UALR Alumni Association board member Tamika Silverman Edwards ’05 has relished her work on U. S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s staff for more than eight years and plans to continue in the public service arena. She enjoys challenges and foreseeing opportunities that can result in helping Arkansans solve problems. And through her work at the alumni association, she is “paying it forward.”

“I went to school on scholarships and I would not have made it through school if I had not received those funds,” she said. “Now I’m in a position to give to them.”

As a member of the UALR Alumni Association board, she is helping the group raise funds for scholarships.

“In addition to paying tribute to those who have helped me, I want to give back to a place that has given so much to me,” she said. “It’s a responsibility to give back so others will have the opportunities that I have had.”

As community affairs specialist in Lincoln’s Little Rock office, Edwards is entrenched in various grassroots efforts to interact with government representatives, community members, and constituent groups. She attends civic meetings and community events in the senator’s absence, works with municipalities and community organizations on special projects, and informs the senator about opinions and concerns from constituents in central Arkansas.

The rewards of community service for her are helping worthy organizations secure funding and working with organizations in their formative years and watching them grow and sustain themselves. She saw the fruits of her labor come to fruition during the recent opening of the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock, a museum dedicated to African American life and business.

Edwards holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and a master’s degree in professional and technical writing from UALR.

“For as long as I can remember, my mom told me I was going to college,” said Edwards. “The primary reason was that it would provide more opportunities in life. My mother did not have a degree when I started college. She started during my sophomore year in college and graduated with a B.B.A., then received her master’s degree a couple of years ago.

“She knew I always wanted to be an attorney.” With a long-time interest in law and politics, Edwards thought she needed to study political science. Her aunt influenced her to switch her major to English during her freshman year. “She said, ‘If you don’t go to law school immediately afterwards, what will you do?’”

Edwards said her degrees from UAPB and UALR have been beneficial in her career, especially in business writing. “I write a lot. They helped me to analyze and think about what I’m doing.”

Her love of public service, history, and politics drove Edwards to enroll in the Juris Doctor program at the UALR William H. Bowen School of Law in 2008. Her interest in this professional degree stems from “my desire to be a better public servant and my fascination with the relationship between our legislative and judicial branches of government.”

She was hooked in her first semester.

“I love it. It’s a lot of work, but I’m already thinking in a different way — breaking things down and thinking of how they work,” Edwards said.

Along with being a member of the UALR Alumni Association Board, Edwards is currently a member of Leadership Greater Little Rock Class XX and Board of Trustees, Leadership Arkansas Class I, Arkansas Minority Business Development Roundtable, Junior League of Little Rock, Central High Museum Inc. Board of Directors, and the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. She is married to Quincy Edwards, a student in UALR’s construction management program.

Upon completion of her law degree, Tamika wants to continue public service in the state.