Written by Tanya Terry
Flint Native Jashell Mitchell, chief of staff for Jackson State University football, was recently selected for a prestigious award from the Women Leaders in College Sports organization.
The Courier talked to Mitchell about what the award means to her and to Flint.
“In general, it’s an honor to be recognized by your peers,” said Mitchell. “It’s been a long time coming for my career in sports, in general. To receive this award is a blessing in itself. Being a Flint native, it means more. We come from a historical athletic aspect of women in sports-my head coach Letitia Hughley, Pamela and Paula McGee, Laurie Byrd, Stacey Thomas, Claressa Shields. I can go on and on and on about the powerful women from Flint in sports.”
For Mitchell, receiving the Rising Executive Commitment Award specifically also means a lot.
“It’s just going back to show that throughout the years the various roles that I’ve served in, through collegiate athletics, HBCU (Historically Black College and Universities) athletics, professional sports through my time at the NFL, to administration,” said Mithell. “It’s just an honor for my peers to recognize my work, my historical aspect of serving in college sports and athletics and to be honored for it; it’s just a blessing.”
Mitchell was part of the Flint Northern back-to-back state championship girls basketball team at Flint Northern High School. The team was inducted into the Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame in the Class of 2016. She previously served as director of operations at the University of Arizona. She also served as academic coordinator for athletics and life skills director at her alma-mater Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida. In addition, Mitchell was named assistant athletics director for internal operations and assistant SWA (senior woman administrator) in the summer of 2017, after spending three seasons overseeing football operations at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). Mitchell served time at the NFL League Office in New York under Executive Vice President Troy Vincent in football operations. Her corporate experience in Detroit includes working with Dan Gilbert for Rocket Companies, serving as the HBCU senior university relations manager.
“Commitment-I was born with it. Both of my parents worked for General Motors. So, I had a blue-collar mentality of sticking to it, and finishing things out and doing things at a very high level. So, I don’t take that for granted. Being committed to something was embedded into me, with the various administrators and support that I’ve had throughout the years on every level. Commitment is very important to me because you’ve got to finish what you start.”
Mitchell said she carries out her daily duties by “making sure she leaves things better than she found it.”
“I always come back home and share my journey and try to provide inspiration to the youth in Flint through Invisible Giants Legacy & Leadership Foundation in the work that we do to help support them behind the scenes. It’s vital to me because of the people who paved the way for me to do what I’m doing-those historical legends who have come through the city of Flint, through administration and various people. I just want to continue to follow in their footsteps to leave that legacy to make sure Flint is highlighted in a positive manner, but also being able to come back and provide resources, education and opportunities for the community of Flint.”
