A LEAD Webinar: Zeta Kromah’s Journey from LEAD Student to Community Leader
Watch the conversation between LEAD MFA alumna Zeta Kromah and LEAD Founder Will Smith as they discuss Zeta’s journey with LEAD, her work with Tribe Stars, and the power of young people to create change in their communities.
On August 26, two important members of the LEAD network sat down together to reflect on several incredible full circle moments.
The conversation brought together LEAD Founder, Will Smith, and LEAD MFA alumna, Zeta Kromah – two leaders connected not just through LEAD, but by the same university an ocean away from Liberia. William & Mary is where Will attended university and played soccer as a student before founding LEAD Monrovia Football Academy (LEAD MFA). It’s also the university where Zeta, a decade later, became a Division I student-athlete herself.
Nearly 11 years since Zeta’s first day at LEAD MFA, Will and Zeta sat down together for a conversation co-hosted by William & Mary’s Global Research Institute (GRI) and Tribe Athletics.
Where it Started
Ahead of his senior year at William & Mary, Will conducted research for his honors thesis in Monrovia, Liberia. His research took him into fishing communities that most outsiders never visited, and trust didn't come easily at first. Then one day he joined a pickup soccer game — a few tricks with the ball, and the ice broke instantly. His time in Liberia convinced him soccer could open doors well beyond the field.
In October 2015, he moved to Monrovia and co-founded LEAD MFA, the first school in Liberia to pair high-quality academics with elite soccer training. From day one, LEAD MFA committed to something ambitious: 50/50 gender equity and a staff made up entirely of Liberians.
That commitment is the reason a young girl named Zeta was able to join LEAD MFA’s very first class.
From LEAD MFA to William & Mary
Zeta grew up on LEAD MFA’s campus for nearly a decade, developing into the kind of leader the school was built to produce. In 2024, that leadership foundation carried her to William & Mary on a full scholarship. Now a junior and a Division I soccer player, Zeta has built something of her own: Tribe Stars, a youth-led initiative bringing soccer camps, leadership workshops, and school supplies to young athletes across Liberia. You can read more about Tribe Stars here.
What’s new is how Zeta is scaling it. This summer, Tribe Stars received a project grant from William & Mary’s Global Research Institute — funding that let her move the initiative from a handful of one-day camps into something more sustained: more sessions, more communities reached, and more consistency for the young people who show up.
A Network that Continues to Grow
As Will reflected during the webinar, turning an idea into reality “really does take a village.” Zeta has found her village in LEAD, GRI, and William & Mary’s athletics community — including her own coach.
Julie Shackford, who leads the William & Mary’s women’s soccer team, joined the conversation and put it simply: “What I’ve admired most about Zeta as a college student is her ability to face outward at such a young age. Here is just an amazing, perfect example of how one person makes a difference.”
Zeta closed the conversation with the same clarity she started it with: “This is not the end. It’s just the beginning.” Ten years ago, Will Smith bet that a school in Monrovia could change a life. Zeta Kromah walked through that door – and now, with LEAD and William & Mary’s backing behind her, she’s opening ones of her own.
