NBA Foundation: HBCU Fellowship Alumni making their mark

2025 HBCU Fellowship Cohort at Orientation

Creating a pipeline from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to professional spaces remains an important focus across the sports industry. Through its HBCU Fellowship Program, now in its fifth year, the NBA Foundation continues to foster career opportunities for HBCU undergraduate and graduate students nationwide.

Throughout a 10-week summer internship, fellows work with NBA teams in departments including communications, data research, video production, marketing and more.

In honor of the 2026 Fellowship Class orientation kickoff, the NBA Foundation connected with three alumni to reflect on their journeys since completing the program and share advice for the incoming class. Their success stories highlight how the HBCU Fellowship can help launch careers while fostering lasting relationships in the industry.

Darren Lewis

– Class of 2024

Interned with

– Portland Trail Blazers |

Now

: Detroit Pistons Production Content Graduate Associate

Absorbing the information and lessons provided during the fellowship has helped numerous fellows remain in the NBA following the program.

Darren Lewis entered the fellowship confident in his talent. Then a junior at Tennessee State University, Lewis embraced a new environment with the Portland Trail Blazers that challenged him personally and professionally.

“It was very eye-opening to me because I’ve always felt like I was talented enough to be in that space, but until I got there, I realized that there’s a lot more than just being talented,” Lewis said.

As a video production intern, Lewis captured footage at live events and activations, edited content to align with platform-specific guidelines and collaborated with the creative team during pre- and post-production to maintain a consistent brand voice. He even got the chance to

produce a summer series

highlighting the people and cultures that Portland has to offer.

Lewis credits the NBA Fellowship with giving him the confidence to move nearly eight hours away from his hometown for his next role in the league.

Now serving as a Production Content Graduate Associate with the Detroit Pistons, he has taken full advantage of every opportunity available to him. That includes working as the lead official team photographer for the Pistons’ G League affiliate Motor City Cruise during a season in which the team secured its first playoff win.

Advice for incoming fellows: “

Come in and be open-minded, don’t let your environment mold you, be a sponge,” Lewis said. “Good, bad, and indifferent, see things and take them in and react in a very professional way.”

Kyla Emory

Interned with:

League DEI Operations |

: 2026 NFL Rotational Program

For some HBCU students, the fellowship serves as their first introduction to the sports world, in the midst of deciding what field they want to pursue in the future.

Entering the fellowship in 2024 as an English major at Spelman College, Kyla Emory knew she was interested in law but wasn’t yet sure which industry she wanted to pursue. She now cites the fellowship as her introduction to the sports world and an experience that helped shape her career trajectory.

“Just working with so many amazing black women leaders and then also just learning from a lot of the lawyers around the league. I learned that most people in the league have a JD, whether they use it in the legal department or in different areas. So law was definitely something that I could pursue while also impacting a large number of people who look like us,” Emory said.

Emory conducted research on the fellowship itself, including analyzing how many fellows went on to work in sports and within the league, as well as following up with past fellows. The experience served as another opportunity for her to absorb knowledge and gain insight into what the industry has to offer in the future from people who have been in the same position.

In 2025, Emory continued her work in sports, serving as an HBCU Event Intern at the NBA All-Star weekend and working as an HBCU Fellow for the Atlanta Falcons in the Community Engagement Department. Upon graduating this year, she is set to join the 2026 NFL Rotational Program.

Advice for incoming fellows:

“Be your authentic self and always stay curious,” Emory said. “I credit a lot of my opportunities to me realizing how to stop being scared of the outcome of things and just taking the risk and doing it.”

Auzzy Byrdsell

– Class of 2023

: Boston Celtics |

: Boston Globe Development Fellow

Being able to continue your career in the same city in which you served as an HBCU Fellow is a true testament to making the most of the internship experience.

Auzzy Byrdsell is the embodiment of this. After serving as a communications intern with the Boston Celtics through the fellowship program, Byrdsell leveraged productivity, relationship-building and networking opportunities into a role with the Boston Globe.

“Going to a school like Morehouse College, the benefits of being a Morehouse man get stronger after you leave,” Byrdsell said. “If you stay connected and you do good work, the same thing can happen with the fellowship.”

Throughout his 10 weeks with the Celtics, Byrdsell emphasized his desire to be a journalist, which worked in his favor. During the fellowship, he contributed to several written pieces while also gaining experience on the public relations side of things by helping orchestrate press conferences on draft night.

Byrdsell credits Taylor Kielpinski-Rogers, vice president of communications for the Boston Celtics, for tailoring his assignments to align with his passion for writing and reporting. He also remains actively involved with the organization as a regular attendee of the

Celtics’ annual HBCU Night

.

Tonight we’re celebrating our second ever HBCU Night at TD Garden ☘️

Ahead of the celebrations, Auzzy Byrdsell and Ellison Burt-Murray share how impactful their experiences were as our HBCU Fellows last summer.

pic.twitter.com/FTWJ10m53H

— Boston Celtics (@celtics)

February 27, 2024

“Don’t let this summer just be this summer. Let the summer shape what your future can be,” Byrdsell exclaimed.

As these fellows have shown, putting in the work can increase your chances of seeing the fruits of your labor. Since the start of the program, 27% of HBCU Fellowship alumni have gone on to work in NBA team and league offices.

Orientation for the NBA HBCU Fellowship Program runs from June 3-5. More information can be found on the

NBA Foundation website