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.
McKinney sees her research as empirical evidence to inform practice in K-12 education. Her scholarship reveals that health equity provides requisite support to advance education equity in the U.S. education system and K-12 schools nationwide. Specifically, Dr. McKinney provides consultative services and technical assistance to schools and school districts that serve underrepresented student groups. Her research interests include—
- Mitigation of the social determinants of health through strategic partnerships.
- Improvement of student learning in STEM education for underrepresented student groups.
- Creation of healthy learning environments in K-12 schools conducive to "teaching and learning."
- Design systems that decrease health disparities and increase educational outcomes for low-SES students.
- Implementation of effective educational policy as a conduit to systemically transforming K-12 districts/schools.
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).
Her book Equipped to Thrive, released on March 23, 2023, is a must-read for educational leaders who seek to promote equity, raise student achievement, and effectively address educational and health disparities caused by the social determinants of health and exacerbated by COVID-19 in a post-pandemic era.
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.
