Alisha Thomas Morgan is respected throughout her home state of Georgia, and throughout the United States, as an impassioned political leader, rousing motivational speaker, fearless ambassador for youth and role model for female leaders and young professionals. Ms. Morgan is also our IMPACT Leader of the Month for August!
She began building her profile as a trailblazer and at the young age of 23, when she defeated the odds (and scores of naysayers) to become the first African-American to serve in the Georgia House of Representatives for Cobb County. Elected to her fifth term in July 2010, winning over 73% of the vote, at age 32 Morgan remains the youngest female member of the entire Georgia General Assembly.
While she is known and respected for many things, many of Morgan’s most noteworthy accomplishments are in the area of her key passion: education. Blazing trails in education, Morgan has become a state and national leader in the movement for education reform–forging a bipartisan coalition to pass a law in 2009 that empowers parents to access more options within the public school system. In February of 2010, Morgan was selected to participate in a national bi-partisan group of legislators to work under Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and with senior staff at the US Department of Education (DOE) on the reauthorization the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, formerly known as “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB). She is also a newly appointed board member of the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO), a national education advocacy organization.
Morgan has been named, one of “America’s Young Civil Rights Heroes” by AOL Black Voices, one of fifteen women of the “New Power Generation” by Essence Magazine, and one of the Nation’s 30 Leaders who are under 30 by Ebony Magazine. She’s been featured in the New York Times, The Washington Post, and on both CSPAN and BET. In Fall 2010, she will release her highly-anticipated debut book, No Apologies: Powerful Lessons in Life, Love & Politics.
Morgan is a graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta, Ga. where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Sociology and Drama. She resides in Austell, GA with husband David, a member of the Cobb County School Board, and daughter Lailah.
