About Me

Destiny Drake West is the founder and CEO of the Drake Institute of Women’s Policy, a national think tank dedicated to the advancement of women’s inclusion, justice, and security in the United States and abroad. She also serves as the authority and principal point-of-contact for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) responsibilities under the Title V Federal Surplus Property for Use to Assist the Homeless program. It is a joint-agency initiative in collaboration with GSA and HHS established to address homelessness in America.

Prior to joining HUD, Destiny served as a Senior Legislative Analyst for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) where she was appointed as the bureau liaison for GAO, OIG, Tribal and Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) related matters, helping to facilitate complex investigations and engagements in response to Congressional inquiries. Destiny also served as primary policy advisor for Federal programs with annual appropriations totaling a combined $100 million dollars.

In 2021, Destiny worked as a Legislative Director in the Maryland State Senate, serving as a senior advisor to eight Maryland State Senators under the leadership of Senator Joanne C. Benson and Senator Obie Patterson. Her responsibilities included shepherding legislation through the senate, managing constituent relations, and facilitating Senate Delegation hearings, briefings, and leadership meetings. Destiny was also responsible for assisting with the local COVID-19 response, serving as the Senate Delegation’s primary point of contact for the Prince George’s County Executive’s office and the Prince George’s County Health Department in efforts to ensure that county residents, particularly those residing in hard-to-reach and underserved communities, had access to health care services (COVID-19 testing and vaccinations).

Destiny’s policy experience also includes serving as a policy advisor in the office of Congressman Alcee Hastings (2018), legislative officer for Prince George’s County Executive, Angela Alsobrooks (2019), and a board director (Chair of Communications) for the Women’s Democratic Club of Montgomery County (2021-2022).

For her leadership, Destiny has received several congressional awards, including a Certificate of Recognition from Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and a Certificate of Special Recognition from Congresswoman Maxine Waters.

She has also been featured as a subject-matter expert on iHeartRadio, Speaker, AMFM Radio Network, YouTube, Mixcloud, iTunes and dozens of podcast sites.

Destiny resides in Germantown, Maryland with her husband (Sergeant Brandon West, U.S. Army Retired) and children.