Where Are They Now? Mandisa Turner
9/23/2020 11:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball, My GW: Celebrating our Stories
Women's basketball alumna still thrives amid busy schedule
Mandisa Turner has never shied away from hard work.
Not on the hardwood as part of three NCAA Tournament runs with GW women's basketball under head coach Joe McKeown from 1995-1999, including the legendary 1996-97 squad that pushed through to the Elite Eight.
Not in the classroom as a student-athlete in Foggy Bottom as she worked to secure a Systems Engineering degree and her master's in Engineering Management.
And certainly not during the four summers that she spent in the nation's capital balancing two internships while also holding down part-time gigs as a waitress and retail clerk.
"I was working like 80 hours and just thrilled to have money coming in left and right," Turner chuckled, remembering her hustle to make the most of what could've been a well-deserved break in her packed schedule.
Turner has carried that spirit into her career, her exceptional work ethic making a difference every step of the way.
Using her background in hoops and tech engineering, Turner founded and developed Bownce, a social media platform for athletic recruiting, before selling it to a private equity firm in early 2015.
Today, Turner is an Entrepreneur in Residence at Bionic Solutions, coaching innovation teams at major corporations like Proctor & Gamble and General Mills as they look to stay ahead of the game in product development. The Brooklyn resident also teaches entrepreneurship courses at St. John's University, in addition to being mom to daughters Saadiya and Halima.
"I still have a lot going on," said Turner, who stays connected to her alma mater as a member of the GW Athletics Advisory Council. "I'm used to and comfortable with juggling a lot and being successful at a lot."
A 6-foot forward, Turner arrived at GW from Charlottesville, Va., and became a solid contributor on some of the top teams in program history. The Colonials won 93 games in all over her four seasons, including three in the 1997 NCAA Tournament as part of a historic March Madness run.
Turner left her mark on the program – individual highlights included an A-10 All-Rookie nod in '95-96 and a spot among the program's all-time blocks leaders – while taking away lessons about accountability, discipline and mental toughness that would prove invaluable in the real world.
"It was huge foundation building for me as a woman and as a leader in business," Turner said. "I have an immense feeling of pride in that experience and in the relationships I built with my teammates and being able to recount the stories of, both on and off the court, what we went through together."
Turner's early professional career included a leadership rotation with Citigroup, an MBA from NYU and two years living abroad in South Korea.
Upon her return to the U.S. in 2008, she was working in development at non-profit Foundation for Health and Hope in Haiti when she got to work on Bownce, which she conceived as a way to catch college recruiting up to the technology of the times.
As a high school prospect, Turner had received attention from coaches across the country. She'd also watched as her brothers Tarik (St. John's) and Hajj (Louisville) had been courted by a slew of high-profile coaches.
In the mid-90s, programs showed their interest by putting in the time, namely via hand-written letters and phone calls. GW stood out to Turner, for example, thanks to assistant Gabrielle Butler's willingness to hang on the phone while they both watched a show on TV. ("Probably Ricki Lake or whatever nonsense I was watching," she remembered with a laugh.)
A decade later, there was texting, Twitter, Facebook and other social media to help make connections.
"There were all these things that weren't available to me as a high school student, but the mechanism for communication had not changed, had not evolved in any way," Turner said.
Enter Bownce.
Turner's NCAA-approved platform allowed student-athletes to create free profiles to catch the attention of and then build relationships with college coaches. Over seven years, she led efforts to grow the reach of the company, raising two rounds of funding along the way, leading up to its sale.
"That was a fun ride," Turner said. "It was a lovely marriage of not only my academic skills but also my athletic relationships and knowledge to build a business."
No surprise to those who knew her during her days in Buff and Blue, Turner hasn't slowed down.
At Bionic Solutions, she works to help major brands identify problems through data collection and interviews with actual consumers before working to find solutions.
It's been a perfect fit for someone who has built her career on thinking several steps ahead.
"I like the constantly moving target," Turner said. "You're always looking at what's new. No day is the same."
In recent years, Turner has tapped into her passion for education. She's entering her third year teaching at St. John's, where she serves on the board for its business school.
It's the perfect side hustle for the daughter of two college educators and a chance to pass on what she's learned in the industry to students eager for guidance.
"What I've found mostly with my students is that they're just looking for someone to care about them and looking for connection and looking for someone to take an interest in them more than just getting an A or a B," Turner said. "This year, it's been especially tough. I try and use my relationships and my connections and my voice to help them navigate these really, really challenging times that they're going through, and of course, teach them along the way."
It's easy for Turner to put herself in those shoes. She remembers all the people at GW who helped her find a path to success.
Many of them gathered last November as the '96-97 squad was inducted into the GW Athletic Hall of Fame. That group still shares a special bond: They grinded away together and were rewarded with some unforgettable memories.
Looking back, Turner has a deep appreciation for that experience and all the lessons she learned over her busy-yet-rewarding years in Foggy Bottom.
"It's difficult to put into words, but I think it was one of the best decisions that I ever made," Turner said. "Going to school in D.C. to play big-time college basketball only two hours away from my parents so they were able to see me play, it was amazing. It's something that I look back on frequently, and it just really warms my heart."
