Bailey Perkins
Even spending most of her waking hours working on policy change and serving on local boards, Bailey knows she’ll never be able to enact change alone. Her workshops encourage young voters to build relationships with their lawmakers, enacting serious generational change.
What’s been the biggest obstacle in your life so far?
Navigating the barriers that come with being a young, Black woman governmental affairs professional in a state with little to no representation of those categories (age, race and gender) in positions of influence has been my biggest obstacle.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
In seasons when I feel overwhelmed or I’m having to weigh out what opportunities to pursue, my mentor narrowed it to “clarity, courage and conviction.” She told me to do what’s most important and be consistent with my boundaries. That will help me focus my time and energy to avoid burnout.
“In seasons when I feel overwhelmed or I’m having to weigh out what opportunities to pursue, my mentor narrowed it to ‘clarity, courage and conviction.’”
What keeps you up at night?
The dangers and violence Black, Brown and other communities of color feel on a daily basis. From subtle microaggressions and policy decisions that keep us from equity to literal knees on necks. The pervasiveness of poverty in our state also keeps me up. Oklahoma is the sixth hungriest state in the country. The root causes of hunger connect to the other challenges people face—from an inadequate minimum wage, poor education outcomes for so many, a punitive and inhumane criminal system, racially bias and unaffordable healthcare poor tenant and worker protections—all solvable things. It’s heartbreaking and keeps me working tirelessly to make the structural and systemic changes necessary.
bailey is one of 100 women we have featured in the inaugural issue of Hundred Magazine. To learn more about her and the other 99 women, buy the issue.
