Laura Waters Brown (she/her)
Assistant Professor College of Hospitality & Business Department of Business Charlotte
Biography
Laura Waters-Brown is an assistant professor in the Sports, Entertainment & Event Management (SEEM) program at Johnson & Wales University, where she brings more than a decade of sports business practice directly into the classroom. She is founder and CEO of Waters Brown Innovation Group, a consultancy helping women athletes — particularly women of color — build and control their personal narratives, and she serves in athlete-valuation strategy at Cache-AI. Her professional path includes roles with the Cleveland Browns, PGA TOUR and Wasserman, where she helped lead The Collective®’s work advancing gender equity in sports and supported the safe return of Brittney Griner in 2022. Waters-Brown holds a bachelor’s degree in business marketing from South Carolina State University and an MBA and master’s degree in sport administration from Ohio University. She also coaches volleyball at North Mecklenburg High School, applying athlete-development principles across every part of her work.
Education
Master in Sports Administration, Ohio University
MBA & MSA
MBA, Ohio University
MBA & MSA
BA, South Carolina State University
Business Marketing