Board Calendar

Natalie McKinney

District 2

Natalie McKinney is the co-founder and executive director of Whole Child Strategies, Inc. (WCS), a neighborhood/place-based community-led efforts interim nonprofit in Memphis, TN. Founded in 2017, WCS was conceived as a demonstration of the impact of government investment in neighborhoods and resident leadership. WCS is arguably the only nonprofit in Memphis that focuses on out-of-school barriers to educational attainment by organizing, mobilizing, engaging, equipping, and supporting community stakeholders to identify and directly address the root causes of these barriers in the streets, neighborhoods, and networks where they arise with long-term sustainable solutions through policy, systems transformation, and public resource reallocation. An example includes facilitating the collaboration between the local public transportation system and the community to support the community-led initiative that customizes weekly bus routes to transport community residents residing in a food desert to community-identified food and basic needs. 

McKinney’s extensive career includes law, education policy, and juvenile justice advocacy. As Policy Director for Shelby County Schools and legacy Memphis City Schools, she led the policy development for the largest school district merger in American Public Education history. McKinney also founded and served as the Inaugural Director of the Juvenile Law Clinic, as an adjunct professor at North Carolina Central University School of Law, and practiced law at two large law firms.

McKinney was a part of the inaugural fellows’ class of the Mosaic Fellowship with the Tennessee Educational Equity Coalition, a transformational strategy to develop and connect education leaders of color to enact change and elevate their voices to ensure equity and excellence in education in Tennessee. Additionally, McKinney participated in the fourth cohort of the Complete Tennessee Leadership Institute Class of 2020, served on the Civil Service Commission for the City of Memphis for approximately three years, and serves as a member of the Shelby County Juvenile Justice Consortium.

McKinney receives the SisterReach Reproductive Justice at the Intersection Award, the Dr. Toni Bond Award, 2023-2024, and the 2021 Thomas Briggs Foundation Community Service Award.

McKinney holds a JD from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, a Master of Public Affairs from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Spelman College. 

McKinney lives with and loves her husband of 28 years, Dr. Charles W. McKinney, Jr., a Rhodes College professor, and has two phenomenal sons, Ayodele, a 2023 magna cum laude graduate of Xavier University, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Chioke, a current honors Howard University student, Class of 2026, both graduates of MSCS.

Stephanie P. Love has lived and been active in North Memphis, Millington and unincorporated areas of Shelby County all her life. Love attended Millington Central High, studied Psychology at The University of Memphis and later became a licensed cosmetologist.

Love's advocacy began as a parent volunteer in August 2011 at Delano Head Start, where she noticed the unacceptable parking accommodations. This motivated her to begin directing traffic to ensure the safety of the children and parents. She was able to effectively advocate for an improved parking lot. Because of her passion and willingness to help, Love was elected to serve on the Shelby County Head Start Policy Council, where she later became vice chair.

Love also served as vice president of the Frayser Neighborhood Council—a community group born out of President Obama’s Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative in 2013. Love was elected to the Frayser Neighborhood Council as a resident May 4, 2013, and the group later selected her as vice president.

The Frayser Neighborhood Council has had success in helping to improve the quality of life in Frayser. Some of those successes include:

• Effectively advocating Memphis City Council for improvements to Denver Park—a once gang-ridden park taken back by neighbors,
• Getting approval from Memphis City Council for new sidewalks in front of Corning Elementary,
• Stopping a new trailer park development,
• Developing Frayser 2020—a plan to improve quality of life in Frayser,
• Planning of the Frayser Town Center, and
• Just recently, advocating with fellow Memphians to prevent a landfill from expanding next to an elementary school and other urban neighborhoods in Shelby County.

Love was elected to the Shelby County Board of Education in 2014 and later re-elected in August 2016. She currently serves as co-chair of the Community Outreach and Engagement Committee.

As a board member and parent of three school-aged children, Love knows and understands the challenges parents and children face as they relate to the constant changes in education. Love believes more can be accomplished when parents, school employees, district officials and all elected governing bodies work together.

Sable Otey

District 5

Sable Otey

District 5

Amber Huett-Garcia

District 8

Amber Huett-Garcia serves as the School Board representative for District 8.

Huett-Garcia began her career as a teacher at Ross Elementary. After teaching, she spent more than seven years at Teach For America, where she had responsibilities ranging from large-scale operations for a teacher training program to corporate and foundation fundraising.

From there, Huett-Garcia served as a policy advisor in Shelby County’s Office of Education before working as a senior director of non-academic support strategy for one million K-12 students at the Tennessee Department of Education. She also concentrated on state health, policy, and budget roles, managing over $13 billion in K-12 funds for former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn.

Huett-Garcia is the founder and owner of Amber Huett-Garcia Consulting, focusing on nonprofit operations and capacity building, grant and performance management, and more.

She is a global leader in obesity care as a member of the World Obesity Federation’s Board of Trustees, representing the patient's lived experience. In the United States, Huett-Garcia is an active volunteer and emeritus member of the National Board for the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC). She served nine years, including two years as chair, for its 85,000 members. She is a founding director of the Global Obesity Patient Alliance (GOPA), where she represents the United States to help build capacity in patient advocacy organizations worldwide.

She is a 2018 recipient of Medtronic’s Bakken Invitation, an award given to individuals who have used their “extra life” to advocate.

When she's not working or volunteering, Huett-Garcia enjoys traveling, cooking, listening to live music, and exercising. Her daughter Parker is a proud and thriving student in Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Tamarques Porter

District 4

Tamarques Porter is a proud native of Memphis, TN, and a graduate of Melrose High School. His journey from a local high school graduate to a seasoned professional in Information Technology highlights his dedication to educational excellence and community empowerment. After attending Texas Southern University and earning a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and a Master of Science in Technology Management from the University of Phoenix, Porter embarked on a career focused on leveraging technology for positive social impact.

Currently serving as an Information Technology Specialist with the U.S. Department of Treasury, Mr. Porter combines technical expertise with a passion for community engagement. His professional background demonstrates his commitment to using technology to enhance learning outcomes and foster innovation in education. Porter's dedication to community service is evident through his involvement with organizations like the Tennessee Higher Education Prison Initiative (THEI), advocating for educational opportunities for incarcerated individuals, and his role as a mentor and facilitator in programs such as Dr. Clifford Black's Super Learning Literacy Class, where he empowers students with essential language and computer literacy skills.

He is committed to ensuring every student has access to a high-quality education that prepares them for success. Porter advocates for safe, diverse, and inclusive policies prioritizing the needs of students, teachers, and families, with a proven track record of leadership, deep roots in the community, and unwavering dedication to educational excellence.