Tinesia Conwright
A devoted community leader within the nonprofit and for-profit industries, Tinesia Conwright is a nonprofit executive and career development specialist focused on strengthening the economic security of women and girls of color through creating a pipeline of girls entering into leadership roles in careers paying livable wages.
She was born and raised in Southeastern San Diego during the 1980s and 90s at the peak of gang violence within a neighborhood facing large pockets of poverty and few opportunities for educational advancement and socio-economic mobility. Despite the challenging environment, she found an outlet to express her love for dance through a youth group and realized the capacity within youth to influence social change and uplift their peers and community. There, she discovered her self-worth and met people within her community who inspired her to become the person she is today.
Passionate about nurturing the growth of girls and developing them into our future leaders of tomorrow, Conwright launched, DETOUR (Depositing Empowerment Through Outreach & Urban Redevelopment) to increase access to higher education and employment opportunities for girls of color. The organization provides the FANCY (Focused And Naturally Confident Youth) Teen Girls Expo, Leadership Academy, and Scholarship youth development programs, which have empowered over 2,000 girls since 2009 (www.Detourempowers.org).
Currently, she serves as the Youth Workforce Development Program Manager for the San Diego Housing Commission. A graduate of San Diego State University and University of San Diego, Conwright is dedicated to empowering youth to believe in themselves and change the world.
In 2019 she launched The All About Girls of Color (AAGOC) Collective, which unites individuals passionate about youth equity and inclusion to reduce the exclusionary practices and marginalization of girls of color by providing training on current trends impacting them and evidence-based practices for supporting and engaging girls of color around these trends. In 2023 she along with her co-facilitators Gabriella Delgado and Janedra Sykes launched the All About Girls of Color Podcast.
A recent author of the book “Find Your Flair!”, she teaches youth how to "Find Their Flair" - Their Future Leadership Attributes Inspiring Resilience – to realize they have everything inside of them to become the person they want to be! Check out the book at www.findyourflair.org.
She is a 2021 Graduate of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network with the Center for Creative Leadership, based out of Battle Creek Michigan, and a 2019 Graduate of RISE San Diego Urban Leadership Program. She also serves as a mentor for RISE and on the San Diego Police Department Chief’s LGBT Advisory Board.