To speak with Tamani Anderson Powell is to love her. Her warmth and sense of humor is contagious, but more than that, she makes sure that everyone she encounters feels special.

“It’s important to intentionally include different people and to make every single human being that you come into contact with feel important, valued, and of worth,” said Powell. “Every single person I talk to — and I talk to a ton of families — I always try to make sure that they know they’re important and that their child is important.”

This attitude has served her well as the director of marketing and recruitment for Wake County Magnet Schools, a role that often involves raising awareness of what magnet schools are and what they can offer students across the county.

“I feel like I just constantly live in an awareness campaign,” said Powell, laughing. “I go wherever and talk to whomever about our magnet schools because I know they’re great places for students, and I just want to be sure that families, particularly those who are new to the area, are aware of them.”

When it comes to magnet schools, Powell has a wealth of personal and professional experience. Both of her children, now aged 12 and 15, started their magnet school journey in kindergarten.

“There are a couple of benefits of magnets,” said Powell. “But as a mom, I think the benefit for my kids was having a learning environment that I thought met their needs and was better for them. But the other benefit that I hadn’t really thought about was making friends and building relationships that they could have K-12.”

Many parents shy away from the idea of magnet schools because of the distance, says Powell, and the fear that their kids won’t go to school with “all the kids in the neighborhood.”

“Kids are pretty good at making friends wherever they go,” said Powell. “What I found out that I liked was, because they’re at a magnet school, a large majority of them follow their pathway. If you request your pathway school, you’ll get in. So my kids went to middle school with 40 other friends that they’ve had for six years.”

As an African American family living in a predominantly white neighborhood in Wake Forest, Powell says the desire for diversity also factored into their decision.

From left: William and Tamani stand with their three children: Kelsey, Joplin, and Trey. Contributed photo

“Being in a magnet school gave my kids a chance to be around lots of different kids,” said Powell. “Just like people decide they want to pay for private, here’s the trade-off: I want them to go to this really diverse school; I want them to have stability. And so I’ll drive them or we’ll take a little bit longer ride, because I know at the end of the ride they’re going to get something great.”

When it comes to valuing diversity and education, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Powell, who grew up in Louisburg, NC, had two pretty incredible examples to follow.

“My parents were both very civil rights minded,” said Powell. “My dad was a staunch civil rights advocate for our area. He was always thinking about integration, desegregation, and being sure that African Americans have the same rights and abilities and opportunities as anybody else. My mother was a teacher, and she was one of the first Black teachers that went to teach at the white school when they began to integrate schools. She taught music and was very beloved by everybody. Eventually her nickname became ‘Ma’ because she was like everybody’s mother. She was very good at making every single kid, regardless of race or social status, feel like they were important.”

Both of Powell’s parents were proud graduates of Saint Augustine’s University. Powell’s father was a serial entrepreneur, described by Powell as a “jack of all trades” who never once let failure dictate his attitude.

“My dad was always self-employed and always starting businesses,” said Powell. “When he died he had amassed like 20-plus properties. He had been a barber and a funeral director; he had owned a hotdog grill; he had owned a rest home. He’d start a business, and if it didn’t work, he’d start something else! Again, that mindset of you just keep going.”

This mindset clearly made an impact on Powell, who has lived her life much the same. Influenced by her mother to go into education, Powell loved teaching — but didn’t love the paycheck. After obtaining a master’s degree in educational administration, Powell found herself working as an assistant principal. Although she made more money, her day-to-day duties didn’t bring her joy. Rather than stay unhappy, Powell found an opportunity to “just keep going” and work with Wake County’s magnet programs.

“Now I’m mixing my dad’s desire for integration, because magnet schools are about creating diversity in populations, and I’m mixing doing good things for kids, which I love,” said Powell. “I can work with magnets, create a diverse population, and I can help families be a part of these amazing programs. It was kind of the best of all of the things that I’d been raised with, and I got to use my degrees to make all of that come together.”

Dr. Kimberly Lane, the senior director for magnet curriculum enhancement programs in Wake County, has worked alongside Powell for the last three years, planning and supporting magnet schools.

“I met Tamani in July 2020, when I began working as senior director in the magnet office,” said Dr. Lane. “She didn’t know me yet. I was supposed to get on a call with two new area superintendents about all things magnet, and I had an emergency with what the doctor thought was a torn retina and could not make the meeting. Tamani had texted to let me know the time and info for the call, and I texted back that I wouldn’t be able to attend due to this eye emergency. Her response was so very kind, as she offered to come drive me to the doctor/emergency center. Rather than being concerned about the work, she was concerned about me, the person — even before she knew me.”

Powell’s genuine care and for others and her commitment to the job has not gone unnoticed. In 2022, she was honored with the WCPSS Employee Excellence Award.

“It is a great honor to be recognized by your peers, especially people who know what you do every day,” said Powell.

Professionally, Powell says she’s proud of finding her niche. Personally, Powell is proud of her patience — waiting to find the right person to marry at 41, waiting to have kids later in life, and waiting to see where life would take her.

“I think when you’re walking in your path, things work out the way they’re supposed to. While I don’t recommend that everyone wait until their 40s to get kids, I am proud that I didn’t allow society to say, Tamani, you have to get married at 25. While I was single, I was very active in my sorority — I am a proud member of Delta Sigma  eta. I didn’t have children and I wasn’t married, so I had time to really give to a lot of other people. I served on the vestry at my church. I sang in the choir. I did a lot of other things to give back to my community, because I was raised to give back to my community.”

As for her advice for female leaders, Powell simply asks that women believe in themselves.

“Get out of your own head and don’t limit yourself,” advised Powell. “I know it’s changing, but I think society still says if you’re not a white male, you’re not of value. You have to go in with that positive mindset of, yeah, I’m meant to be here — I’m great, I bring some great skills, I have a lot to offer, and you’d be lucky to have me. Don’t go in with a deficit mindset, hoping they’ll like you. No. Go in just knowing that you are enough.”

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