Jelani Liddell
Assistant Director, Outreach Initiatives
Jelani is an educator, entrepreneur, founder, coach, and songwriter at heart. Jelani has been a part of the OMED: Educational Services team since December 2019 and currently serves as the assistant director of outreach initiatives. Jelani has spent over 10+ years in higher education in a student development capacity, primarily working with underrepresented students in higher education and STEAM content areas. He feels his greatest talent is helping students realize their “What!” and connecting them with the resources needed to accomplish it.
In his role at Georgia Tech, Jelani manages several programs and initiatives including the Challenge program – OMEDs Premiere Residential Summer Academic Program for First-Year Students, the USG African American Male Initiative (AAMI) at Georgia Tech, and the OMED Midnight Study Hall. Under his leadership in 2021 the Challenge program was recognized by Insight Into Diversity magazine in their “Higher Education Excellence in Diversity” (HEED) Award issue for our efforts in the Recruitment and Retention category and in Summer 2022 Challenge welcomed its largest cohort to date! As the project director for AAMI, Jelani serves as a member of the USG AAMI Advisory Council, and has served as presenter for AAMI Director’s Trainings and was selected to present a session at the National Men of Color Summit, hosted by Clemson University.
Prior to his current role at Georgia Tech, Jelani served as coordinator of Dual Enrollment (DE) Admissions at Clayton State University, where he developed CSUs Dual Enrollment Program into the 3rd largest program in the USG with nearly 1000 DE students enrolled. During his tenure in this role, he was twice nominated for “Staff of the Year” Award, and served as Co-Principal Investigator for the GADOE GEAR UP Grant Award.
A lifelong ATLien and product of Atlanta Public Schools he earned a BA in Marketing from Morehouse College. While there, he was able to garner All-America and National Champion honors as a member of the Track & Field team. His passion for music and songwriting were also cultivated while at Morehouse. Prior to finding education he explored the music industry as an artist and songwriter, touring and writing with several Atlanta hip hop artist and groups. He would later combine his passion for music and developing students to found The Remarkable Youth Project, Inc. a 501c3 organization that inspired youth to pursue career paths in the digital media arts, including music and film production. He later earned a MSEd in Higher Education – Administrative Leadership from Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He has spent a career developing students as a teacher, coach, founder, and administrator to help them realize and accomplish their “What?”
You can still find Jelani performing annually at the Challenge Closing Ceremony, dropping them Barzz!
