Mind Your Business Radio: Tarchitects

A discussion about architecture with Tariq Abdullah, ASSOC. AIA, NOMA & about a unique charter school with Tiffany Green-Abdullah, M.Ed, PMP

TCAAD- Tarchitects Community Academy For Architecture And Design

The mission of TCAAD is to expose students to architecture and design in a learner-centered environment, which promotes creative, critical thinking, and develops conscious community leaders.

Tiffany Green-Abdullah

When I went back to graduate school my sole goal was to learn how to help people learn more effectively. I was working in computer training sales and my clients were bored with the training. This endeavor into educational education would take me to places I never thought at the time. The focus on my graduate thesis was The Culture of Power and could the culture of the executive elite be reproduced within underserved communities. The answer is yes as exhibited in my research and experiences with a Nashville NPO called Youth About Business. After graduating with a Master’s in Education & Technology, I moved to Minneapolis to pay my dues working in community organizing with the Midtown Greenway Coalition. I developed an outreach program which worked with local families to encourage use of the corridor for biking, walking, relaxation, and transportation and I put special emphasis on youth outrage. Eventually the Coalition developed a youth bike repair program that has been very successful. I also encouraged the board to do more partnering with culturally specific nonprofits that worked with the Hispanic, Somali and Native American communities to authentically let them know the corridor is for everyone. After close to a year working at the Coalition, I was appointed to Policy Aide for City Councilmember Robert Lilligren whose 8th ward was the core of the Midtown Greenway. As a policy aide, I was invited to many meetings in the city. One such meeting was about school choice and was my introduction into the charter school movement. That meeting lead to an invitation to attend the Black Alliance for Educational Options conference in Detroit in 2004. I came back pumped up about school choice and eventually started the Minnesota chapter of BAEO along with 2 friends from Minneapolis. Chanda Smith-Baker is now the President of Pillsbury United Communities and Sandra Hollinger-Samuels is the President and CEO at Northside Achievement Zone. These two women are my sisters have had a profound impact on my desire to serve and be successful working with and for underserved communities and especially children. BAEO changed the way Minneapolis Schools engaged black parents. We spoke at the state capitol in support of certain school choice policies. We made sure there was an authentic voice at the table as policies were being developed. I eventually left city council in 2007 to be a consultant with World-renown educational architects, Fielding Nair International. I was able to travel and help develop innovative school designs and authentic community engagement practices in Minneapolis MN for Cristo Rey School, Cayman Islands Master Plan, and University of Chicago authorized charter schools, Medford Oregon Schools, Regina-Saskatchewan Schools in Canada, Duke Primary School, etc. I was also the Director of Communications for Designshare.com. I have been a consultant for charter schools for professional development on parental engagement and innovative school design. Now I have worked in higher education for nearly 4 years as a project manager and developing innovative learning programs. The opportunity to develop TCAAD is a full circle moment in my life. I am excited to bring all my skills to bear to benefit the community of South Dekalb.

TCAAD on facebook

Tariq Abdullah

In 2005 Tariq Abdullah created an architecture workshop aimed at exposing students to architecture and design. The workshop was geared for students in grades k-12 and won an award from the American Architecture Foundation “a program of national distinction”. Tariq then developed an after-school program architectural curriculum and a high school architecture curriculum that used some of the same theories as the workshops. After experiencing successes in Michigan and some in Georgia including workshops with Dekalb county libraries, there was a clear need and request by parents to develop the concept. After five years of workshops and other instruments aimed at exposing students to architecture through Tariq’s architectural design firm Tarchitects, including internships and design fellowships, the programs grew into a charter school that is TCAAD.

TCAAD on Twitter