Shikiri Hightower | Biography, Career, Education, Family and Keyshawn Johnson

Shikiri Hightower, also known as Shikiri Hightower-Gaskin, is an American journalist, fashion entrepreneur, communications professional and community leader whose career extends well beyond her former marriage to NFL player Keyshawn Johnson. Her professional background includes journalism, fashion retail, entrepreneurship, strategic communications and nonprofit work.

Hightower’s educational background is equally notable. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Southern California, a master’s degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and an MBA from Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business.

Although public interest in her has often centered on her relationship with Keyshawn Johnson, available professional biographies show a broader career involving fashion businesses, journalism, communications and philanthropy. She has also served in leadership roles in the Berkeley community, including on the board of Berkeley Symphony.

Who Is Shikiri Hightower?

Shikiri Hightower-Gaskin is a Berkeley, California-born journalist and entrepreneur whose career has crossed several fields. Berkeley Symphony describes her as having experience in journalism, fashion entrepreneurship, public relations, marketing, social media, community outreach, fundraising and events.

Her professional identity has evolved over time. Earlier in her career, she worked in journalism and fashion, while later work has focused more heavily on communications, philanthropy and community-oriented organizations.

This distinction is useful because online biographies sometimes reduce Hightower’s story to her former marriage to Keyshawn Johnson. Her professional record, by contrast, shows an individual with an established career and educational background of her own.

Shikiri Hightower’s Early Background

Hightower was born in San Francisco and raised in Berkeley, according to a Berkeley Symphony biography published when she joined the organization’s board. That same biography describes her as bringing a varied background and experience in journalism, business and fashion entrepreneurship.

A professional profile associated with Hightower also describes her family background as Chinese and African American and says that her upbringing exposed her to both Chinese heritage and Black political and cultural traditions.

Details about her childhood and private family life are comparatively limited in authoritative public sources. For that reason, claims about specific aspects of her upbringing should be treated cautiously rather than repeated from unsourced celebrity-biography websites.

Shikiri Hightower’s Education

Education is one of the clearest parts of Hightower’s publicly documented biography.

Institution	Qualification / field
University of Southern California	Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, with a focus on television journalism and social media
UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism	Master’s degree in Journalism
Tulane University Freeman School of Business	MBA

Blue Shield of California Foundation identifies all three degrees in its professional biography of Hightower. The organization says her USC studies focused on television journalism and social media.

Her combination of journalism and business education helps explain the range of her later work. She moved between media, fashion entrepreneurship, marketing and communications rather than remaining within one narrowly defined profession.

Her Career in Journalism

Journalism was an important early part of Hightower’s professional development.

UC Berkeley’s journalism program lists her among the reporters involved in its local journalism initiative during her graduate studies. A Berkeley publication from the period also identifies Shikiri Hightower among the reporters working on community-focused projects.

She later worked as a freelance journalist and produced Generation Next with Shikiri, a program that brought teenagers and experts together to discuss everyday issues affecting young people. Blue Shield of California Foundation describes the program as both educational and entertaining, with panel discussions designed to give young people a safe environment to address complex subjects.

Her journalism background is significant because it connects several stages of her career: reporting, storytelling, communications, media production and later strategic communications work.

Shikiri Hightower and the Fashion Industry

Fashion became another major part of Hightower’s professional life.

A biography published through Eventbrite describes her as the founder of Shikiri, a fashion business that she opened in Los Angeles. The same profile says the business attracted celebrity clientele and that she later expanded her fashion activities through another boutique, Golden Butterfly, in Santa Monica.

Shikiri Boutique

Hightower’s fashion business was built around clothing and style, reflecting an interest she reportedly developed while watching a family member work in fashion. Her professional biography identifies her as a longtime fashion entrepreneur and founder of shikiri.com.

Golden Butterfly

In 2005, Hightower launched Golden Butterfly, a Santa Monica boutique specializing in high-end shoes and accessories, according to her professional biography.

The boutique represented an expansion beyond clothing into accessories and luxury retail. Her work in the sector also involved buying and marketing, giving her experience on the business side of fashion rather than simply operating as a designer or stylist.

China Royal

Hightower later founded China Royal, a clothing brand described in her professional biography as an affordable-luxury label. The brand was launched in 2014 and was made available through shikiri.com. Her profile says China Royal was subsequently featured by The Root in a 2015 roundup of gift ideas from Black-owned businesses.

Taken together, these ventures show a career that moved from journalism into retail entrepreneurship and brand development.

Communications and Nonprofit Work

Hightower’s later career has increasingly centered on communications and community work.

Blue Shield of California Foundation identifies her as a Communications Associate and describes her background as combining education, entrepreneurship, journalism, marketing and philanthropy.

Her work at the foundation has included communications connected with efforts to address domestic violence. Berkeley Symphony’s announcement about her appointment to its board described her at the time as a communications specialist at Blue Shield of California Foundation, working on grants and strategic communications intended to help break the cycle of domestic abuse.

This stage of her career represents a notable shift in emphasis: from commercial fashion and media toward communications connected to nonprofit and social-impact work.

Shikiri Hightower and Berkeley Symphony

Hightower has also taken on a leadership role with Berkeley Symphony.

The organization announced her appointment to its board in November 2022. Its current leadership information lists Hightower-Gaskin as treasurer on the executive committee.

Her involvement reflects another part of her professional profile: participation in arts and civic institutions in the Berkeley community.

Her work with Berkeley Symphony also fits with the broader pattern of her career, which combines communications, entrepreneurship, community involvement and the arts.

Shikiri Hightower and Keyshawn Johnson

Shikiri Hightower is publicly known in part because of her former marriage to former NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson.

Available biographical sources identify Hightower and Johnson as having married in 1998 and divorced in 2002. IMDb lists the marriage as beginning on February 14, 1998, although the exact date is not consistently reproduced across secondary sources.

