Giving to USF: Kente Awards

The Joyce Russell Kente Awards

Tickets on sale now!

The Joyce Russell Kente Awards & Scholarship Ceremony celebrates the academic excellence and achievements of USF students and Tampa Bay community leaders.

Tuesday, April 8

11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

USF Marshall Student Center - Ballroom
4103 USF Cedar Circle
Tampa, FL 33620

Keynote Speaker:

Grace Byers

Grace Byers, actress and New York Times bestselling author, can be seen starring in Amazon’s critically acclaimed series, Harlem, which recently aired its third and final season. Previously, Grace appeared for four seasons as Anika Calhoun on the Fox TV music-industry drama Empire, opposite Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, and on Fox’s Marvel series, The Gifted, created by Matt Nix and Bryan Singer.

On the big screen, Grace can be seen in the comedy The Blackening (2022), directed by Tim Story, and The Retirement Plan (2023), opposite Nicolas Cage. Previously, Grace appeared in the crime thriller Bent, starring alongside Sofía Vergara and Andy García.

Grace’s children’s books, I am Enough (2018) and I Believe I Can (2020), were published by Harper Collins and remained on The New York Times Best Sellers list for months at a time.

Introducing the 2025 Kente Award Recipients

Sherri Brown
2025 USF Kente Community Award

Sherri Brown was named vice president of multicultural sales and development for Visit Tampa Bay in 2020 following years of attracting some of the nation’s top multicultural and religious groups to the area. She has worked in the hospitality industry for more than 40 years, starting fresh out of high school as a telephone operator for Omni Hotels Union Station in St. Louis, Missouri.

She went on to work for the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Bureau and with Renaissance Hotel Downtown St. Louis, where she achieved Marriott's Golden Circle Sales Award for six consecutive years. She served with Hyatt Regency Management Training for and was named Management Trainee of the Year. Working with Adams Mark Hotels, she attracted major multicultural conventions and meetings.

Brown earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business, management, marketing and related support services in 2003 and 2006, respectively, from Webster University in Missouri. In 2008, she joined Visit Tampa Bay, where she led — or was directly involved in — successful efforts to secure multiple major multicultural conventions, including Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., the Latin American Motorcycle Association, The Church of God in Christ-AIM Convention, and The International Indian Film Awards, also known as Bollywood, which drew more than 30,000 fans to Raymond James Stadium in 2013.

Throughout her 16 years with Visit Tampa Bay, Brown’s efforts and continual prospecting have resulted in a significant elevation in visibility for the Bay area as a destination for multicultural and religious groups. Known for her strong customer service, excellent problem-solving and issue resolution abilities, and communication skills, she has been honored by the National Forum for Black Public Administrators (Tampa Bay Area Chapter); as a Woman on the Move by Onyx Magazine; and as an Apex Award recipient by Black Meetings & Tourism.

Ovett Wilson, ’02, MEd ’06, EdS ’21
2025 USF Kente Alumni Award

Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Wilson grew up in Fort Lauderdale, moving to Tampa to attend the University of South Florida. There, he earned a bachelor’s degree in English education, a master's in educational leadership, and an education specialist degree in Turnaround Educational Leadership.

He began his teaching at Middleton High School, a Title 1 school in Tampa, where he garnered honors including Hillsborough Education Foundation’s Teacher of the Year and Ida S. Baker Diversity Educator of the Year awards. He later became a district trainer specializing in staff development.

In 2006, Wilson joined Tampa’s Chamberlain High School as an assistant principal and played a crucial role in helping the school earn its first “A” grade from the state. He then served as assistant principal for curriculum at Ferrell Girls Preparatory Academy, a public middle school, which he helped lead to Florida’s second highest performance gains and another first “A” grade. He next moved to Van Buren Middle School and was appointed principal in 2015.

Tasked with merging Van Buren and Cahoon Elementary Magnet to create a new school, he became the founding principal of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson PK-8 Leadership Academy. After five years, he was tapped to lead Pizzo K-8 School, a low-income public school on the USF campus, where he remains today.

Wilson serves as a mentor and coach for school leaders across the district, state and nation. He is known for system thinking, developing coaching structures for organizations, instructional framework implementation and establishing healthy culture.

In addition to his USF degrees, he holds certificates from Harvard University and is a graduate of the Principal Induction Program and The National Institute of School Leadership Program, among others. He is a certified John C. Maxwell coach, speaker and trainer.

Wilson values faith and cherishes his time with his wife, Dr. Adrianne Wilson, and their two wonderful sons, Jadon and Josiah.