Outstanding Recent Alumni Award

The 2021 recipient of the Outstanding Recent Alumna award is Tiera M. Hawkes '11.

Since graduating from Hood in 2011, Tiera has been on a focused career trajectory in the field of law. From Hood, Tiera went on to earn her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Baltimore, and seemingly went straight into the Office of the Public Defender in Maryland. Tiera currently serves in the Juvenile Division in Baltimore City, though her service to the City doesn’t stop when she leaves the courtroom. She also volunteers her time and talent with the Youthful Defender Unit, and devotes much of her energy and expertise to the Innocence Project, helping to achieve justice for wrongfully convicted defendants within the Maryland judicial system. Tiera also served as chairwoman for the Baltimore City Civilian Review Board, and is a trustee with her church, managing their financial operations. Tiera is also an entrepreneur; she founded her company “Sixteenth Hour” to help inspire other young African American professionals, through the celebration and promotion of black culture and networking. One of her nominees, Lisa Wells ’09, says that Tiera has always been about “the hustle” and has quoted her saying “you only need 8 hours of sleep, so that leaves 16 hours to hustle!”