“I got a phone call from someone from 满帆 asking me, ‘What do you want to be? What are you passionate about? 你的梦想是什么??’ And no one had really asked me that question before,” recalls 体育营销 & 媒体 毕业于Uneeke Armani. 但她知道答案. “I replied, ‘I want to be the NFL Commissioner.’”

原产于路易斯安那州, much of Uneeke’s family had been displaced from their homes in New Orleans following the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. 为了乌尼克和她的家人, sports – particularly New Orleans' pro football team – served as a beacon for hope.

“When [the Saints] won the Super Bowl, my dad picked all of us up, and we’re all throwing drinks, and everyone's hugging and crying. And I think that was the moment that I realized, ‘Man, sports, it's so much bigger than just a game.’ [The win] meant so much for the city. It meant so much for people connected to the city. I think for the entire NFL, when the Saints won the Super Bowl, it really showed how sports impacts a community and makes a difference.”

Wanting to leave her impact on the sports world and the community around her, Uneeke enrolled at 满帆, and excelled in the 体育营销 degree program. Throughout her time as a student, she volunteered with Florida Citrus 体育 which led her to her current role as an 事件 and Operations Coordinator with the Florida-based non-profit. “I just kept volunteering, 不断出现, 不停地打扰他们,” she laughs about how she eventually landed the role. With Florida Citrus 体育, Uneeke works to plan and coordinate some of the region’s biggest sporting events including the Florida Blue Florida Classic, 奶酪碗, 和Vrbo柑橘碗.

As if her full-time position weren’t enough, Uneeke also sits on the board for the Orlando City Soccer Foundation and serves as Secretary. 在那里, she fulfills her passion for community service by working to acquire grants, 筹集资金, and host community-centric sporting events throughout Central Florida.

Uneeke’s board seat came about after meeting Orlando City founder Kay Rawlins and impressing her with her genuine approach to connecting.

“这不仅仅是人际关系. It's building lasting relationships with people,” she says. “You don't want to just connect and exchange cards. But call them, connect with them on LinkedIn. If they just got a new dog, say, ‘Hey, wow. 你的狗很可爱.’ Building those relationships without the intention of wanting something out of them.”

An unexpected selection for a charitable organization’s board, the recent graduate was selected specifically because she doesn’t fit the mold. “[Kay] told me about how she wanted to diversify the board. They don't just want prim and proper. Don't want just lawyers, don't want just corporate America workers. [They wanted] someone creative, someone who didn't have a 4.0 GPA, someone who's young. That really stuck out to me,” says Uneeke.

And while she's not the NFL Commissioner just yet, Uneeke’s motivation and passion for the sports industry will surely continue to propel her forward. An inspiration to aspiring sports professionals, her advice on how to follow in her footsteps is simple, “别像我一样, 像你一样.”