Dr. Mills is the official spokeswoman of the LAE where her primary duties include leading the association's efforts at the state legislature and the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) meetings. She presides over meetings of the LAE Board of Directors and LAE Representative Assembly. Additionally, Dr. Mills represents Louisiana educators at the national level through her lobbying and networking efforts with the National Education Association (NEA), LAE's parent organization.
The Exceptional Student Services teacher and Southern University adjunct professor from East Baton Rouge Parish has been a classroom teacher for over 15 years. In her local chapter, the East Baton Rouge Association of Educators (EBRPAE), she served as president for seven years. During this time, she led the association's efforts in the fight to enhance the salaries of employees in the district by convincing the school board to unfreeze educators' pay schedules. She also led the local association's push for fair standards for the state's Industrial Tax Exemption Program. Dr. Mills was instrumental in helping increase membership in the local by 30% during her term as EBRPAE President.
Dr. Mills' state-level activism includes her service on the LAE Board of Directors, as well as the Board of Trustees for the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana.
In 2017, LAE honored Dr. Mills with the association's top honor, the LAE Teacher Image Award. She went on the national level where she was selected as one of the top five finalists for the NEA Foundation's Awards for Teaching Excellence.
Dr. Mills has a doctorate in Higher Education and Organizational Leadership. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in History, a Master of Arts degree in Social Science, and alternative certification in Mild/Moderate Special Education, all from Southern University. She's a graduate of North Iberville High School.
Outside of her work in public education, Dr. Mills is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, 100 Black Women of Metropolitan Baton Rouge, Krewe of Themis, a life member of the Southern University Alumni Federation, the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee and Louisiana Democratic Executive Committee.
Dr. Mills is the youngest president in the history of the LAE.
"There's much work to be done, and I'm committed to take on the challenge of moving the Association forward," she said. "We must continue to raise LAE's stature as an organization that supports its members and the public school children of Louisiana."
Dr. Mills can be reached via email at [email protected].
