The Measure of Our Work Is What Happens Next
We measure impact through access, academic progress, personal development, stability, and the opportunities young people are able to pursue.
OUR STORIES ARE NOT ABOUT RESCUING YOUNG PEOPLE
Our stories are not about rescuing young people.
They are about recognizing their ability, understanding the barriers they face, and standing beside them as they work toward a stronger future.
Each story should clearly show:
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The person’s background
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The challenge
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The support provided
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The individual’s effort
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The measurable result
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What they are doing now
JOHN BOL
FROM SUDAN TO THE NATIONAL STAGE
John Bol was born in Buma, South Sudan, the middle of seven children. After losing his father during the conflict surrounding South Sudan’s independence, John was raised by his mother and older brother.
In search of greater opportunity, his older brother eventually brought John and two of his siblings to Nairobi, Kenya, where John continued his education and initially found his passion in soccer.
Basketball came later.
As John continued to grow, people around him encouraged him to give the sport a chance. He resisted at first, but in 2019 he finally stepped onto the court. He had little experience, but his height immediately made him stand out. Just six months later, the COVID-19 pandemic brought organized basketball and school activities to a halt.
When play resumed in 2021, a simple 25-second basketball video changed the direction of his life.
The clip reached Marcus Wilson, CEO of Nurturing Potential International, who recognized not only John’s raw athletic ability, but the opportunity that education and the right support system could create for him.
In March 2021, after only nine months of organized basketball experience, John moved to St. Louis to live with Wilson and pursue a quality education alongside his developing basketball career.
What followed was remarkable.
After a summer of focused development, John helped CBC High School win a state championship during his sophomore year. He later transferred to Sunrise Christian Academy, competing with one of the top programs in the country and earning National Defensive Player of the Year recognition.
During his senior year at Overtime Elite, John’s personality, infectious smile, and rapidly developing game connected with audiences far beyond the basketball court. But throughout the attention and athletic success, education remained the priority.
John graduated as Salutatorian of his class and was selected as a McDonald’s All-American, an honor reserved for 24 of the nation’s top high school basketball players.
He began his college career at the University of Mississippi before transferring to the University of Central Florida, where he helped UCF reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. Now a junior at UCF, John continues to grow both academically and athletically.
But perhaps the most meaningful part of his journey is what his opportunity has allowed him to do for others.
Through income earned from NIL opportunities, John has been able to support his family in South Sudan, invest in farming initiatives, and become a source of possibility for young people back home who see themselves in his story.
John’s potential was always there. What changed was access, access to guidance, education, development, stability, and people willing to help create the conditions for that potential to grow.
Nurturing Potential became a catalyst in John’s journey, helping transform raw opportunity into a platform that now reaches far beyond the basketball court, from the United States back to communities in South Sudan.
SYMON GHAI
FROM SOUTH SUDAN TO NORTHWESTERN
Symon Ghai’s journey is a story of survival, resilience, and what can happen when extraordinary potential is met with opportunity.
Born in a small village in South Sudan, Symon was forced to take on responsibilities far beyond his age.
From an early age, he learned to hunt, protect, and contribute to the safety of his community while growing up amid instability and conflict.
In 2021, Nurturing Potential International first learned about a remarkably tall 13-year-old from South Sudan with a natural gift for soccer and a life story unlike most children his age. Reaching Symon, however, would not be simple. His circumstances and responsibilities within his community made access difficult.
After months of communication, NPI was able to connect with leaders in Symon’s village in early 2022. They agreed to allow him to leave and pursue an educational opportunity that could offer him a very different future.
Even getting there came with tremendous risk.
While traveling from his village toward Juba, South Sudan’s capital, the bus carrying Symon was attacked during a conflict involving a neighboring group. Those escorting him were able to protect the journey, and Symon eventually reached Juba safely.
From there, Nurturing Potential helped him travel to Nairobi, Kenya, where he enrolled in school and began structured basketball training for the first time.
In August 2022, Symon arrived in the United States and enrolled at Vianney High School in St. Louis, Missouri.
At 7'3", his physical potential was impossible to overlook. But height alone did not make the transition easy.
Symon was still a beginner in basketball, suddenly facing the expectations that came with being a 7'3" freshman while simultaneously adjusting to a new school system, new language and cultural expectations, new teammates, and a way of life dramatically different from the village where he grew up.
He responded the same way he had responded to adversity throughout his life: by adapting.
Symon committed himself to learning, both in the classroom and on the court. He excelled academically and continued developing as a basketball player. By his sophomore year, he helped lead his team to the Missouri State Final Four.
His journey was not without setbacks.
After transferring to the Academy of Central Florida for his junior year, Symon faced another difficult transition, a new school, new teammates, new coaches, and greater expectations as his basketball profile continued to grow.
Once again, he found a way forward.
During his senior season, Symon helped lead his team to a state championship and was named Tournament MVP, completing another remarkable chapter in his development.
Symon's work in the classroom was just as important.
He committed to Northwestern University, one of the nation’s premier academic institutions, where he will begin his freshman year during the 2026–27 academic year while continuing to pursue his dream of playing professional basketball.
For Symon, however, the opportunity represents something larger than basketball. His journey has taken him from a childhood shaped by conflict in South Sudan to the opportunity to receive an elite American education and compete at the highest level of collegiate athletics. He hopes to eventually use that platform to create opportunities for other underserved young people in the United States and across Africa.
Symon possessed the resilience long before Nurturing Potential entered his life. NPI helped create a pathway for that resilience and potential to lead somewhere new, connecting him with education, stability, development, and an opportunity to build a future on his own terms.
And now, his goal is not simply to succeed.
It is to make sure someone else gets a chance to do the same.
ABRAHAM RIAK
WHERE THE MISSION BEGAN
Long before Nurturing Potential International became recognized for helping student-athletes pursue opportunities in the United States, its mission began with something much simpler: giving young people access to education.
Abraham Riak was one of the first young people supported by that mission.
In 2019, Nurturing Potential sponsored ten children whose circumstances limited their access to quality education — five young girls from an orphanage in Kenya and five young boys from a village in South Sudan.
Abraham was one of those five boys.
With the support of his family and village leaders, Abraham left South Sudan and traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, where Nurturing Potential committed to providing the foundation he needed to pursue his education. That support included an academic scholarship, housing, food, clothing, and other essential needs throughout high school.
It was one of the earliest examples of what would become the heart of NPI’s work: identifying potential, removing barriers, and creating the conditions for a young person to move forward.
A video captured the moment village leaders agreed to the opportunity being offered to Abraham and the other students, a decision that would ultimately change the direction of their lives.
For Abraham, there were no national rankings, highlight reels, or basketball headlines attached to the journey.
There was simply an opportunity to learn.
And he made the most of it.
In 2024, Abraham graduated from high school in Nairobi. After receiving his diploma, he wrote a letter of appreciation reflecting on the support that helped make that milestone possible.
His graduation represented far more than the completion of school. It represented five years of perseverance, sacrifice, stability, and the fulfillment of a promise made when he first left South Sudan.
Abraham’s story remains an important reminder of why Nurturing Potential exists. The organization’s most visible success stories may come through basketball, but the mission has always been bigger than sport.
It is about helping young people gain access to the education and resources that allow them to determine what comes next.
Abraham always had the potential.
What he needed was the opportunity to develop it.
Today, his journey represents the foundation upon which Nurturing Potential International was built, and proof of what can happen when someone invests in a young person before the world knows their name.
