I Never Lose, I Either Win or I Learn

Kennedy Clifton was born in Washington, D.C. As a child, she was highly intelligent and active in sports. She was the captain of her basketball teams in middle, and high school as well as her AAU teams from 2016-2021. As she progressed through middle and high school, she became interested in a sports career and began researching various sports career pathways. She has maintained a  4.0 GPA throughout high school while taking honors courses and balancing a rigorous and competitive basketball schedule.

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Her junior year in high school, Kennedy started the Minority Student Athlete Alliance where she led a group of over 25 students on social justice and equity, especially in sports. Kennedy uses her time to not only bring awareness through the club but also organizes panel discussions with college athletes and sports industry professionals. She was also appointed by the Head of School to be on the inaugural Diversity Initiative Council where she serves as a student voice of color to advise the school in reshaping the school’s culture to create mechanisms for students to help shape  the anti-racist agenda. The goal is to amplify student voices and work to create an equitable environment in and out of the classroom. This experience gives Kennedy an important lesson in leadership and allows her to transfer her leadership skills and voice outside of her sport of basketball.

Kennedy has maintained two internships already. The first with Angel Rich and the Wealth Factory. Her role as a social media intern allowed her to be creative and understand how content drives a social media channel. In 2020, she interned for Champions for Philanthropy, a sports philanthropy consulting organization that assists pro athletes and entertainers in all things charitable. This experience has helped her to identify the many ways sports can be used for good. She is working as a Sportsbiz Ambassador for this year's Sportsbiz Camp.

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With a desire to own and develop multiple real estate across the country, Kennedy was selected to be a participant in the LEAD Real Estate Exchange Program at New York University this summer. Most recently, Kennedy won the Eastern Region Sportsperson of the Year Award at the Jack and Jill Eastern Region Teen Conference. Locally, she was voted as the 2021 Distinguished Teen and was voted to be the 2021-22 Teen President within her Jack and Jill chapter. She most recently served as the Foundation Chair as well as the Vice President of Education for the chapter’s Gavel Club. Kennedy hopes to obtain an Executive Business degree, specializing in marketing and sports management and minoring in finance, before moving on to pursue her MBA. She also has the desire to play professional basketball overseas, returning to the states to become a sports marketing executive either for a brand, professional team, or a league. 

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Kennedy is a member of the First Baptist Church of Glenarden.