District 7 Chief of Staff La-Tieka Sims discovered her inner leader at SAC

As chief of staff for City of San Antonio District 7, La-Tieka Sims is living a life that’s very different from the one she imagined for herself when she first enrolled at San Antonio College ten years ago.

Back then, she was a single mother of a young son, working two retail jobs. Her goal was to earn an associate degree in business to get a better paying job.

Between classes, two jobs, and raising her son, becoming involved with campus activities was not on her radar.

But an invitation to join Phi Theta Kappa, the SAC honor society, became a plot twist that changed everything. It ultimately led her not only to an associate degree, but also to trailblazing leadership roles in student government, a bachelor’s degree in business, a career in public service and an MBA.

She began taking classes at SAC while working at a dollar store and a department store. Without a car, so she mostly took the bus to school and work. She had done well in high school, so she went in determined to succeed.

“I knew it was something I needed to better myself, improve my life and my son’s life,” she said.

Near the end of her first year at SAC, one of her professors let her know that the Integrated Reading and Writing lab had an opening for a tutor. She got the job, allowing her to leave one of her off-campus jobs.

“That helped free up my time quite a bit and make things more manageable,” she said. “It was kind of my stepping stone of getting out of the mindset of schoolwork only.”

Initially, she had little interest in extracurricular activities.

“To me, it was frivolous. I didn’t understand the benefits,” she said.

When she received an invitation to join Phi Theta Kappa, she thought it might be a good resume builder. The chapter’s president began to actively recruit her to not only join, but to become an officer.

“I said ‘you’re crazy, I don’t have time for that,’” she said. After a few meetings, she accepted the position of vice president. It was the start of her interest in student leadership.

During her tenure, she was part of a team that worked to expand the chapter’s presence on campus, organizing events and assisting nonprofit organizations. She joined other PTK officers at a national conference, where they won awards for their work at SAC. Sims was part of a team that presented a proposal to the college president that resulted in a budget increase from $6,000 to $20,000 a year for the chapter.

Although Sims had been thriving at SAC, she hit a setback in her second year. She almost dropped out because she was homeless and living in her truck.

Her history professor, Horace Nash, who knew her from the year before, noticed her performance slipping and asked her what was wrong. When she told him her situation, he took her to the campus food pantry and connected her with resources for housing, counseling, professional clothes and more, all of which allowed her to stay in school.

With her housing situation stabilized, she was able to move beyond survival mode and once again dive into opportunities on campus.

She became vice president of the Student Government Association and also served as one of two student representatives from SAC on the Student District Council of the Alamo Colleges.

Student government ignited a passion within the business administration major.

“Student leadership opened a lot of doors for me, but it also helped me find my passion,” she said. “If I could keep even one person from going through the hardship that I went through, purely because I didn’t know what resources were out there, I wanted to do that.”

She also began to consider the possibility of pursuing her bachelor’s degree. Though it wasn’t part of her initial plan, with encouragement from other honor students and PTK advisors Prof. Roger Stanley and Dr. Jim Lucchelli, she decided to try.

When an advisor from TAMUSA came to SAC, she learned that she was eligible for grants and that her college credits would transfer seamlessly to the university.

As she looked ahead to continuing her education at the university level, she mentioned to an advisor that she might want to become vice president of student government there. She was comfortable working in the background and didn’t see herself as a front-facing leader. The advisor, Rodell Asher of the Alamo Colleges District, told her to stop putting her leadership on the back burner.

“She really planted that seed of encouraging me to step into leadership in a way that I was kind of scared to do before,” Sims said.

Going into the university, she told herself that after two very active years at SAC, she would limit her extra-curricular pursuits to student government. But just like her time at SAC, she was immediately drawn into several organizations.

“SAC was actually the foundation of everything that I started doing at TAMUSA,” she said.

During a campus tour, she was recruited for the Black Student Union, where she served as treasurer. Soon after, a friend talked her into joining the Campus Activities Board.

She continued to grow as a leader, becoming the university’s first Black Student Government Association president.  She also served as a College of Business senator, a member of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority and on the All Greek Council.

“Getting involved with student leadership actually was the reason I pivoted out of the business field into the field I am in now,” she said. “I see the value of having a business degree in any field, but as a student leader, I was exposed to things I had never imagined. Before getting involved with student government, I had never voted. Student government exposed me to that, showed me the value of it. I loved the advocacy element of it.”

When a women’s leadership event came to campus, Sims almost skipped it, but decided to make an appearance as student government president.

“It was the best decision I ever made,” she said.

Sims heard then-San Antonio City Council member Jada Andrews-Sullivan speak and learned that her story sounded very similar to her own.

“She made me realize you don’t have to be rich, you don’t have to be insanely connected in order to get involved and make a change in these roles,” Sims said. “She was someone that wanted to make a change in her community and she rallied supporters and got in there. That spoke to me.”

After the event, Sims approached Andrews-Sullivan and told her that not only did she inspire her, but that she would love to learn more and job shadow her. The following week, Sims spent an entire day at Andrews-Sullivan’s council district office, arriving around 8:30 a.m. and staying until 8:30 that night. When they realized they had not scared her off, they offered her an internship.

Now in her second year at TAMUSA, Sims would catch rides or take the bus two days a week for her unpaid internship. She learned about what city council does and how council members serve the community, helped coordinate events and even helped draft policy.

“A lot of skills I was using at the university, I was transferring to my internship, helping with coordinating events, assisting residents with resources, just at a higher level,” she said.

When Sims graduated with her bachelor's degree, she was hired as deputy director of policy for the district.

Along the way, Sims also became active with Driving Single Parents, a Bexar County nonprofit that provides cars to single parents. Sims had experienced the life-changing power of her own vehicle when she applied for and received a car through the nonprofit.

“It was a factor in why I was able to get hired so quickly after graduation, because I was able to tell them I had reliable transportation,” she said.

Eventually she was able to donate the car back to the organization to help another recipient.

This spring, Sims completed an 11-month MBA program at TAMUSA. It was quickly followed by a promotion to Chief of Staff of the District 7 office.

“I’m always trying to elevate, do better, in work and myself. I started to hit a bit of a glass ceiling for the things that I wanted to do – I had the skills and experience, but that degree was starting to hold me back and that was frustrating,” she said.  

The program included a study abroad program in which Sims spent a week each in Finland and Estonia, visiting businesses in each country.

After receiving her master’s degree, Sims paused for a photo with her son. It was a recreation of a photo taken on her first day at SAC, which was also her son’s first day of kindergarten. Her son was often with her during her student activities.

“My kiddo has been on this journey with me throughout,” she said.

With multiple degrees under her belt and a successful career in public service well established, Sims looks back on her time at SAC as instrumental in creating the life she’s living today.

“My experience at San Antonio College gave me the chance to rebuild my life and to dream of doing more than I thought I was capable of,” she said. “And when I graduated, I left equipped with the tools to pursue those dreams.”

–SAC–