Our Story
Built on a love of tennis. Driven by a belief in community.
Serve It Forward was born from a simple question: why should access to one of the world's greatest sports depend on where you grow up?
Courts Restored
Players Served
Total Raised
Cities
In Scholarships
Founded
Dana Reyes
Founder & Executive Director
How It Started
A cracked court. A determined coach. A movement.
In 2014, former collegiate tennis player Dana Reyes returned to her childhood neighborhood in Chicago's South Side and found the public courts she'd grown up on cracked, fenced off, and forgotten. She spent six months raising $40,000 from local businesses and friends to restore them.
What started as one court restoration became a nonprofit, a movement, and a model replicated in twelve cities. Serve It Forward has since funded 47 court restorations, launched youth programs serving over 3,200 players, and awarded more than $280,000 in scholarships.
We believe tennis teaches more than technique — it teaches discipline, resilience, and the understanding that every point is winnable if you stay in the game.
What We Stand For
Our guiding principles
Access for All
Tennis should never be a sport only for those who can afford private clubs. We work to make public courts safe, beautiful, and welcoming.
Long-Term Investment
We don't just build courts — we build programs, relationships, and pathways that keep players engaged for years.
Community First
Every decision we make starts with the question: does this serve the community? Not the donor, not the board — the community.
Radical Transparency
We publish our financials, our impact metrics, and our failures. Trust is earned through honesty, not marketing.
Leadership
The people behind the mission
Dana Reyes
Founder & Executive Director
Former Division I tennis player and community organizer. Dana has spent 12 years building programs that connect sport to social change.
Marcus Webb
Director of Programs
USPTA-certified coach and former youth development director. Marcus oversees all coaching clinics and scholarship selection.
Priya Nair
Director of Development
Fundraising strategist with 15 years in nonprofit development. Priya leads all donor relations, events, and corporate partnerships.
James Okafor
Director of Operations
Civil engineer turned nonprofit operations lead. James manages all court restoration projects from assessment to ribbon-cutting.
Ready to serve it forward?
Join thousands of donors, volunteers, and players who are changing what tennis looks like in America.