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It was a special moment in April 2025 for longtime Harlem community leader Yasmin Hurston Cornelius: Her son Ajani Cornelius was about to receive the call from the Dallas Cowboys that he was drafted. The family had rented a house and had around 75 family members and friends all waiting for the call during the three-day NFL Draft. She was crying tears of joy.
“It’s like childbirth,” Cornelius said. “All the pain and anguish that happened before the child — once that baby came, you forget everything, and you’re just happy.”
Cornelius, 54, now runs 2 Sports Moms, a nonprofit she co-founded with lifelong friend Dr. Sabratha Thomas. The organization provides support resources for student-athletes and their families. They are celebrating their first anniversary this week.
Advocacy has been central to Cornelius’s work throughout her life. In all of her experiences, she said the common thread she realized is that people don’t need only access but guidance as well.
“A lot of times, people have so much access to opportunities, but they don’t always know how to understand or how to support or how to navigate the system to get those opportunities, and that’s where the guessing comes,” Cornelius said.
In Harlem and beyond, Cornelius has held leadership roles with the NAACP; worked at different levels of city government, including the New York State Assembly; served as district manager for Community Board (CB) 10; and held senior titles with real estate firms. She has also hosted and produced shows with WHCR and WWRL. She credits figures like Harlem leader Jackie Rowe Adams as longtime mentors and inspirations.
Born and raised in Harlem, Cornelius has lived in the same apartment for almost all of her life. Her building at 110th and 7th Avenue is a Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC), of which she is a co-owner. At one point, she served as president of her building. Her mother, Azeeza Hurston, was a prominent tenant activist and responsible for turning the building into an HDFC.
Cornelius attended the Harlem School of the Arts and Laguardia High School. As a child, she was also involved in helping to feed the homeless. She was soon connected to the NAACP through the ACT-SO youth program, eventually becoming Youth Council president, a national board member, and president of the Mid-Manhattan branch. She graduated from City College, where she also founded its NAACP chapter.
As district manager for CB10 in the mid 2000s, Cornelius was able to bring resources directly to community members. In 2016, she was elected as a New York State Assembly Committee member for Harlem’s 70th District.
Professionally, Cornelius worked in community and real estate development with the Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) and the L&M real estate firm, where she created and led the Community Affairs Department. She left that role in 2024 to focus on supporting Ajani, 23, through his pre-draft transition process. It was around this time that she founded the nonprofit after connecting with several other parents and feeling there was a need for support.
“We focus on making the student-athletes prepared, not just physically, but academically, mentally, and emotionally, and that their families feel equipped to support them,” Cornelius said about 2 Sports Moms. They work with student athletes ages 8 to 21 and their families, provide mentorship and other opportunities, and guidance about how to navigate decisions on the field and beyond.
“It’s always great when that athlete is doing well, but what happens when something occurs, when that game is lost, or if there is an injury — how do you support that athlete … how do you handle big moments?” Cornelius asked.
To Cornelius, active parenting is important in supporting whatever their children’s interests are.
“There were times we didn’t have all the answers, but we kept moving, learning, and advocating in real time,” she said. “(Ajani’s) journey has been inspiring, not just because of where he is, but because of the discipline, the resilience, and commitment it took to get there. He showed me what it looks like to stay ready and rise to the moment.”
Cornelius also celebrates her older son, Tchiyuka, 26, who has followed her footsteps into property management.
“I’ve raised two young men who took different paths, but the same blueprint carried them … in knowing who they are, and that’s why this work matters to me,” Cornelius said. “They both had their own paths, but I was so proud of both of them and where they landed.”