Last but certainly not least in our Conversations with HJM series from the MACo summer conference is the Maryland Secretary of Appointments, Tisha Edwards. As the Appointments Secretary, Edwards is in charge of filling positions in the administration and on countless state boards and commissions.
Born and raised in Meridian, Mississippi, Edwards moved to Baltimore after earning her bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Georgia State University. She would later earn both her master's in social work and juris doctor from the University of Maryland.
Edwards has held significant positions in both the public and private sectors. She was the Chief of Staff and Interim CEO at Baltimore City Public Schools before she moved on to work in philanthropy as the Executive Vice President for the JS Plank & DM DiCarlo Family Foundation. Edwards has also held top positions at Baltimore City Hall under three administrations, including her work as Chief of Staff to a now-former Mayor, where she founded an entire agency, the Mayor’s Office of Children & Family Success, from scratch.
Before joining the Moore-Miller Administration, Edwards served as president of BridgeEdu, the education company Moore founded that focuses on assisting first-generation students.