Taliah Givens
Taliah Givens is an engineer turned career development leader using her analytical education to solve the social-educational equations of today from K-12 through the higher education sector.
Ms. Givens, originally from Paterson, NJ, completed bachelor’s degrees in both computer engineering and electrical engineering technology from Georgia Tech and Alabama A&M University respectively with support from national academic merit scholarship awards. She completed a master’s in public administration degree from Baruch College, CUNY as a 2006 National Urban Fellow (NUF) to the Xcel Energy Foundation and was a 2012 graduate of the NUF America’s Leaders of Change Executive Leadership program. After starting her career as an Optical Solutions Engineer at Nortel Networks and AT&T, Taliah has worked extensively over 15 years, building integrated public and private sector systems to better serve the needs of youth and education organizations with equity and efficacy.
In her current role as the Senior Director of UNCF Student Professional Development Programs, she has led the strategic direction and management of over 40 UNCF internship and professional development programs building workforce diversity and providing diverse students with valuable career experience and professional training for effective transition from college into careers. In the past 7 years, her department has served over 1200 students across various industries including education, STEM, financial services, public relations, publishing, energy, manufacturing, entertainment, and health care. And she has increased over five times the number of internship programs participating in the annual UNCF Student Leadership Conference, their premier student professional development event designed to provide a framework and forum for equipping students with the skills they will need to be successful as interns and early career professionals.