Tiffany Murphy
Training and Technical Assistance Manager
Tiffany Murphy is a proud mother of 24-year-old son, Grafton and an 8-year-old Yorkie, Kai. She attended Jackson State University in Mississippi for two years and returned to Chicago to work for Bank of America. The September 11 terrorist attacks were an eye-opener for her. Tiffany was working at the bank that morning in 2001. When she was evacuated from the building, she wondered about her purpose. She told herself that before she left this world, she wanted to have found her purpose or found what her purpose was for others. After that thought, Tiffany began a new journey. That journey began as a Chicago Public Schools transportation aide for special needs children and a part-time parent coordinator for ACT College Prep, a charter school on the west side of Chicago.
Tiffany’s first experience with Be Strong Families Parent Cafés came in 2007, when the principal of ACT asked her to join a Café happening later that day. After that first Parent Café experience, Tiffany was determined to bring Cafés to the west side of Chicago. She partnered with Be Strong Families staff and recruited tons of parents for every Parent Café she hosted. Amazed by how the parents interacted and found mutual assistance through Cafés, Tiffany became a consultant for Be Strong Families doing Birth Parent, Foster Parent and Youth Cafés. On November 6, 2016—her birthday—she made the grand decision to give all of her time to Be Strong Families and to leave Chicago Public Schools after 10 years of working with special needs children. Tiffany began with Be Strong Families as Office Manager and Birth Parent Services Provider. In July 2019, Tiffany was promoted to a full-time position as a Training and Technical Assistance Provider. She remains a key member of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (IDCFS) Youth Advisory Board (YAB) support team.
“When my mom passed, I thought family no longer existed for me outside of my son and dog. But I know now Family is not just Kai and Grafton, it’s Be Strong Families.”