User talk:Tinlaw73

Tanika Inlaw
Tanika Inlaw: educator, community outreach worker, advocate, and mother. Tanika was born on September 13, 1973 in New York City. She was raised in Spanish Harlem by her grandmother.

After graduating from SUNY Purchase with a Bachelors in Sociology (1996), Tanika headed to Los Angeles, California. There she began to pursue an acting career. Her talents were noted and she was signed by a prestigious talent agency. As fate would have it, her dreams in Los Angeles were cut short by a near death experience which landed her in the hospital for weeks. After being discharged from the hospital, she flew back to New York to be closer to her family.

Tanika continued her acting career in New York, landing bit parts in television series such as "Law and Order" and "Sex in the City", along with a couple of movies while producing short films.

She landed a dream job working in broadcast television on ABC's hit daytime talk show "The View" - working under the legendary Barbara Walters. While working there, she married a prominent Westchester attorney, Evan Inlaw in 2003.

Tanika scaled back her own professional work and left "The View" in 2004. During her tenure she made such an impression, Barbara Walters, executive producer Bill Geddie and senior producers gave her a final farewell party with gifts for her and her husband's expected daughter. Their daughter “Summer” was born August 2004. There soon after her husband made his first run for office.

In 2006, Tanika returned to the world of broadcast journalism and landed a job at ABC News radio. However, she left ABC again, feeling that work in the field of media was not compatible enough with being a wife and mother.

Tanika discovered a new passion in education. She was inspired to return to school and she returned to Hunter College. While expanding her family, by giving birth to a little boy “William”, born on June 2007, she received a Master’s of Science in Education - graduating Magna Cum Laude (2008). Due to her academic excellence she was inducted into two honor societies, The National Education Honor Society (Kappa Delta Pi) and The Golden Key International Honour Society. Thereafter, Tanika began her public service career - teaching children in the South Bronx.

Tanika's passion to advocate for the underrepresented gained public attention and she was elected to be the president of the National Association of Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Yonkers - the fourth largest city in New York. As leader of the NAACP she advocated to decrease over crowded schools, increase home ownership opportunities, rent control and stabilization, lobbied to increase minimum wage and against 'Stop-and-Frisk'.

After resigning from the NAACP Tanika continues her leadership as democratic politician and activist. She's organized working parents to protest against after school program cuts - a casualty of New York City’s budget cuts.

She is a strong advocate for limiting political spending because she believes the result is the middle class being shut out of the political process. "Very often we see millions of dollars being raised and are intimidated to even try to enter the political arena. I believe in the old adage that our politicians should be chosen of the people by the people and for the people." She wants to amplify the voice of regular voters, the ordinary American and engage everyone in making policies.

Tanika is widely recognized for her honest, out spoken and assertive persona. She says "With all that I try to do, my first priority is family; with a solid family, I will be capable of helping others