Dorothea (Dee) Dawkins-Haigler dedicates her life to public service through her role as an ordained minister, college educator, community activist, and political strategist. Dee served 8 1/2 years as a Georgia State Representative from June 2008 – January 2017.

During her tenure in the Georgia General Assembly she served as Chair of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus and Chair of the Georgia Women’s Legislative Caucus. Dee served as the Chaplain for the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) and the National Director of Regional Coordinators for the National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women (NOBEL Women). She served as a State Director for both Women in Government and the National Council of State Legislators Women’s Network.

She is a sought-after media personality and is a regular commentator on FOX News, ABC, CBS, NBC, News Nation, News Max and the BBC. She is the host author of the bestselling books, “A Message to Our Daughters: Turning Trials into Triumphs and “Empower Her: Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Development” in which she uses all proceeds to provide micro grants to marginalized women and girls in Africa and the Caribbean to form businesses.

Dee is the owner of a consulting firm DDH & Associates and Founding Organizer of TIME 1000—an organization dedicated to helping 1000 women and minorities get elected to public office or receive board appointments. She has trained women from Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Ethiopia, South Africa, Burundi, Tanzania, Guyana, Belize and the Democratic Republic of Congo on issues ranging from gender equity, health, entrepreneurship, education and running for office. 

Dee is the President/Founder of the Organization of World Leaders (OWL) a consortium of leaders in Government, Law, Business, Health, Finance & Politics dedicated to working together to build alliances for economic sustainability and growth in Africa and the diaspora. She is President/Founder and Chief Ambassador to the United Nations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for the Organization of World Leaders (OWL, Inc.) in New York, Geneva and Vienna. In 2013 she created One Georgia, which is dedicated to bringing together clergy, elected officials, social and civic groups, civil rights organizations, businesses and fraternities/sororities for the collective purpose of promoting issues salient to the African American and Hispanic communities which address racial disparities with a special emphasis on economic justice and parity. Dee is the Organizer of the Minority Cannabis Coalition (MCC), an organization dedicated to promoting equity and access in the cannabis industry and to address the inequities such as arrests and mass incarceration for African American men.

Dee is an advocate for children and youth with an emphasis placed on those who have been impacted by poverty. This work led her to be appointed to the Juvenile Parole Board for the State of South Carolina by Governor Jim Hodges where she was the youngest and first African American to serve as Chair of the board. She uses her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (South Carolina State University), Master of Public Administration (Kentucky State University) Master of Divinity (Turner Theological Seminary@ the Interdenominational Theological Center) degrees to bridge the political, public, and religious communities and help them find solutions to eradicating racism, sexism, and classism. She studied in Political Science at Clark Atlanta University Ph.D. (ABD). She has an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (South Carolina State University) Honorary Doctor of Ministry Degree (American Bible University), an Honorary Doctor Philosophy (Trinity International University of Ambassadors) Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (Canadian International Chaplaincy University) and Honorary Doctor of Christian Leadership (School of the Great Commission Bible College).

Dee is advocate in the fight against human trafficking, domestic violence and teen dating violence. She is responsible for not only promoting legislation globally to eradicate this societal ill but speaking in numerous contributions on how to combat it which led her in 2017 to produce the documentary/drama “Black Girls Die Too: The Back Page Murders” which chronicles the death of Fourteen Black Women murdered as a result of using online human/sex trafficking websites targeting young women and girls to do sexual acts. As part of her advocacy along with many others, the now defunct social media website “Back Page” has been permanently removed. She has now co-authored the book entitled Black Girls Die Too which shines the light on the numerous way Black Women/girls die in addition to human trafficking such as domestic violence, health disparities and police brutality.

Dee is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Top Ladies of Distinction, National Council of Negro Women and the Order of Eastern Star and Jack and Jill of America. She is currently President of the East Metro Orchids. Dee resides in Stonecrest, Georgia, a city in which she carried the legislation to create in the Georgia House of Representatives. She is married to her college sweetheart Colonel David  Haigler Jr. and they have four children Christopher, Christyn, Hannah and Joshua, and two grandchildren Amari and Kingston.