Dallas native Tiara Cooper is an award-winning social justice leader committed to organizing Directly Impacted, Formerly Incarcerated people, uplifting their stories, and utilizing grassroots efforts to impact policy change at the municipal, state, and federal levels. Tiara is the managing director of In Defense of Black Lives, which is based in Dallas, Texas.
Her dedication to her cause has earned her numerous accolades, including a captivating TED X sharing her lived experience titled- “ Your Mugshot Moment” and multiple awards including : Every Texans 2023 - “Future of Texas” award, 2023 Dallas Dems “Ally of The Year” Award, the 2021 Juanita Craft Humanitarian Awards – Catalyst Award, being deemed Next Generation Action Network’s Organizer of the Year (2020), and a resolution from Texas House District 109 in recognition of her outstanding leadership advancing civil and human rights. Her organizing efforts have been featured in Dallas Morning News, Dallas Observer, FOX 4 News, and PBS.
Tiara is also an alumna of Howard University’s Theology, Radicalized Policing and Justice Reform cohort where she earned a certificate in Divinity, and a Emerging Leaders fellow at CUNY. In her downtime, she enjoys cooking, singing, and being in nature with her daughters.