Marian Carson

Marian Carson started her career at NASA as a student trainee. Since then she has worked for NASA Goddard Space and Flight Center for 19 years. For the past 12 years Marian has worked for The Office of Equal Opportunity Programs Office as the Center’s Complaints Manager and Special Emphasis Program Manager for Hispanics.

Marian also manages the Summer Institute in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Research (SISTER) program at NASA. The SISTER program was created as an opportunity for female middle school students to explore nontraditional career fields with Goddard’s women engineers, mathematicians, scientists, technicians and researchers. Over the years, the SISTER program has become highly competitive and girls from all over the United States apply.

Marian’s innate leadership abilities has given her the power to skillfully advocate for equal rights amongst all people.

Tamara Jackson

Tamara Jackson joined NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in 2010, after serving in the same role at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), as the Affirmative Employment Program Manager. Tamara analyzes and monitors the Center’s workforce data in order to identify and develop viable solutions to employment in outreach, recruitment, hiring, promotions, career development, and separations for protected groups (i.e. racial/ethnic minorities, women and people with disabilities).

Tamara also develops Goddard’s Management Directive 715 plan and report to NASA agency about the Center’s efforts to improve employment and advancement opportunities for protected groups, as well as its progress towards NASA’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) goals. As quantitative and qualitative concerns, interests, and needs are identified, Tamara prepares data and conducts briefings/roadshows to promote awareness of, and appropriate proactive strategies around, special issues affecting the employment of protected populations.

Further complementing her work in Affirmative Employment, Tamara is also an EEO discrimination complaints counselor and a certified member of NASA’s mediator cadre. She also works with the Goddard’s Chief Technologist, in a collateral duty capacity, on Open Innovation strategies and engagement at the Center.

Tamara earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering at North Carolina State University, as well as two Master’s degrees from the University of Michigan (a Master of Science/Engineering degree in Industrial & Operations Engineering/Engineering Management and a Master of Business Administration degree in Marketing and General Management). She also trained at the Defense Equal Opportunity and Management Institute (DEOMI) at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida.

In her spare time Tamara enjoys dancing, traveling and advocating for the abused and unheard.

Sherley Jones Jr.

Sherley Jones Jr. is the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Specialist at Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) in Wallops Island, Virginia. Sherely has worked for NASA since February 2017, where he manages the WFF Equal Employment Opportunity Program Office (EEOPO) program daily operational activities.  Through Jones’ work he provides services to sustain critical EEO programs and processes, such as complaint processing, special emphasis programs, reasonable accommodations, workforce data analysis and unlawful discrimination and sexual harassment training and education. Additionally, he provides subject matter expert guidance on program tenants for equity and favorable treatment of all WFF employees for the prevention of unlawful discrimination and sexual harassment while also serving as an advisor to the Diversity and Inclusion Program office.

Sherely has over 17 years of professional experience in the EEO Program area and Diversity and Inclusion arena on initiatives for training, policy development and recruitment of highly skilled personnel for the United States Air Force (USAF). His duties and responsibilities ranged from Equal Opportunity Specialist developing program requirements, assignments of personnel, EEO education and training, mediation, climate assessments; and force readiness, posturing, and sourcing. He has served at various levels from the field, direct reporting unit, regional and headquarters agency positions managing complaints processing, Affirmative Employment, Special Emphasis and Reasonable Accommodations Programs, climate assessment trends; and certifying data for civilian employment reports to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, as well as performing as a liaison for AF high level equal opportunity complaints and congressional inquiries. 

Sherely hails from Sunbury, North Carolina and entered the USAF in 1986 as a Supply Logistics Technician after graduation from Basic Military Training, San Antonio Texas.  He later retrained into the Equal Opportunity career field after graduating from the Defense Equal Opportunity and Management Institute, Patrick AFB, Florida in 1999.   

Gerald J. Tiqui

Gerald J. Tiqui has been with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) since October 1989.  He has as an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Specialist in the Equal Opportunity Programs Office (EOPO), a position he assumed in July 2002.  In this capacity, Tiqui manages the Center’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Program, focusing on the recruitment, placement, development, advancement and retention of Asian American and Pacific Islander employees.       

Prior to Tiqui working in the Equal Opportunity Programs Office, he was an Aerospace Engineer/Technician, fabricating flight hardware components.  He progressed to a mechanical designer, assisting in the development and design of satellites Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Servicing Mission (SM1, SM2 and SM3), Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), and Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS), just to name a few.

Tiqui has been an active member in several community organizations such as the Hawaii State Society (HSS) and the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA).  He is also a member of the Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC) since 1992, where he served as the Senior Vice-President and Auditor on its Officers’ Board of Directors.  He assists FAPAC in the planning of their national leadership training program and has coordinated the NASA pre-conference forum and exhibit booth.

Born in Hawaii, Tiqui continues to perpetuate the “Aloha” culture, language, dances, and music of Hawai’i and Polynesian Islands.  As a professional Polynesian entertainer with “Hula Fusion” in Cleveland, OH, and with “Halau O ‘Aulani” a local traditional Hawaiian school in Arlington, VA, Tiqui (aka “Tiki”) performs the spectacular Samoan “fire knife” dance and other cultural Polynesian dances, sings background, and plays the ukulele and to’ere drums.

Renee King

Ms. King started her mission at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in November 2018, as an Equal Employment Opportunity Specialist/Federal Women's Program Manager.

Prior to joining NASA, Ms. King served in various roles in the area of Equal Employment Opportunity, Civil Rights and Diversity and Inclusion Management for over 21 years. She has received training and certification in the fields of Counseling, Investigation, Acceptance/Dismissals, Final Agency Decisions, Mediation and Diversity and Inclusion, as well as leadership and management. Additionally, Ms. King is a certified trainer for Civility in the Workplace under the Employment Learning Innovations (ELI) Corporations.

Ms. King holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and has 25 years of federal service. In her spare time, she enjoys shopping, decorating and spending time with her family and friends. Her passion is event planning and her future goal includes opening her own facility that specializes in kid entertainment and special events.

Merechia Davis

Merechia Davis is a Washington, D.C. native and a graduated from Bowie State University. Merechia began her federal career in the summer of 2009, with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in the Equal of Opportunity Office. During her tenure with DIA, she gained exposure in Complaints, Diversity, and Disability Management. Merechia attended the EEOC Federal Training Course and she became certified as a Disability Program Manager and she also was a student at the Diversity Executive Leadership Academy and became a Certified Diversity Professional (CPD).

Prior to her career with NASA as the agency Disability Program Manager, Merechia worked as a Disability Specialist with the United States Postal Service and the Department of Homeland Security-Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

During Merechia’s spare time, she makes jewelry.