What inspired you to be a activist?
My mom has always taught me from an early age the importance of social justice and activism. With the elections of President Obama and Trump, combined with the BLM Movement, it’s hard not to be involved.
Who was your role model and/or inspiration?
My mom, Dr. Tina Pierce. She is the founder of The WORTH Foundation and Columbus Board of Education member. She’s always said, “When doing a job, do it well or not at all” Her work ethic and being a public servant at heart is what inspires me. What I do is a reflection of what I’m seeing her do.
What does your future look like? What do you plan to do?
I want to get my Masters in Public Administration and degree in Civil Rights Law. Ultimately, I want to teach law and continue my work with The WORTH Foundation.
What is the best piece of advice have you received that has helped you be successful?
Find your passion and follow that passion all the way. Life is full of opportunities, but they won’t turn into realities without perseverance, strong work ethic, and ambition. Do it all the way or don’t do it at all.
What motivates you?
The potential for change. In working with WORTH where we have community conversations and youth conferences; creating the conversation or advocating policy for the next student to be affected by this in a positive way. The hope in that potential motivates me.
How has your life and daily routines changed as a result of COVID-19?
We really had to change everything to digital activism. We’ve been having zoom webinars for community conversations. But, It’s a lot easier for people to interact with you because you’re not asking them to go to a location; they can engage through social media.
If you could go back in time, is there, if at all, anything you’d do differently?
I would go back to my freshman year of high school and work on my time management skills. It’s one of the hardest things to do in this era of social media: we need to manage our time effectively with all the distraction
What do you think are your strengths and weaknesses?
My strength is that I can build, lead, and foster inclusion in a team. In any role I take on, I bring people together and push the team in a positive way. My weakness I am working on is learning to say “no”. Lots of activists and advocates want to attack so many issues and we sometimes sacrifice our mental health for that during that process.
If you had a theme song, what would it be?
The Last Dance Soundtrack, I can’t pick one song.
In your opinion, who do you think is the most impressive person in the world right now, and why?
GenZ because whether it’s Greta Thunberg, Malala Yousafzai, the March for Our Lives Coalition, or The BLM Movement, young people are really taking a stand for activism in their communities. Regardless of our age, we are working to make the world and our communities a better place by taking an effective stance to change it.