Black Hawk College graduate Destiny Brown works for the Quad City Steamwheelers.
Black Hawk College grad Destiny Brown’s educational path led her to a football field.
The Davenport native is executive assistant and director of game day operations for the Quad City Steamwheelers.
“I’ve played sports my whole life and I love the environment of being surrounded by the love of the game,” Brown said.
Her duties include overseeing game day operations, creating social media content, interacting with fans and building community relationships.
“My favorite thing about my job is creating experiences for fans and being part of professional sports in my hometown,” Brown said.
The Quad City Steamwheelers is an Indoor Football League team that plays at the TaxSlayer Center in Moline.
Attending Black Hawk College
BHC Braves women’s basketball recruited Brown to attend Black Hawk College and play. She knew during her campus visit that Black Hawk College was right for her.
“Not only did I get to continue my education, but my basketball career as well,” she said.
Brown played basketball both years at Black Hawk College and became an Academic All-American. Her favorite moment at Black Hawk College was seeing her name on the Academic All-American banner in the gym.
“In that moment I realized all my hard work in the classroom and on the court had paid off,” Brown said. “It was truly one of the most rewarding moments of my life.”
She wants prospective students to not let the stigma of attending a community college to stop them from getting a great education.
“I wouldn’t trade my time at Black Hawk for the world as it was, and continues to be, a huge contributing factor to my successes,” she said.
Making connections
Brown added that the connections she made with other students, including teammates, and staff have stuck with her far beyond her time at Black Hawk College.
boy in red shirt holding Advisors helped her stay on track to transfer, and Director of Student Life Jana Koch also made a big impact.
“I walked into Jana’s office the first week of my freshman year at Black Hawk College, and from that moment on she took me under her wing and guided me through my time at college,” Brown said. “Without people like Jana I don’t think I’d be where I am today, and for that, I am grateful.”
In 2016, she graduated magna cum laude from Black Hawk College with her Associate in Arts then transferred to the University of Iowa.
Working in the sports industry
Brown earned a bachelor’s degree in sport and recreation management with an emphasis on business studies and a certificate in event management/planning.
During her last semester, she was an operations and social media intern for the Quad City Steamwheelers. She received the offer to work for the team after graduating and happily accepted.
Her advice for those interested in working in the sports industry is to dedicate yourself to what you do.
“It’s not always going to be fun and games, and it requires as lot of dedication and sacrifice to advance in this industry,” she said, “but with the proper mindset and the will to be the best you can be in your position it will always be rewarding.”