From volunteering at the Elmwood Park Zoo during her time at the Mount to now working as the Communication Program Manager for the District of Columbia courts, Leigh Anne Tiffany ‘11 has discovered, developed, and implicated her broad range of talents and passions into her career and daily life.
“It just took me a few years and a couple different career changes to find the right fit for me. That is, that’s really cool. That’s really fascinating,” Tiffany said.
Originally, Tiffany received her University Honors Bachelor of Science degree in Biology at Saint Joseph’s University. She then went on to Columbia Journalism School to receive her Master of Science in Journalism with a concentration in Science, Health, and Environment. She is also a Ph.D. Candidate at Michigan State University in the Information & Media and Environmental Science & Policy Programs.
“Leigh Anne is very smart, super hardworking. She has always been into science and writing and research. She also loved art and took a lot of art classes here at Mount and is a super nice person,” Stem learning specialist Ms. Hannah Farrell ‘11 said.
Current Work in DC
Tiffany is the communication program manager for the District of Columbia courts. Working for the two highest courts in DC, the Superior Court and the Court of Appeals, Tiffany works with different media outlets and people who work at the courts to get stories told effectively.
Being in the capital of the country, she works in a high stakes environment that comes with uncertainty at times. With the challenge of a diverse political climate, Tiffany emphasizes the importance of honesty and clarity within the courts.
“What I appreciate about the courts is that transparency and openness is their number one policy. I wouldn’t work anywhere unless that was the case,” Tiffany said.
Tiffany takes this opposition in the current political climate as energy to keep herself busy and committed to her work, which is crucial for ensuring effective communication of the DC Courts and executing the communication strategy for the DC Courts Executive Team.
“Being bored is not in my wheelhouse. I can’t do bored. I have to be busy,” Tiffany said.
Wildlife Conservation Work and Love for Biology
Coming from Tiffany’s love of wildlife conservation and science, she has had various work experiences in environmental science and continues to volunteer in the conservation space whenever she can.
From a young age, she wanted to become a veterinarian and threw herself into the field by volunteering at the Elmwood Park Zoo where she worked with the animals, realizing her love for wildlife.
“How do we give animals, whether they can go back to the wild or they have to be in captivity for whatever reason, or even just animals in the wild themselves, how do we be stewards to the environment that gives so much to us?” Tiffany said.
During her time at Defenders of Wildlife, a wildfire nonprofit that’s headquartered in DC, she travelled across the country training scientists on how to speak before the public.
In her work as Public Affairs Specialist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency she worked to stop chemicals, pollutants, and pesticides from harming people, the environment, and wildlife. She managed press releases, listservs, social media, press inquiries, and correspondence from the public for the agency. Tiffany was able to effectively combine her knowledge in both communication and biology to work for the agency.
“Scientist-Turned Journalist”
While Tiffany has extensive experience in studying biology and working in wildlife conservation, she also describes herself as “a scientist-turned-journalist.”
In a world ever-evolving with technology and how news is communicated, Tiffany has pulled from both her science and communications backgrounds, implementing how science is communicated through social media, working with legacy news from broadcast to print journalism.
“We’re communicating about all these science topics, but how do we make it both accurate and understandable to the general public and to the people who need to know this information? I always found communication supernatural. And I was like, that’s what I could do. Using my God-given strength in communication to talk about and promote the thing that I love, which is science,” Tiffany said.
Her passion for journalism was ignited at a very young age, with her father working at NBC Philadelphia for 45 years and her mother also being a reporter for NBC.
“I grew up there (NBC Philadelphia). There are photos of me under the desk in the newsroom, just kind of hanging out as a kid. So I grew up in communications and news. That was day in, day out,” Tiffany said.
As an internationally-recognized journalist, she has been featured on NBC, PBS NewsHour, International Journalists Network, and NPR’s science radio program WHYY The Pulse. She holds a Master of Science in Journalism (Science Concentration) degree from Columbia Journalism School, and has covered a wide variety of topics, from the 2016 election to covering what zookeepers do over the holidays.
“That’s what journalists are. We are the first draft of history. We are the people who are telling the story in that moment. We’re the first line of history before it gets retold. And I think that’s the importance of journalism and why journalism is constantly changing and evolving,” Tiffany said.
Daughters of the American Revolution
Tiffany has served as a development contractor for the national nonprofit Daughters of the American Revolution, an effort that she describes as a “passion project.”
“It’s an amazing organization that does a lot of work with education, historical preservation and patriotism. I really appreciate this organization and the incredible women who represent all walks of life in the United States, and all backgrounds, and people from all heritages. It’s an incredible group,” Tiffany said.
With the Daughters of the American Revolution, Tiffany has lead volunteer efforts for a national conference with nearly 4,000 attendees, had headed several large-scale events, and has traveled the world with the organization educating, preserving history, and promoting patriotism.
The Mount’s Influence
Tiffany graduated from the Mount in 2011 and credits it as a critical influence throughout the trajectory of her life.
“I wouldn’t be who I am today without the Mount. They’ve shaped who I’ve become in so many different ways. I’ll be forever grateful to the experiences I had and the people I met and the friends and sisters I made through the Mount. It was honestly one of the highlights of my life, those four years. It will change your life if you let it, in so many beautiful and amazing ways.”
Tiffany’s sister Erin Tiffany ‘13 is also a Mount alum, currently working in project management in the music industry.
“Leigh Anne leads with a wonderful, quiet strength. She never seeks the spotlight, yet she is always thoughtful, and endlessly generous. Her gifts as a writer and her remarkable academic achievements reflect that same depth of character. She thinks deeply, works tirelessly, and brings clarity to everything she does. ” Erin Tiffany ‘13 said.
Even though she currently resides in Washington, DC, Tiffany still feels connected to her Mount sisters and leaves them with a piece of advice:
“I really would encourage Mounties to lean into discomfort and lean into the things you don’t know, and don’t be afraid to fail. Because we’re taught to be such high achievers and always doing our best and always being the top and always being amazing. And I think that’s one of the best lessons I’ve learned. It’s okay to fail. Be willing to lean into that discomfort,” Tiffany said.
