The BGG is proud to see our own Tiffany Dena Loftin featured as a #BlackHer Shero!
You can read the full interview here and a snipped from the interview is below.
Angela: So, college was the launching pad for your activism. What happened next?
Tiffany: After I graduated, I was brought on as vice president of the United States Student Association (“the Association.”). My issues there were student debt and voting. A year later, I was elected president of the Association. At 23, I was the CEO and the main fundraiser for a 37-person organization.
Under my leadership, the Association fought for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, registered 150,000 new student voters, and gained support from Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. I met with Secretary Duncan many times regarding increasing college access and affordability for students of color.
I also met with President Obama for 90 minutes in the oval office to talk about education reform. I could not believe it! I was a young Black woman, a first-generation college graduate who grew up on welfare, and now I was in a meeting with the first Black President of the United States. All of my people were beyond proud.
In 2013 President Obama appointed me to the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans. At 24, I became the youngest person ever appointed to a presidential commission, and to serve as a presidential advisor.
My next job was with the labor movement. The National Education Association hired me to work on community advocacy and partnership engagement. I focused on creating opportunities for dialogue and action on the racial and economic disparities faced by schools, students, and communities across the country. Next, I was hired by the AFL-CIO to lead social justice training workshops. These jobs taught me that I loved working with real people and within membership organizations.