Latoya K. Tolliver
Director of Advocacy and Public Policy
Austin, TX · (512) 555 0137 · name@example.com · linkedin.com/in/latoyaktolliver
Key Qualifications
EXPERIENCE
Sixteen years in nonprofit advocacy, community organizing and state legislative affairs
INDUSTRIES
Civil legal aid, immigrant services, housing justice, statewide coalitions
SPECIALTIES
State legislative campaigns, coalition management, grassroots mobilization, agency rulemaking comment
SYSTEMS
Every Action, Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, Quorum, Mobilize, Tableau
CREDENTIALS
Registered lobbyist with the Texas Ethics Commission, Certified Nonprofit Professional
EDUCATION
Master of public affairs, University of Texas at Austin
Executive Summary
Advocacy director with sixteen years moving state policy for low income Texans, from neighborhood organizing to legislative hearing rooms. Builds coalitions that hold together across dozens of partner organizations, keeps lobbying inside the 501c3 expenditure test, and turns client experience into testimony that changes votes. Leads a team of nine.
Signature Achievements
- Won passage of a state bill in 2023 that extended eviction diversion funding to twenty seven counties, reaching an estimated nineteen thousand households a year.
- Built a coalition of sixty four legal aid, faith and labor organizations and held every member through two contested legislative sessions.
- Stopped a proposed agency rule that would have cut court interpreter funding by filing comment backed by four hundred client declarations.
- Grew the advocacy program budget from six hundred thousand dollars to two million dollars by winning three multiyear foundation grants.
- Trained two hundred and ten volunteer advocates who delivered testimony at eleven public hearings over four years.
- Kept reported lobbying expenditures inside the 501c3 expenditure test every year while tripling the size of the program.
Professional Experience
Director of Advocacy and Public Policy
Lone Star Justice Center, Austin, TX 2019 to present
Leads a team of nine covering state legislative affairs, agency rulemaking and field organizing for a statewide civil legal aid organization serving forty thousand clients a year.
- Sets the annual policy agenda with the chief executive officer and the board policy committee, then converts it into bill priorities, comment letters and field targets.
- Directs the organization presence through each legislative session, covering bill tracking, member testimony and negotiation with committee staff.
- Owns the lobbying compliance calendar, including state registration, quarterly activity reports and the lobbying figures reported on Internal Revenue Service form 990.
- Chairs a statewide coalition of sixty four partner organizations through a monthly strategy table and a shared rapid response list.
Policy Manager
Rio Bravo Immigrant Advocacy Project, San Antonio, TX 2015 to 2019
Led state and county policy work for a border region legal services nonprofit with a staff of thirty five and a seven million dollar budget.
- Drafted and negotiated language for four bills on detention conditions, two of which reached the governor desk.
- Represented the organization on a county commissioners work group that redirected one point four million dollars toward legal representation.
- Wrote the policy sections of eleven foundation proposals and reported outcomes to program officers each quarter.
Lead Community Organizer
Central Texas Tenants Alliance, Austin, TX 2010 to 2015
Organized tenants in six apartment complexes for a membership nonprofit with a budget under one million dollars.
- Recruited and trained sixty resident leaders who carried their own testimony to city council.
- Ran door to door canvasses that produced twelve hundred signed postcards for a local code enforcement campaign.
- Built the first membership database for the organization and set the standards still used for contact records.
Licensure and Certification
Registered lobbyist, Texas Ethics Commission
Certified Nonprofit Professional, Nonprofit Leadership Alliance
Member, National Council of Nonprofits
Education
Master of public affairs, University of Texas at Austin
Bachelor of Arts in sociology, Texas State University
Core Skills
State legislative strategy · Coalition building · Legislative testimony · Agency rulemaking comment · Grassroots mobilization · Lobbying compliance · Foundation reporting · Volunteer advocate training · Spanish language advocacy · Team leadership