Ashonda Williams, a former Contra Costa College (CCC) women’s basketball player and current Chief Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, credits CCC with helping shape both her academic and professional success.
Raised in the Richmond/Pinole area after moving from Los Angeles, Ashonda initially had no plans to attend a community college. Her goal was to play basketball at a Division I university immediately after high school. Ashonda received four-year college offers, but not the offer she had hoped for. However, CCC Coach Paul DeBolt promised to help her earn a Division I transfer opportunity, if she chose to play for CCC for two years. So, Ashonda accepted his offer.
At CCC, Coach Paul emphasized academics as much as athletics, ensuring student-athletes stayed on track academically and took transferable courses. Ashonda earned an Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts while completing her general education requirements, making her transition to a four-year university seamless.
Ashonda credits several CCC coaches, professors, and staff members for creating a supportive environment that challenged and encouraged her. Reflecting on her time at CCC, she says her greatest accomplishment was personal growth. “Sometimes in life,” she said, “you end up doing the thing you don’t want to do, and it turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to you.”
After helping lead the CCC women’s basketball team to the State Championship game in her second year, Ashonda fulfilled her dream of receiving a transfer scholarship to San Diego State University, where she played Division I basketball and earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology.
Inspired by her father’s 30-year Army career, Ashonda joined the Air Force one year after graduating from SDSU. What began as career exploration soon became a calling. Over more than two decades of military service, she has built an exceptional career in air traffic control, a field that demands precision, calm decision-making, technical expertise, and strong leadership.
Today, Ashonda serves as Chief Air Traffic Controller at Tyndall Air Force Base and has achieved the elite rank of Chief Master Sergeant, one of the highest enlisted ranks in the U.S. Air Force. Throughout her career, she has supervised personnel, mentored young Airmen, managed complex airfield operations, and ensured the safe movement of military aircraft in support of missions around the world. Her rise to senior leadership reflects the same determination, discipline, and work ethic she developed as a student-athlete at CCC.
A proud Comet who scored 36 points in a 2001 state championship game, helping to make her a two-time CCC Athletic Hall of Fame member, Ashonda credits her village of coaching staff and a few professors for helping her develop the confidence and leadership skills that continue to guide her today.
Ashonda believes the lessons she learned at CCC, including perseverance, accountability, teamwork, and resilience, prepared her for success both in the military and in life. She encourages students to take a closer look at CCC, praising its welcoming culture and the genuine care shown by its faculty, coaches, and staff.
“If a student wants to learn, grow, and genuinely pursue an education,” Chief Williams shared, “they should come to Contra Costa College where once a Comet, always a Comet.”