User:Joter050/Rushia Brown

= Rushia Brown         =

Early Life and Education
Rushia Brown was born on May 5th 1972, in the Bronx, New York and was raised most of her life in South Carolina. Brown had always enjoyed playing basketball her whole life ever since she was just a little kid. Brown had grown up being 6 feet 2 inches, 175 pounds, and had wanted to pursue a career in professional basketball. She had attended Summerville High School and had played for the basketball team since her first year. After years of hard work and dedication, Brown was considered one of the top student-athlete recruits/prospects within the state of South Carolina during her senior year. She had gotten many offers from well-known universities around the country such as Duke University, Harvard, and even her dream school which was the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Although she had many options to choose from, she had chose to attend Furman University in order to stay close to home due to the loss of her father within her freshman year of high school because of cancer. In regards to her education, Brown had graduated Summerville High School, became a graduate of Furman University with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and currently holds an MBA from George Washington University.

Career
After 4 years as a starter in Furman University, Brown had soon after played overseas for about 3 years before playing in the WNBA with the Cleveland Rockers. After she had played overseas for the first 3 years she had then eventually made it to the WNBA and played with the Cleveland Rockers for 6 years and 1 year with the Charlotte Sting. Within those 6 years with the Cleveland Rockers she helped to lead them to 2 Eastern Conference Championships in 1998 and 2001. After a successful WNBA career, Brown had retired from professional basketball within the United States and instead played overseas professional basketball for 7 more years. The countries that Rushia Brown had played for overseas include Spain, Italy, France, Korea and Greece. Post basketball career, due to being a professional athlete and gaining new experiences, she learned how to speak different languages fluently such as Spanish, Italian, and French. In addition, she wanted to help make a difference within our community as well as our world. Her goals were to dedicate her time and efforts in assisting young woman with their athletics and academic pursuits by exposing them to learning experiences that can be used to succeed within the near future on and off the court. In addition, she focused on helping people with career transition, philanthropic engagement, spiritual and mental well-being, personal growth, and economic vitality. She then became a successful entrepreneur and opened many different businesses and non-profitable organizations all for the sake of helping our society and make a better change for our world to prosper.

Major Contributions/Current State

 * Founder and President of the Women’s Professional Basketball Alumnae (WPBA).
 * WPBA helps and assists women with a smooth transition from professional basketball careers to the careers of their choosing, with an emphasis on job replacement/secondary career, high education, and philanthropic endeavors.
 * Formed Young Black Entrepreneur (YBE) magazine with the help of Okeeba Jubalo and Johnny Clarkson and is now Director of Public Relations for YBE.YBE magazine main goal is to express entrepreneurial aspirations and provide experiences and education for people of color especially for the younger generations.
 * CEO of Overtime Basketball Academy in which the academies goal is to provide the right tools and experiences for for academic and athletic success on and off the court for younger women to have bright futures.
 * Started a catering business with her mother since Rushia Brown’s mother had a passion for food and cooking. The catering business Hearts & Hands (HNH) was formed and caters events such  as weddings, parties, corporate banquets, etc. with healthy southern/soul food.
 * HNH not only caters such events but is also trying to implement standards and USDA guidelines for children all over the country within schools to satisfy their needs and provide nutritious food for them in order for younger generations to have a healthier future.
 * Founder of SERVCOM INTERNATIONAL non-profit organization. The goal for this organization is to improve communities by providing educational and enrichment activities for its citizens. Programs are implemented in order to enhance academic achievement, personal growth, health and wellness, economic vitality, etc.
 * Currently is a proud mother of 1 and her daughter's name is Morgan Mackenzie Brown.

Achievements/Awards

 * Southern Conference Freshman of the Year Award (1990 Furman University)
 * Southern Conference Player of the Year Award (1992 Furman University)
 * Multiple MVPs (1994 University)
 * Edna Hartness Athlete of the Year
 * Retired Jersey #34 to the rafters of Timmins Arena (1998 WNBA)
 * Won multiple international titles overseas in continents such as Europe and Asia.
 * Won 2 Eastern Conference Championships with Cleveland Rockers (1998 & 2001 WNBA)
 * Inducted into Paladins' Hall of Fame (1998 Furman University)