Haniyyah Sharpe-Brown hadn’t thought of herself as an adult learner in quite some time, at least not until recently. A special award in the fall of 2024 from Graduate Philadelphia and a chance encounter with Temple University University College Vice Provost Dr. Vicki Lewis-McGarvey provided a chance for a bit of deep dive self-reflection.
“When I was recognized as the Adult Learner of the Year by Graduate Philadelphia, their executive director, Malik Brown, asked me why I seemed so surprised. I haven’t been an adult learner in such a long time — not that it wasn’t very important to me — that I hadn’t really thought about that story about myself in years,” said Sharpe-Brown, who will be the Keynote Speaker at the University College Graduation Ceremony on May 8 when the fourth cohort of Bachelor of General Studies students reaches the end of a journey that, for some, was years and even decades in the making. “I hadn’t paid attention to all that I’ve accomplished since then, but clearly somebody was.”
When she reconnected with Dr. Lewis-McGarvey at the same event where Temple was being honored for its work in developing the Bachelor of General Studies program and was asked to be this year’s Bachelor of General Studies keynote speaker, “I knew it was just the universe doing what the universe does.”
“Vicki was one of the first people who supported me and my best friend, Syreeta Martin, in launching the Temple Nontraditional Student Union on campus. I spent so much time at Temple as an adult learner, how could I say no?” she said. “The message I’d like to convey to the graduates is centered around the contract you make with yourself, the commitments that you make to yourself, regardless of the noise. You're going to have 50 million people telling you good stuff, bad stuff and everything in between — what is important is the word that you keep with yourself.”
No matter what the graduates’ journey and lived experience is, “you want to be able to look in any mirror or look back in a journal or assignment or a hard time that you've gone through during your adult learning journey and reflect on ‘what did I tell myself I was going to do before focusing any other outside influences?’,” said Sharpe-Brown.
“What is the thing that you said you were going to do? These students said they were going back to school — they’re here, they’re graduating,” she said. “The commitment that they’ve made to themselves is paramount. That is the thing that's going to carry them, not just through this graduation, but through the rest of whatever comes next.”
Sharpe-Brown knows all too well the challenges students can face when trying to achieve their academic goals.
“College was all I ever wanted to do — I don’t recall ever having a conversation with my parents about any other alternatives. North Carolina A&T was my number one choice, but I really had no idea what kind of challenges I would have the first time away from home,” she said. “That very first semester was extremely challenging for me, and I ended up coming back home. I was only supposed to sit out for a semester, but I ended up not going back to school for two years because life happens.”
According to Sharpe-Brown, she had strong connections with Temple since childhood — her mother Norice Price worked at the University for years. After some time building her academic portfolio back up at community college, she said, “My goal was to always finish at a four-year school; I started my journey back at the Center City campus, which was the hub for people working and going to class.”
“I was a journalism major, and I was pregnant with my son Khalil when I started going back to school. I wrote a story about my experience being an adult learner and that’s how I met Syreeta,” she said. “She had read the story, and she said I was an expert, though I didn’t feel like anybody’s expert; I was just a mom trying to figure out how to navigate being an adult learner. After hearing her story — she was a single mom with two children — we combined resources to create something at Temple that supported adult learners from different lived experiences.”
Opting to dive into her classwork full time after two years of going to school part-time, Sharpe-Brown received her Journalism degree from Temple when Khalil was nearing 3-years-old and her daughter Zariah was just two months old. She became an Executive Assistant at Comcast Cable before going on to found On Point Communications LLC in 2014, the work of which continues to today.
“I naturally had an interest in journalism, which is what my degree was in, and I liked telling stories. I didn’t think freelance work was right for me, so I decided to use those skills in a different way,” she said. “I wanted to be able to tell the stories of organizations, primarily nonprofits and Black-owned businesses, who had impactful stories but didn't have the name recognition of the large brands. That still remains the foundation of On Point Communications — getting their stories told, building up communities, and shattering stereotypes. I can say that the relationships I developed through the National Association of Black Journalists and Temple felt good to pitch good stories to local media because they usually responded positively.”
