAA Division I tennis at the University of Kentucky.
After coaching college tennis, Robles joined AYTEF in 2021. The nonprofit provides free, high-quality tennis and academic support to children in some of Atlanta’s most underserved neighborhoods, with the goal of inspiring connection, mentorship and community.
She said her leadership has been directly guided by her own experiences as a young tennis player, particularly when it comes to representation. Robles recalled often being the only Black girl in her tennis lessons, and not having any Black or female coaches. Now, working with young girls in a predominantly Black community, she’s proud to help change that experience for them.
“To have Black and Hispanic female coaches on my staff, I'm getting to heal a piece of me that I didn't know I missed,” Robles said. “Looking into our programs and how we hire, I see now the richness of what our girls get by like walking onto the courts every single day and seeing someone who looks like them on the court coaching.”
Mentoring young girls at such impressionable ages isn’t lost on Robles. She realizes she has the ability to create a foundation for these young people, rooted in representation, confidence and power.
“Opportunity is everywhere, you just have to be exposed to it,” Robles said. “For these kids, the environment is so important, so creating an environment where they always feel like anything is possible, that's something that I try to keep within our programming and culture. So they can keep dreaming.”
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