Jamila Taylor Appointed to the Board of Directors of BlackPast.org

    SEATTLE, WA, February 10, 2024 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Attorney and State of Washington Legislator, Jamila Taylor has been appointed to the board of directors of BlackPast.org at its January meeting. Taylor will now serve a two-year term through December 2025, helping to provide the senior management team with insight, foresight, and sound governance with specific emphasis in areas of the director's professional expertise.

Newly appointed board chair Doug Bender is elated stating, "Jamila adds a whole new element of skills and competencies to our board that is much needed in the form of legal expertise and a strong network of individuals and organizations who can support BlackPast.org philanthropically and otherwise. Her energy, passion, and vision will serve us incredibly well and we a very fortunate to have her."

Taylor is an attorney, youth advocate and small business owner with a passion for community service and a commitment to serving the public good. She holds a bachelor's degree from Virginia State University and a law degree from the University of Oregon.

Jamila Taylor has worked with a number of nonprofit and community organizations over the years, work that has involved overseeing community interventions and support of young people facing family, peer or gang conflict; court involvement; school suspension or expulsion; homelessness or other risk factors for youth violence. Equally important, she is returning to the BlackPast.org board where she was one of the original members when the organization was formed in 2007 by her father, BlackPast.org Founder, Dr. Quintard Taylor, now retired tenured professor at the University of Washington.

In 2014 Taylor launched a legal practice and nonprofit consulting business before later joining Northwest Justice Project in 2017. As NJP's statewide advocacy counsel, she managed a network of attorneys representing domestic violence survivors and other crime victims. She currently works for Purpose. Dignity. Action. (PDA) formerly known as the Public Defender Association, providing civil legal aid to individuals emerging from homelessness.

A Federal Way, Washington resident, Taylor was elected to the Washington State Legislature in 2020 and has served in many capacities including Chair of the Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee, member of the Housing Committee, and Human Services, Youth, and Early Learning Committee. She chairs the Developmental Advocacy Caucus and is the First Vice Chair of the Members of Color Caucus. Jamila is also the immediate past chair of the Legislative Black Caucus.

BlackPast.org (www.blackpast.org), founded on February 1, 2007, in Seattle, Washington, was conceived to provide reference information on people of African ancestry in the United States and around the world. BlackPast.org is supported by a volunteer staff and nearly 1,000 volunteer content contributors from six continents. The website has the equivalent of 10,000 pages and is free and ungated. New features are added regularly. BlackPast.org facilitates partnerships with industry, academia and philanthropy to deliver to the world educational information on notable Black individuals and events that impact humanity. For more information, please visit www.BlackPast.org. BlackPast.org is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, IRS exemption EIN# 26-1625373.

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