Destiny Drake West is the founder and CEO of the Drake Institute of Women’s Policy, a national think tank working to improve outcomes for women. She also works as a senior specialist for the U.S. Federal Government (GS-14).

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 planning/facilitating 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) and as a legislative officer for Prince George’s County Executive, Angela Alsobrooks (2019).

In 2016, Destiny was elected as a Los Angeles City official to serve as co-chair of the Empowerment Congress Central Area Neighborhood Development Council, representing 40,000 residents and stakeholders. During her tenure, she wrote and helped pass the council’s first homelessness policy initiative to improve outcomes around crime and vagrancy in the district.

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.