F3B is dedicated to increasing international awareness and communication between
American and African teenage girls. 

New Jersey, August 21, 2007 – The New Jersey–based, non-profit organization  F3B (Three Female Ballers) has successfully conducted its ninth annual Multi-cultural Scholar Athlete Program, an athletic, professional development and cultural exchange program that connects teen girls in Africa with teen girls from America.

Each year, between the end of June and mid-July, F3B sponsors two week-long basketball clinics for 40 young women in Africa, with assistance from a team of seven high-school girls who are sports inclined and academically well grounded. 

F3B selected high-school female basketball players from Newark, Jersey City, and South Orange, New Jersey, and Manassas, Virginia,to travel to Liberia and Benin, West Africa, to conduct the program.

From June 28 - July 17, 2007, the F3B youth served as junior coaches, players and cultural ambassadors to the African girls who participated in the clinics. Besides sharing their basketball skills, the American girls also helped organize professional development workshops, conducted by the women professionals who were part of the F3B group. The workshops focused on leadership skills and AIDS awareness, and introduced the African and American girls to the possibility of engineering careers in wireless technology. 

A highlight of this year’s program came when Liberian President Elaine Johnson-Sirleaf, the country's first female president, addressed the F3B team during a closing ceremony recognizing the achievements of the Liberian girls who participated in the clinic.

"I am very, very pleased that you can do this to exchange views, to build networks of friendship and share talents and skills," said President Johnson – Sirleaf to the American group. “We don't even know how to express our appreciation."

“The Liberian experience was extremely powerful for all of us," said Diana Tyson, who founded F3B in 1999 with her daughter Ursula Kirk. “Our program is about developing leadership in young women and reinforcing the belief that one person can make difference. Although many women may fit the model, who better exemplifies our vision than Madam President?  I believe this year's participants, high schoolers and adults alike, were motivated by her presence.  We came home energized about what we are doing and the possibilities. "

F3B exercised its community service component by visiting orphanages in Liberia, Benin and Ghana, where the group members distributed school supplies and clothing.  F3B also held a ceremony at the Ghanaian orphanage in which they awarded three deserving, collegiate women with new laptops.

“The language of sports is universal and has proven to be a powerful tool in facilitating dialogue and understanding throughout the world,” said Tyson. "Our program uses basketball as the vehicle for providing young women from two continents with a unique experience."

Since 1999, when the F3B program started, the basketball clinics have been sponsored in Ivory Coast, Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Uganda, Niger, Morocco, Tanzania, Botswana and, this year, Liberia and Benin.

The F3B program is funded through contributions from individuals, and community, educational and business organizations. Major sponsors for the 2007 F3B program were Newark, N.J. Office of the Mayor; Alcatel-Lucent in New Jersey, and Caritas Academy in Jersey City, N.J.