Dwight Tillery (born March 10, 1948) is an American politician and social justice activist with more than 50 years of service working towards equity for African Americans and other minorities in politics, business and public health. His leadership transformed the lives of Black residents in the city of Cincinnati in the areas of racial justice, education, civics, community health and politics. Tillery was the first popularly elected Black Mayor in Cincinnati, Ohio, serving from 1991 to 1993, and he served on Cincinnati City Council for eight years. Tillery co-founded the United Black Students Association at the University of Cincinnati, was the Founder, President and CEO of The Center for Closing the Health Gap, and co-founded The Black Agenda of Cincinnati. Tillery also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati and at Miami University.
Early life
Tillery grew up in Cincinnati's West End and Evanston and attended public schools, graduating from Withrow High School in 1966.
Education
Tillery received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Cincinnati in 1970. At UC he co-founded the United Black Association, now the United Black Students Association, one of the first Black organizations to receive funding from the university. Tillery received his Juris Doctor at University of Michigan Law School in 1972. He also received an Honorary Doctorate of Technical Letters from Cincinnati Technical College in 1992.
Career
Tillery is licensed to practice law in the State of Ohio, as well as the Federal District Court, the Sixth Circuit Appellate Court, and the United States Supreme Court. and was the founding partner at the law firm of Tillery and Associates in 1977. He served as Assistant Solicitor for the City of Cincinnati from 1973 to 1974
Tillery became the first popularly elected Mayor of the city of Cincinnati in 1991 and served until 1993. As Mayor, he established a task force on small business. He was elected as Mayor after serving for ten months as a member of the Cincinnati City Council. He again served on the Cincinnati City Council from 1993 to 1998. He played a key role in establishing a venture capital fund of eleven million dollars for African American businesses, and he assisted in establishing a mentoring program for minority businesses. One of the most significant businesses started through these efforts was the Blue Chip Broadcasting Company, which ultimately licensed 13 radio stations which was valued at $188 million when it merged with the Urban One family of companies in 1995. Mayor Tillery also enabled the first-time appointments of minorities to the operating boards of the OHIO Gas & Electric Co. and the Cincinnati Bell Telephone Company. In response to concerns that the Avondale Community (a predominantly Black neighborhood) did not have a grocery store, Tillery persuaded City Council to provide the resources to a group of Avondale ministers interested in revitalizing the Avondale Town Center. He also negotiated the appointment of Cincinnati's first Black Assistant Police Chief.
In 2004, Tillery founded The Center for Closing the Health Gap in order to address significant health differences between African American, Latino and White Appalachian populations. The Center quickly gained national acclaim as a model for addressing health disparities. Tillery served as Founder, President and CEO until 2019. The center works with more than 100 different organizations, including the City Council, the Cincinnati chapter of the National Action Network, the Baptist Ministers Conference, and the Black Nurses Association of Greater Cincinnati as well as a host of other universities, hospitals, government associations and businesses. Some of the center's initiatives include the Do Right! Campaign which works with individuals to adopt healthier lifestyle choices regarding diet and exercise, the Cincinnati Fresh Food Retail Financing Fund and the City of Cincinnati Food Access Task force, which works to address the issue of food deserts in the city, and an Annual Health Expo attended by thousands which provides free health screenings for early detection of more than 20 health issues.
In 2016, Tillery was the co-convener of The Black Agenda Cincinnati. Among other things, the Black Agenda partnered with The Cincinnati Herald newspaper to create Cincinnati Black History, a digital platform that provides a space for people to “share and preserve unfiltered stories of Black Heritage.”
Appointments
Assistant City Solicitor, Cincinnati
Member, Board of Directors, W. Montague Cobb/National Medical Association (NMA) Health Institute 2012
Member, Guiding Coalition, Urban League of Southwestern Ohio
Chair, Ad Hoc Committee on Community Engagement, W. Montague Cobb/National Medical Association (NMA) Health Institute 2015-2023
Trustee, Retirement Board of the City of Cincinnati *DATES* <CNCLBLRB> Can we get this from Dwight?
1992 Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Equal Opportunity Center, Ohio Department of Administrative Services
2014 Center for Clinical and Transitional Science and Training Community Health Advocate Award
2015 Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio Glorifying the Lions honoree
2016 Georgia E. Beasley Legacy Award, University of Cincinnati