When Miami’s new mayor-elect, Eileen Higgins, announced her transition team last month, one name stood out to those of us who know Overtown: Tina Brown, Executive Director of the Overtown Youth Center.
It’s the kind of recognition that feels both long overdue and perfectly timed. Tina has been doing the work in Overtown for years—the unglamorous, essential work of expanding youth and family services, building pathways to opportunity, and showing up for this community in ways that actually matter. Now, she’s been called to help shape the agenda for Miami’s next administration.
And yes, we’re proud.
A Daughter of Overtown at the Table
Tina Brown’s work expanding youth and family services has reshaped opportunity for thousands Florida Politics, but if you know her story, you know it goes deeper than programs and metrics. She’s a native of this neighborhood—someone who understands Overtown not as a policy problem to be solved, but as a community with its own history, its own resilience, and its own vision for the future.
Mayor-elect Higgins assembled a transition team that reads like a who’s who of Miami civic leadership: healthcare executives, philanthropic leaders, urban planners, and community organizers. The team reflects community builders, problem-solvers and leaders who know Miami’s neighborhoods and care deeply about the city’s future Miami Today. Tina is there alongside them, representing Overtown at a table where decisions about affordability, public safety, infrastructure, and government accountability will be made.
This matters because for too long, conversations about Overtown have happened without Overtown. Tina’s presence on this team is a signal that Mayor-elect Higgins understands something fundamental: you can’t build a city that works for everyone if the people most impacted by policy decisions aren’t in the room when those policies are shaped.
From Liberty City to City Hall
Higgins’ victory was historic in more ways than one. She’s Miami’s first woman mayor and the first Democrat to hold the office in nearly three decades. But perhaps most significantly, she received overwhelming support from historically Black neighborhoods, with Liberty City precincts reaching as high as 93% and West Grove precincts around 80% Miami Times Online.
That kind of support isn’t given lightly. It’s earned. And it comes with expectations.
The communities that powered Higgins’ win are now watching to see if that mandate translates into real action. The transition team will prepare a bold, practical agenda for the first 100 days focused on affordability, public safety, resilient infrastructure and a government that is transparent, ethical and responsive Miami Today. With Tina on the team, Overtown has someone who will make sure those priorities reflect our lived realities.
What This Means for Overtown
Tina’s appointment comes at a pivotal moment for Overtown. We’re in the midst of our own community-led renaissance—projects like OVRTWN Corner are creating pathways for local entrepreneurs, artists, and businesses to build economic power on their own terms. At the same time, we’re navigating the challenges of development, displacement, and ensuring that Overtown’s growth benefits the people who’ve been here, not just the people moving in.
Having someone like Tina at the table when city policy is being shaped means Overtown’s perspective will be heard directly, not filtered through intermediaries who think they know what’s best for us. It means someone will be asking the hard questions about affordability, transit access, small business support, and whether new development actually serves the community or just extracts from it.
The Work Continues
Here’s the thing about Tina: she’s not the type to let a title or an appointment change her focus. She’s still going to be at the Overtown Youth Center. She’s still going to be working on OVRTWN Corner. She’s still going to be showing up for this neighborhood the way she always has.
But now, she’ll also be helping to shape Miami’s direction from the inside—bringing Overtown’s voice, Overtown’s values, and Overtown’s priorities to a conversation that will impact all of us.
That’s worth celebrating. Not because we need validation from City Hall, but because when one of our own gets a seat at that table, it creates possibilities for all of us.
Congratulations, Tina. We’re proud of you.
Mayor-elect Eileen Higgins will be sworn in as Miami’s 44th mayor in January 2025. The transition team is tasked with developing a 100-day action plan focused on affordability, public safety, infrastructure, and government accountability.