Not on the hardwood as part of three NCAA Tournament runs with GW women's basketball under head coach Joe McKeown from 1995-1999, including the legendary 1996-97 squad that pushed through to the Elite Eight.
Not in the classroom as a student-athlete in Foggy Bottom as she worked to secure a Systems Engineering degree and her master's in Engineering Management.
And certainly not during the four summers that she spent in the nation's capital balancing two internships while also holding down part-time gigs as a waitress and retail clerk.
"I was working like 80 hours and just thrilled to have money coming in left and right," Turner chuckled, remembering her hustle to make the most of what could've been a well-deserved break in her packed schedule.
Turner has carried that spirit into her career, her exceptional work ethic making a difference every step of the way.
Using her background in hoops and tech engineering, Turner founded and developed Bownce, a social media platform for athletic recruiting, before selling it to a private equity firm in early 2015.
Today, Turner is an Entrepreneur in Residence at Bionic Solutions, coaching innovation teams at major corporations like Proctor & Gamble and General Mills as they look to stay ahead of the game in product development. The Brooklyn resident also teaches entrepreneurship courses at St. John's University, in addition to being mom to daughters Saadiya and Halima.
"I still have a lot going on," said Turner, who stays connected to her alma mater as a member of the GW Athletics Advisory Council. "I'm used to and comfortable with juggling a lot and being successful at a lot."
A 6-foot forward, Turner arrived at GW from Charlottesville, Va., and became a solid contributor on some of the top teams in program history. The Colonials won 93 games in all over her four seasons, including three in the 1997 NCAA Tournament as part of a historic March Madness run.
Turner left her mark on the program – individual highlights included an A-10 All-Rookie nod in '95-96 and a spot among the program's all-time blocks leaders – while taking away lessons about accountability, discipline and mental toughness that would prove invaluable in the real world.
"It was huge foundation building for me as a woman and as a leader in business," Turner said. "I have an immense feeling of pride in that experience and in the relationships I built with my teammates and being able to recount the stories of, both on and off the court, what we went through together."
Turner's early professional career included a leadership rotation with Citigroup, an MBA from NYU and two years living abroad in South Korea.
Upon her return to the U.S. in 2008, she was working in development at non-profit Foundation for Health and Hope in Haiti when she got to work on Bownce, which she conceived as a way to catch college recruiting up to the technology of the times.
As a high school prospect, Turner had received attention from coaches across the country. She'd also watched as her brothers Tarik (St. John's) and Hajj (Louisville) had been courted by a slew of high-profile coaches.
In the mid-90s, programs showed their interest by putting in the time, namely via hand-written letters and phone calls. GW stood out to Turner, for example, thanks to assistant Gabrielle Butler's willingness to hang on the phone while they both watched a show on TV. ("Probably Ricki Lake or whatever nonsense I was watching," she remembered with a laugh.)
A decade later, there was texting, Twitter, Facebook and other social media to help make connections.
"There were all these things that weren't available to me as a high school student, but the mechanism for communication had not changed, had not evolved in any way," Turner said.
Enter Bownce.
Turner's NCAA-approved platform allowed student-athletes to create free profiles to catch the attention of and then build relationships with college coaches. Over seven years, she led efforts to grow the reach of the company, raising two rounds of funding along the way, leading up to its sale.
"That was a fun ride," Turner said. "It was a lovely marriage of not only my academic skills but also my athletic relationships and knowledge to build a business."
No surprise to those who knew her during her days in Buff and Blue, Turner hasn't slowed down.
At Bionic Solutions, she works to help major brands identify problems through data collection and interviews with actual consumers before working to find solutions.
It's been a perfect fit for someone who has built her career on thinking several steps ahead.
"I like the constantly moving target," Turner said. "You're always looking at what's new. No day is the same."
In recent years, Turner has tapped into her passion for education. She's entering her third year teaching at St. John's, where she serves on the board for its business school.
It's the perfect side hustle for the daughter of two college educators and a chance to pass on what she's learned in the industry to students eager for guidance.
"What I've found mostly with my students is that they're just looking for someone to care about them and looking for connection and looking for someone to take an interest in them more than just getting an A or a B," Turner said. "This year, it's been especially tough. I try and use my relationships and my connections and my voice to help them navigate these really, really challenging times that they're going through, and of course, teach them along the way."
It's easy for Turner to put herself in those shoes. She remembers all the people at GW who helped her find a path to success.
Many of them gathered last November as the '96-97 squad was inducted into the GW Athletic Hall of Fame. That group still shares a special bond: They grinded away together and were rewarded with some unforgettable memories.
Looking back, Turner has a deep appreciation for that experience and all the lessons she learned over her busy-yet-rewarding years in Foggy Bottom.
"It's difficult to put into words, but I think it was one of the best decisions that I ever made," Turner said. "Going to school in D.C. to play big-time college basketball only two hours away from my parents so they were able to see me play, it was amazing. It's something that I look back on frequently, and it just really warms my heart."
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