Meet Our Quarterman-Keller Scholars

Aiyana C. Edwards is a senior Political Science major and African Diaspora Studies minor on a Pre-Law track from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Aiyana's career aspirations are to become a Civil Rights Attorney and subsequently, a U.S. Senator in Congress. Aiyana aspires to be a civic and social change agent in the social sciences, legal field, and the arena of politics, whose practice and tactics will assist with eliminating and destroying racial and discriminatory institutions that oppress African Americans. Additionally, Aiyana is devoted to serving as a Social Justice changemaker that contributes to the reformation of the American Criminal Justice System, which has disproportionately obtained and retained the lives of African Americans, their families, and their communities. Aiyana is committed to being a progressive-minded political servant that advocates for the betterment and progression of underserved, urban, and low-income communities throughout the U.S.
In the summer of 2021, Aiyana was a Political Science Undergraduate Research Student at the University of California San Diego where she conducted research on Descriptive Representation and State Legislatures across the U.S. Aiyana's prior research investigated oppressive U.S. Systematic Institutions and her current research project assesses the Post-Transatlantic Disconnect between African Americans and Continental Africans. Aiyana is the director of Black Talk With A.C.E, founder of KWEENIN, LLC, a SpelREADS Reading Guide at Harper Archer Elementary School, and a Black Studies curriculum/content creator and advisor for high schools in Broward County, Florida. Additionally, Aiyana is the Political Action Co-Chairperson of the Spelman College Chapter of NAACP, a Thurgood Marshall Legal Defense Fund (LDF) HBCU Ambassador, and a Tony's Chocolonely Collegiate Changemaker where she advocates for the ending of Child Labor within Côte d’Ivoire and Ghanaian Cocoa industries in West Africa.

...because I am determined to fulfill the goal of advancing the Black community through legal and governmental work that will contribute to the overall socioeconomic, educational, and political growth and status of my community".