The couple had two children together:

• Maia Keyanna Hightower-Johnson
• Keyshawn Johnson Jr.

The University of Nebraska’s official athletics biography confirms that Keyshawn Johnson Jr. was born on June 16, 1998, and identifies Shikiri Hightower and Keyshawn Johnson as his parents.

Because marriage dates are sometimes reported differently by secondary websites, the safest description is that Hightower and Johnson were married from 1998 until their divorce in 2002.

Family Life

Hightower’s family life has been connected to public attention largely because of her former marriage to Johnson and the careers and experiences of their children.

Her daughter Maia Keyanna Hightower-Johnson died on March 15, 2021, at the age of 25. A UC Berkeley Journalism obituary identifies Maia as the daughter of Shikiri Hightower-Gaskin and Keyshawn Johnson and says she was born in Los Angeles in 1995.

The Berkeley obituary was published at the request of Hightower-Gaskin, who was a Berkeley Journalism alumna. It describes Maia’s international travels, entrepreneurial interests and relationships with family and friends.

This loss is an important part of the family’s public history, but it should be discussed respectfully and without speculation about private circumstances.

Hightower is also the mother of Keyshawn Johnson Jr., who played college football at Nebraska. Nebraska’s official athletics site identifies him as the son of Keyshawn Johnson and Shikiri Hightower.

What Is Shikiri Hightower Doing Today?

The most recent authoritative professional information available publicly identifies Hightower-Gaskin with Blue Shield of California Foundation, where she is listed as a Communications Associate. The foundation’s current staff page includes her among the people working with the organization.

She also remains associated with Berkeley Symphony, where the organization’s leadership page lists her as treasurer.

Her current professional profile therefore centers more on communications, nonprofit work and community leadership than on the fashion retail businesses for which she was known earlier in her career.

Public sources do not provide a complete account of every aspect of her current private life. Details such as personal finances, daily activities and other private matters should not be treated as established facts unless Hightower herself or a reliable source has publicly documented them.

Shikiri Hightower’s Career at a Glance

Hightower’s career can be understood through several connected stages:

Career area	Documented work
Journalism	Journalism training, reporting and freelance journalism
Television/media	Produced and hosted Generation Next with Shikiri
Fashion	Founded Shikiri and worked as a fashion entrepreneur
Retail	Launched Golden Butterfly in Santa Monica
Brand development	Founded China Royal in 2014
Communications	Strategic communications and foundation work
Philanthropy	Family education fund and nonprofit-related work
Arts leadership	Berkeley Symphony board member and treasurer

These roles illustrate why describing Hightower only as Keyshawn Johnson’s former wife gives an incomplete picture of her public professional biography.

Common Misconceptions About Shikiri Hightower

One recurring problem with online biographies is the tendency to combine verified information with unsupported personal claims. Hightower’s public record provides enough information to establish her education, career and family connections without relying on speculation.

A few distinctions are particularly useful:

Her name: Professional and institutional sources use both Shikiri Hightower and Shikiri Hightower-Gaskin.

Her career: She was not solely associated with the NFL through her former husband. Her documented work includes journalism, fashion, entrepreneurship, communications and philanthropy.

Her education: Reliable institutional sources support degrees from USC, UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business.

Her family: She and Keyshawn Johnson had two children together, Maia and Keyshawn Johnson Jr.

Her current work: Public institutional sources currently connect her with Blue Shield of California Foundation and Berkeley Symphony.

Frequently Asked Questions About Shikiri Hightower

Who is Shikiri Hightower?

Shikiri Hightower, now publicly identified as Shikiri Hightower-Gaskin, is an American journalist, fashion entrepreneur and communications professional. She has worked in journalism, fashion retail, marketing, philanthropy and nonprofit communications.

Was Shikiri Hightower married to Keyshawn Johnson?

Yes. Hightower and former NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson were married in 1998 and divorced in 2002, according to available biographical sources.

How many children did Shikiri Hightower and Keyshawn Johnson have?

They had two children together: daughter Maia Keyanna Hightower-Johnson and son Keyshawn Johnson Jr.

What happened to Maia Hightower-Johnson?

Maia Keyanna Hightower-Johnson died on March 15, 2021, at age 25. UC Berkeley Journalism published an obituary describing her life and family background.

Where did Shikiri Hightower go to college?

She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Southern California, a master’s degree from UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and an MBA from Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business.

What businesses did Shikiri Hightower operate?

Her documented fashion ventures include the Shikiri fashion business, Golden Butterfly boutique in Santa Monica and China Royal, an affordable-luxury clothing brand launched in 2014.

Is Shikiri Hightower a journalist?

Yes. Her education is in journalism, she worked as a freelance journalist and was involved in producing Generation Next with Shikiri. Berkeley Journalism also identifies her as an alumna of its graduate program.

What does Shikiri Hightower do now?

Current institutional information identifies Hightower-Gaskin as a Communications Associate at Blue Shield of California Foundation. She is also listed as treasurer on Berkeley Symphony’s executive committee.

Conclusion

Shikiri Hightower’s public biography is broader than the connection that first brought her to the attention of many sports and entertainment readers. Her documented career spans journalism, fashion entrepreneurship, communications, philanthropy and arts leadership.

Her education at USC, UC Berkeley and Tulane helped shape a career that moved between media and business before expanding into strategic communications and community work. Her former marriage to Keyshawn Johnson and the family they shared remains an important part of her public history, but it is only one part of a much larger professional story.

For readers researching Shikiri Hightower, the most reliable picture comes from institutional biographies and first-party records rather than celebrity rumor sites: she is a trained journalist, experienced entrepreneur and communications professional whose work has continued to evolve over several decades.