Inspired by the guidance and integrity of her father Julius Sharpe, Jr. and the advocacy work of her mother, who worked for many years in what was then Temple’s Affirmative Action office, Sharpe-Brown continued to build On Point while also working as the Assistant Director of Communications for the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Adult Education. She went on to become the Communications Manager for Councilwoman At-Large Blondell Reynolds Brown and then Director of Government Relations, Advocacy and External Engagement for the School District of Philadelphia. Today, she is Senior Manager for Operations and Strategic Programs at Accenture, where she is responsible for strengthening Accenture’s relationship with the local business community, coordinating internal operations, and “cultivating collaborative opportunities that result in social impact.”
“Working in the office of adult education was very much about my lived experience and ensuring that I could be the person I needed when I was an adult learner — being in the community, providing resources, letting people know that every pathway is going to be different. Often, I think we get into this habit of comparing our journeys to what other people are doing — we don’t have to do that,” she said. “It doesn't matter how long it takes you to do it as long as you get it done. The work that I did in that office was my first introduction to working for the City of Philadelphia as a professional.”
Going on to work with the City Council, Sharpe-Brown said, “was like taking a crash graduate program in political science.”
“It was a priceless experience,” she said. “For me, I’d always say policy over politics — let’s focus on the policy and how we communicate that to the community at large to ensure that they know what is available for them.”
What Philadelphia has given Sharpe-Brown in opportunities and experience, she has certainly given back exponentially.
Sharpe-Brown leads Accenture’s Philadelphia Apprentice Network, focusing on workforce development and creating opportunities for emerging professionals. She is also a member of the Governor’s Advisory Commission on African American Affairs and a member of the Board of Directors for Philadelphia Works.
“I can't be on the board or join something that I don't have a passion for because I don't think it sets anyone up for success to do that. The Governor's Commission was very important to me because of my own lived experience,” she said. “When I think about the people that we serve, they are young women that look like me; they are young women who know what it's like to go without and raise children and to be put in this box of what they are supposed to think. I want to be there to provide the same opportunities afforded to me.”
Sharpe-Brown’s efforts throughout the region have certainly not gone unrecognized.
In addition to the 2024 Adult Learner of the Year Award from Graduate Philadelphia, she was recognized as a City & State PA 2024 40 in Their Forties Honoree; a 2024 Leadership Philadelphia Core Alum; honored among Metro Philadelphia Black Power Players 2024; received a City & State PA’s 2023 Above and Beyond Award; received the 2022 Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists President’s Award; and was listed among the Philadelphia Tribune’s 2021 Most Influential African Americans in Philadelphia Under 40. Technical.ly Media additionally named her one of Philadelphia’s RealLIST Connectors for 2024, and she was featured in Philadelphia Magazine’s list of 38 Philadelphians who epitomize the New Philly Power.
“I appreciate the recognition, but I don’t do anything that I do for that — I’m equally surprised every time it happens. I think it’s just confirmation that doing the work matters,” she said. “I think what ties everything together, especially considering the spaces and places that I’ve had the pleasure of either working or volunteering, is integrity. You must have integrity.”
The question that Sharpe-Brown often asks herself is, “What will my children think about me?”
“My family — my husband, Charles Brown, and my children — has been an absolutely essential part of my academic and personal journey. I’m not where I am today without them,” she said. “I know I have a lot left to do. What example am I setting for my children? my North Star on the journey.”
The Bachelor of General Studies is designed for learners with prior college and at least sixty transferable credits who are ready to complete their undergraduate degree. The 120-credit bachelor’s program focuses on creating a solid foundation for a wide variety of careers and it allows students the opportunity to customize their degree path. Learn more about the Bachelor of General Studies here.