Delishia Danielle Porterfield, a mother, educator, licensed minister, and battle-tested legislator, is a lifelong Tennessean, committed to public service. Delishia began her career in public service on March 19, 2019, when she won the Special Election for the Metro Council District 29 election.  She currently serves as the Chair of the Minority Caucus and Vice-Chair of the Public Health and Safety Committee.  She previously served as the Chair of the Education Committee and Vice-Chair of Budget and Finance and has served on Government Operations, Health, Hospitals and Social Services Committees.  As Budget and Finance Co-Chair, she worked to pass Nashville’s most progressive budget, making Nashville teachers the highest paid in the State.  She is passionate about racial, social and economic justice and fighting for working families and women’s rights.  She previously served as a Dare to Reimagine Co-Chair led by Local Progress and it's members, as well as the Tennessee State Co-Chair for Senator Bernie Sander's Presidential campaign.

 

Delishia values public school and graduated in the top 5% of her High School class. She went on to attend Howard University in Washington, D.C. and Tennessee State University.  She earned her Bachelors of Science degree in 2004 and her Masters of Education in 2010, both from TSU. 

 

Delishia’s path as a professional educator has been driven by her passion for children with disabilities and their families. She began in 2010 at Page Middle School in Williamson County, as a Special Education teacher. Her desire to teach in the Antioch/Southeast Nashville community brought Delishia to teach Special Education students at Antioch and Thurgood Marshall Middle Schools. She also served as a Special Education Department Chair, a Student Council adviser, School Culture and Climate Chair, and a cheer coach.

 

Before starting her career in public service, Delishia served as a Special Education Coach for over a dozen Metro Nashville public schools, served as the Faculty Advisory Committee Chair for itinerant staff and was a proud, dues paying member of MNEA.  

 

Delishia is the proud mother of a Metro Nashville Public Schools rising 10th grade student. This beautiful and intelligent young lady is her mother’s favorite companion, as they travel, dine out, and generally enjoy their life in Nashville with their rescue fur-babies, Seven and Violet.

 

A woman whose life is defined by her faith, Delishia was licensed in 2016 as a Minister at Mt. Zion Baptist Church. There, she put her gift for guiding children to good use for 4 years in the Children’s Ministry, as the children’s church teacher at the Antioch location.

 

Delishia currently sits on the Board for The Destiny Theatre Experience, a Nashville theater company, as well as eMpowerment Inc. and Ignite Her Pursuit, both non-profit organizations that partner with schools in Southeast Nashville.