Deric Gilliard Biography
Career History
Deric A. Gilliard retired in 2022 after 25 years as a federal communications professional, working for political appointees in the Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations.
Prior to that, Gilliard served as public affairs specialist HHS regional directors covered the eight southeastern states, advising on communications strategy for one of the federal government's largest agencies.
SCLC Leadership
Before his federal career, Gilliard served as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference national communications director — leading communications for Dr. King's own organization and working directly alongside SCLC President Joseph Lowery on issues of economic justice, voter empowerment, redistricting, and the burning of Black churches.
Journalism Career
Gilliard also worked in communications for two HBCUs and built a career as a civil rights journalist, writing for USA Today and Time, the Wichita Eagle-Beacon, and serving as an editor for the Atlanta Daily World. As Deric A. Gilliard journalist, his byline has carried civil rights reporting to national audiences for decades.
Gilliard is currently working as a consultant to help develop a National Park Service monument honoring the contributions of the 1961 Freedom Riders.
Professional Focus
He is a career communications professional adept at strategic planning and the execution of communication strategies that promote organizational messaging and branding. Key policy issues within his portfolio include the Affordable Care Act, maternal health, HIV/AIDS, SUDS, Medicaid expansion, healthcare access, COVID, D.E.I., and the CARES Act.
Public Speaking & Activism
A public speaker, activist, and historian, Gilliard spoke to troops at seven bases in Germany shortly before Desert Storm and served as the first keynote speaker at the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, Alabama.
The son of military parents, Gilliard also served as the principal non-Muslim promoter of the Million Man March communications effort, covered the Atlanta Missing and Murdered Children cases, and worked with SCLC President Lowery to raise the issues of economic justice, voter empowerment, redistricting, and the burning of the Black churches.
Academic Background & Affiliations
Gilliard authored his master's thesis on Joseph Echols Lowery and the Resurrection of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, cementing his standing as a Joseph Lowery biographer of record on the subject. He is also the author of Living in the Shadows of a Legend: Unsung Heroes and 'Sheroes' Who Marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A University of Kansas journalism graduate, Gilliard earned his B.A. in Journalism at KU and his M.A. in African-American Studies at Georgia State University. He is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and the National Association of Black Journalists — making him an Omega Psi Phi National Association of Black Journalists member with deep ties to both organizations.
Career History
Deric A. Gilliard retired in 2022 after 25 years as a federal communications professional, working for political appointees in the Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations.
Prior to that, Gilliard served as public affairs specialist HHS regional directors covered the eight southeastern states, advising on communications strategy for one of the federal government's largest agencies.
Trailblazing Journalist, Civil Rights Luminary, and Dynamic Speaker
The “A” Team, the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services Region IV Office of the Secretary, meets President Obama at Miami Dade College during the fall of 2016. Public Affairs Specialist April Washington, Executive Officer Natalia Cales, Regional Director Dr. Pamela Roshell and PAS Deric Gilliard, had the honor after coordinating enrollment of nearly 24% of the nation’s new enrollees into the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare). The eight southeastern states they served included the most black and brown people, the highest levels of uninsured and the most health disparities.
He is a career communications professional adept at strategic planning and the execution of communication strategies that promote organizational messaging and branding. Key policy issues within his portfolio include the Affordable Care Act, maternal health, HIV/AIDS, SUDS, Medicaid expansion, healthcare access, COVID, D.E.I., and the CARES Act.
A public speaker, activist and historian Gilliard spoke to troops at seven bases in Germany shortly before Desert Storm and served as the first keynote speaker at the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, AL.
The son of military parents, Gilliard also served as the principal non-Muslim promoter of the Million Man March, covered the Atlanta Missing and Murdered Children cases and worked with SCLC President Lowery to raise the issues of economic justice, voter empowerment, redistricting, and the burning of the black churches.
Gilliard authored his master’s thesis on Joseph Echols Lowery and the Resurrection of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He is the author of Living in the Shadows of a Legend: Unsung Heroes and ‘Sheroes’ who Marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Earning his B.A. in Journalism at the University of Kansas and his M.A. in African-American Studies at Georgia State University, Gilliard is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and the National Association of Black Journalists.
A VIEW FROM THE FIELD BY A BLACK FED IN The TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
