Meet the Founder

Shay’na Fields is a Junior at Georgia State University. She is currently a Political Science Major with a concentration in International Affairs. During her freshman and sophomore years, Shay’na began her career in Political Science with the cultivation of her non-profit organization, Operation 50 Speaks Incorporated. She was inspired by her American Governement teacher who expressed his frustration of the lack of citizen participation in town hall when his city's taxes were raised. This promted Shay'na to learn more about her local government and how to get involved. In 2017, Shay'na officially founded her non-profit. During her 2018 Summer Internship, Shay’na worked with Chairman Oz Nesbitt of the Rockdale County Board of Commissioners, their Chief of Staff, Public Relations Director, and several other department directors as well. Her responsibilities included shadowing the Chief of Staff during meetings with various department directors, serving as a youth ambassador during Board of Commissioner meetings, along with the coordination and execution of a creative youth rally which featured a car and bike show and offered the opportunity to register citizens to vote. Ultimately, Shay’na’s non-profit was implemented to engage Rockdale County’s young adults within the local government.

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At the University of West Georgia, she served as the Political Action Chair of the NAACP chapter on campus. In their weekly committee meetings, the political action committee would review Carrollton’s city council agenda in preparation for their attendance twice a month at the Carrollton city council meetings. Shay’na established relationships between local government officials such as the mayor, two city councilmen, civil rights attorneys, and students. This caused a significant increase in the college student’s participation in local government affairs. Shay’na coordinated town hall meetings on campus and educated her student body on proper etiquette in local government meetings and how to effectively convey their concerns to elected leaders. During her 2018 Spring semester, she served as a legislative aide for Georgia State Representative Roger Bruce of District 61. As an aide, Shay’na produced Representative Bruce’s talk show “Under the Gold Dome”, where she created discussion topics based on legislation passing through the 2018 legislative session. On the show, Shay’na was able to serve both behind-the-scenes and on-camera inviting community leaders, representatives, and senators to discuss topics from legislation, and as a speaker representing the millennial perspective. 

 

During the 2018 Mid-Term election season at Georgia State University, Shay'na collaborated with Vote Everywhere GSU, Beard Gang GSU, and the Black Student Achievement Office to host a creative civic engagement event to inform students on how to locate ballot measures, methods to conduct research on candidates, and strengthened student relationships through creative civic engagement games. She also is a member of Woman Lead GSU (Public Policy and Politics)

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Currently, as an undergraduate student of the Political science Department at Georgia State University, Shay’na interns with the City of Snellville for a graduate level Local Government Practicum by the Georgia Municipal Association. She has been appointed as the director over the development of the Civic Badge Certification Program. As director, Shay’nas prepares high school students for college and career readiness, active civic engagement, and to present an opportunity for adults to receive credibility for employment. Shay’na desires to be equipped with the necessary hard and soft skills that will prepare her for a career in Politics and International Affairs. Her personal goal is to use global perspectives to solve american issues and to ensure that young citizens know how to use their voice in local governments, nation-wide. Information retained from her experiences and research will will sharpen her understanding of the processes of community and governmental relationships. She apply her skills to scale the daily operations, and decision-making required of local elected and appointed leaders.