STEP UP FOR STUDENTS APPOINTS DENISHA MERRIWEATHER TO ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Step Up For Students, the nation’s largest education choice scholarship funding organization, is proud to announce that Denisha Merriweather has been appointed to its Board of Directors. The Jacksonville native becomes the first scholarship program alumnus to serve on the non-profit’s board.

Denisha previously served as School Choice and Youth Liaison to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos at the U.S. Department of Education. She currently is Director of Public Relations and Content Marketing at the American Federation for Children and founder of Black Minds Matter, an organization devoted to promoting the development of high-quality school options for Black students. Denisha was recently awarded the 2021 Maverick PAC Future 40 award for her work in education advocacy. Denisha has shared her voice on education freedom across the country and her work has been published in the Wall Street Journal, PragerU, the Washington Examiner, EducationWeek, Real Clear, Fox News , among other outlets.

Raised in poverty, Merriweather had been a troubled student who was held back twice at her assigned public schools. In the sixth grade she received the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship which allowed her family to afford tuition at a private school in Jacksonville, where she blossomed. She has been a passionate advocate for education freedom since.

Merriweather earned a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary social science from the University of West Florida, and a master’s degree in social work from the University of South Florida.

“Denisha embodies the power of educational choice,” said John Kirtley, chairman and founder of Step Up For Students. “I first knew she was special when she led a rally of over 5,000 people in Tallahassee as a high school senior to support a choice bill. It is a great honor to have her on our board.”

The nine-member Board of Directors is the governing and fiduciary body for Step Up. It sets policy, develops and approves strategic plans and the related allocation of resources, and is responsible for the organization’s performance.