In the heart of South Los Angeles, where countless obstacles thwart the efforts of even the best teachers, a pocket of hope exists. Tiffany (Porter ’06) Moore saw a need and rolled up her sleeves to make a difference.
Believing that every student deserves a high-quality, college preparatory education, she stepped up to lead the KIPP Scholar Academy, a tuition-free public charter middle school, in summer 2012. Her daily work on that thriving campus embodies the Four Cornerstones of her alma mater—Christ, Scholarship, Community, and Service—and makes her the ideal recipient of Azusa Pacific University’s 2017 Distinguished Alumna of the Year Award.
She attributes her passion for struggling students to her prayerful mother, her faithful pursuit of God’s call, and her Christ-centered education. While at APU, she served as Associated Student Body president and fully engaged in campus life activities. After graduation, Moore spent three years with the Teach for America organization as a corps member, a corps advisor, and a school director. She then spent four years at Johnnie Cochran Middle School teaching English as a second language, serving as the ESL department chair, and coaching an award-winning step team. Finally, she worked as an English Language Learner Intervention Specialist and coach at KIPP Los Angeles College Preparatory School in Boyle Heights, California—a post that led to her current leadership role, where she serves 400 low-income students a year. Moore and her selfless work represent the many alumni from all disciplines who passionately pursue innovative ways to solve societal problems, plant the seeds of hope wherever they go, and become salt and light to a hurting world.