Abena Agyeman-Fisher is the Senior Editor of NewsOne.

Author, journalist, and founder of the non-profit Hip-Hop Chess Federation, Adisa Banjoko is the West Coast Editor of NewsOne

Founder and President of the National Action Network (NAN), the Reverend Al Sharpton is one of most-renowned civil rights leaders in the country. President Obama called him “the voice of the voiceless and a champion for the downtrodden."

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Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and author of the book, "Black American Money." For more information, please visit www.YourBlackWorld.com.

Tamika Mallory is the National Executive Director of National Action Network (NAN), one of the nation’s leading civil rights organizations founded by Reverend Al Sharpton. NAN was founded on the spirit and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to promote a modern civil rights agenda that includes the fight for social justice and one standard of justice and decency for all people regardless of race, religion, gender or class.

Over the course of her career, Ms. Mallory has become a nationally recognized progressive leader and a fierce advocate for social justice and civil rights.  Along with her parents who are founding members of NAN, she began attending rallies, marches, vigils and protests at a very young age.  However, it was at age 15, that she officially joined the organization as a staff member and has ascended in rank since, serving in various leadership capacities. From the organization’s Youth Director to Associate Director of Communications and then later promoted to serve a dual leadership role as Deputy Director of the Decency Initiative and  Deputy Director of the Social Justice Initiative.

In her leadership role as National Executive Director, she has led the National Action Network to many significant achievements.  Currently, the organization is leading a group of civil rights organizations to work with the White House on Race to the Top, a $4.35 billion program which rewards school systems for finding ways to strengthen standards, recruit better teachers, collect data on student performance and fix failing schools. In addition, along with the Reverend Al Sharpton, Ms. Mallory is leading a team of African-American leaders from government, civic, media and community organizations on a historic quest to improve the lives of African Americans.  This initiative, Measuring the Movement: Black Leadership’s 12-Month Action Plan, was launched in April 2010 during the National Action Network’s annual convention to not only assess what African Americans have achieved, but to outline a 12-month strategic plan of action addressing the most pressing issues affecting Black America.

Ms. Mallory works closely with the Obama Administration as a conduit for the issues presented to NAN as well as to hold the administration accountable for important issues including job reform, healthcare, small business incentives and more.
Other career highlights include, leading an anti-violence initiative, the National Day of Outrage against Gun Violence, in which 26 cities in 2009, stood together in one unified voice to speak out against vicious and senseless killings in urban communities and to increase the country’s awareness of this nationwide epidemic.  This national movement empowered local organizations to work with other existing groups to address the rise in violence in their communities. In 2007, she mobilized the National Day of Outrage in protest of the use of three offensive words (the “n” word, the “b” word and the “h” word) in music—an unprecedented accomplishment in the history of the organization.  As a result of this movement, tougher standards in radio and the record business have been initiated.

Along with Reverend Sharpton, Ms. Mallory leads a coalition of 50+ chapters nationwide, launching faith-based initiatives, providing grass roots planning, media training and information to help empower tens of thousands of women, men, and young people each year.

Ms. Mallory has been recognized by Ebony Magazine, one of the country’s preeminent magazines for African-Americans, as one of the 30 most influential national leaders under 30 years old.  She has also been featured on CNN, FOX, TV One, MSNBC, and other mediums as a leading voice for civil rights issues.

As National Executive Director, Ms. Mallory seeks to engage a new community of leadership to effectively address the emerging challenging issues facing today’s underrepresented communities by marrying traditional civil rights methods with today’s powerful social networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter, bloggers, and, other online communities.

As the organization approaches its 20-year anniversary, Ms. Mallory’s vision for the future of NAN with her being at the helm is to change the face of this traditional civil rights organization both nationally and internationally by engaging the millennial generation through social media to lead the charge to improve the lives of not only African Americans, but all Americans.

Ms. Mallory is the mother a pre-teen boy and resides in New York City.