Dr. Tiah E. McKinney
Executive Strategy and STEM Educational Director
Dr. Tiah E. McKinney, Co-Founder and Executive Director, The McKinney Foundation Inc., is committed to ensuring equity in health, education, and high-quality instruction for priority engagement youth to promote and sustain America’s competitiveness in the 21st century.
McKinney possesses a solid 20-year track record of success in various facets of education and nonprofit enterprise: as an Educational Leader, Director of Education for the Detroit Science Center, a District-Level Curriculum Supervisor of Science, Acting Science Consultant for the Michigan Department of Education, and science consultant to several U.S. school districts.
She holds a B.A. in Marine Affairs (Marine Biology and Business Administration) from the University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL; a Master of Arts in Teaching Science Education (with Distinction) from the University of Michigan; and a Ph.D. in Education Policy (specialization) and Nonprofit Management (secondary concentration) from George Mason University, Fairfax, VA.
Scholarship and research interests include reducing health disparities and improving educational outcomes for priority engagement youth by mitigating the social determinants of health through use of effective public-private partnerships. Health equity is education equity. McKinney sees her research as praxis; in conducting it, she is deliberate about moving from theory to practice. Consequently, helping schools create healthy learning environments that support and improve student learning in STEM education is among her priorities. This means crafting and implementing effective policy as a conduit to systemically transforming schools as well as providing support and technical assistance to schools serving underrepresented groups in STEM education.
McKinney has received numerous honors and distinctions, including 2018 Business Woman of the Year, National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs Inc.; 2015 Outstanding Community & Civic Service Award, Native Detroiter Magazine; 2014-2015 Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Dissertation Fellow; King/Chavez/Parks Future Faculty Fellow; Past President of Metropolitan Detroit Science Teachers Association; and Albert Einstein “Distinguished Educator” Fellow, when she functioned as co-director of the Opportunity for Enhancing Diversity in the Geosciences Program, an $11 million program in the Office of the Assistant Director, Directorate of Geosciences at the National Science Foundation (NSF).
In 2021, McKinney co-founded The Equity Institute, a 501c4 social welfare organization that operates from a health equity framework to inform, shape, and design a more just and equitable society because these times require more.
CAREER AND PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT HIGHLIGHTS:
• Co-Founder and Executive Director, The McKinney Foundation • Co-Founder, The Equity Institute • Author of “Equipped to Thrive! 21st Century Critical Infrastructure for K-12 Schools in a Post Pandemic Era”
BOARDS/ADVISORY COMMITTEES:
Member, Public Health Advisory Commission, Detroit Health Department (Mayoral Appointment)
EDUCATION: Ph.D., George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia; MAT, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
