Jan 08 2025 72 mins 2
Deric Gilliard went from the civil rights and social justice space into the Federal governement, where he worked 25 years. He served under the past 5 administrations and is an expert in health care policy and communications. We discuss the Affordable Care Act, the art of legislation, the polarization of politics, and other topics.
Deric A. Gilliard retired in 2022, after 25 years as a federal employee working with
political appointees in the Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations.
Prior to his work as public affairs advisor to the HHS regional directors for the eight
southeastern states, Gilliard served as the national communications director for Dr.
King's organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Gilliard also worked
in communications for two HBCUs and wrote for USA Today, Time, and the Wichita
Eagle-Beacon, and was an editor for the Atlanta Daily World. Gilliard is currently
working as a consultant with WSP, a multi-national company that was awarded a grant
by the DOI to develop a National Park Service monument to honor and memorialize the
contributions of the 1961 Freedom Riders. 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, diversity, and the CARES Act. A public speaker and
historian, Gilliard spoke to the troops 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
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 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.
Deric A. Gilliard retired in 2022, after 25 years as a federal employee working with
political appointees in the Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations.
Prior to his work as public affairs advisor to the HHS regional directors for the eight
southeastern states, Gilliard served as the national communications director for Dr.
King's organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Gilliard also worked
in communications for two HBCUs and wrote for USA Today, Time, and the Wichita
Eagle-Beacon, and was an editor for the Atlanta Daily World. Gilliard is currently
working as a consultant with WSP, a multi-national company that was awarded a grant
by the DOI to develop a National Park Service monument to honor and memorialize the
contributions of the 1961 Freedom Riders. 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, diversity, and the CARES Act. A public speaker and
historian, Gilliard spoke to the troops 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
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 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.
