Tika Hemingway is a four-time USA Boxing National Champion, former Team USA athlete, professional boxer, ordained minister, and the Founder and CEO of Pittsburgh Girls Box.

Her journey to boxing, however, began long before the championships, recognition, and accolades.

At 14 years old, Tika was raped by a man while walking home from a basketball game. She became pregnant by the man who raped her, and the trauma changed the course of her young life. She had to give up her dreams of playing basketball and one day making it to the WNBA, and eventually dropped out of school.

At 17, overwhelmed by everything she had endured, Tika found herself on the basement floor crying out to GOD. She cried and begged Him ALL NIGHT for a second chance at life.

The very next day, she met a boxing trainer.

That meeting changed everything.

Tika went to the boxing gym that night—and boxing became a part of her life from that day forward.

What began as a second chance grew into an extraordinary career.

Tika became a four-time USA Boxing National Champion. She made HISTORY by becoming the first National Boxing Champion from Western Pennsylvania. She represented Team USA internationally, compiled a 100–13 amateur record, and went on to become a professional boxer, where she trains under legendary four-division world champion Roy Jones Jr.

Her journey has been recognized by the Heinz History Center, where her boxing legacy is represented in a permanent sports exhibit. The mayor of Wilkinsburg also honored her by proclaiming November 22 as Tika Hemingway Day.

But eventually, Tika realized that everything she had survived—and everything she had accomplished—had a purpose bigger than herself.

Years later, Tika heard of a 14-year-old girl who had been beaten and raped after getting off the school bus.

Her heart immediately went out to the young girl.

Tika remembers thinking:

"I wish I could find her…"

Then another thought came to her:

"I can find her… I can find her and so many other women and girls if I just came out and told my story."

Then another thought came to her:

That moment changed the direction of Tika's life once again.

For years, Tika had kept her own story private. But she realized that sharing what she had survived could help another girl understand that what happened to her did not have to determine the rest of her life.

That mission became Pittsburgh Girls Box.

Tika began publicly sharing her story and turned her pain, her boxing experience, and her faith in GOD into a life's mission to help others. Her calling to serve others also led her to become an ordained minister, strengthening her commitment to faith, service, and helping others find hope.

Her story is no longer a secret. It is her mission.