As Executive Director of the State of Black Arizona, Teniqua Broughton has proven efficacy in enhancing systems, educating communities, and equipping citizens of Arizona. She is passionate about using data to advance the organization’s mission by compelling both leadership and the grassroot community to create solutions that benefit the lives of others. Teniqua’s proved her dedication to grow civic leaders in our community by leading the transition of the African American Leadership Institute (2017) from Valle del Sol and cultivated the inaugural institute in Southern Arizona in 2021.
State of Black Arizona’s Advancing Black Student Attainment Focus Group
Teniqua Broughton, M.Ed., Dr. Teresa Leyba Ruiz, Llyod Hopkins, and Shannon Hayes
The State of Black Arizona, Education Forward Arizona and Center for the Future of Arizona share a common goal: to increase education attainment in Arizona in order to meet the state’s Achieve60AZ goal. Achieve60AZ convened a Black/African American Attainment Task Force in 2020 which set a goal of increasing attainment from 36% to 60% by 2030. The Task Force identified 8 priority strategies to reach the goal in the report. Since that time, the COVID pandemic has had significant effects on the number of students pursuing a postsecondary education at a community college or university. In 2021, the community colleges reported a decrease of 15% in enrollment. The State of Black Arizona together with partners convene Black/African American leaders to focus on exploring the current state of attainment and to identify a key strategy to advance together.