Systems Architect · Organizational Builder · Associate Director

Mariame Touré

I started as a temp in Brussels over twenty-five years ago. Since then, I’ve built the systems that kept organizations running, made my principals shine in the process, and been trusted with the work that mattered — across automotive, telecom, defense, finance, medicine, education, government, and labor, on two continents, mostly from rooms I wasn’t expected to be standing in.

These days, it’s the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) — and the work behind national campaigns, high-stakes events, federal litigation, and the systems that carry them.

About this site

This is my professional portfolio — a record of the work I’ve done, the systems I’ve built, and the people and institutions I’ve helped along the way. It exists for the people who are considering a longer conversation with me: about full-time roles, board service, or meaningful work together.

I’m not actively broadcasting this site. I’m currently in a role I take seriously, and the people I want reading this are ones I invited — or ones who came by way of someone I trust.

If you’re here, I assume you have a reason. Welcome.

About Mariame

I learned to read rooms before I learned to build them.

I didn’t start at the top. I started as a temp — twice, in two different countries, both times right at the door. And from that door, I worked my way in every time.

Those early years gave me something no senior title could have. Before I ever designed a system, I had to learn to observe, to figure out what was missing in a room, and to find the places where I could add something real. I also learned to fill the gap when I could see it needed filling — not because someone asked me to, but because it was needed and I could do it well.

Most of what I built, I wasn't assigned to build.

— Mariame

These days, people come to me for counsel on how to bring impact — asking me to advise, lead, design, and build the structures that let other people do their own work.

Alongside my day work, I’m building Bold Effcy Solutions by MT — a small independent practice where I do the work I love and do well, on my own terms.

I’m proud of the work I’ve done at every level I’ve held, including the roles that didn’t come with senior titles. That’s the foundation everything since has rested on.

Credentials

Twenty-five years building organizational infrastructure across two continents and most levels of institutional life
AMA Certified Professional in Management (AMA-CPM®) · May 2025
AMA 5-Day "MBA" Certificate Program · American Management Association
Comprehensive Project Management Workshop · American Management Association
Harvard Business School · Digital Innovation & Strategy · Expected 2026
Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) · In Progress
Six languages: English · French · Spanish · Dutch · Mandinka · Bambara
Founder · Bold Effcy Solutions by MT

What I love most is designing the systems that let other people do their best work — the kind of infrastructure that makes it actually possible for the right person to be in the right seat, properly supported.

" Sharp operational thinking and genuine care for the people she works with — that combination is rare. She asks the right questions, builds systems that hold, and earns trust in the room quickly. If your organization is navigating complexity and needs someone who can see clearly and act decisively — Mariame is who you call. "

— Leslie R. • Founder & CEO

Career Arc

Twenty-five years, across most sectors and most levels — and the work got done.

My pattern across every role has been the same: come in, read the room, and do what the organization actually needs — whether that meant building something new or maintaining what I inherited. The work got done either way.

Oct 2022 – Present • American Federation of Teachers • Washington, DC

Assistant Director → Associate Director, Research, Strategic
Initiatives & Economic Security

Promoted twice

I hold strategic and operational leadership across national advocacy campaigns, federal litigation support, member engagement infrastructure, and policy communications. I designed a strategic plan for one of AFT’s major national campaigns and built the trust with members that lets them share their most sensitive information with us. I’ve served as primary research lead on active federal litigation. I designed and led the 2024 National Convention Activity Center for 3,000+ attendees. I’m the lead for one of AFT’s major advocacy pages on AFT.org, and I rewrote the communications strategy behind it — turning a page visitors left confused into one they left equipped to act on. The Affordability campaign page followed that same model, and I’ve been named lead for Affordability at the 2026 National Convention.

Assistant Director → Associate Director · Work referenced by the President in all-staff meetings and national leadership gatherings · Co-Directed largest-ever Collective Bargaining Conference (record attendance) · Named lead: 2024 Convention Student Debt Activity Center · Named lead: 2026 Convention Affordability · Named lead: Student Debt & PSLF on AFT.org

Jan 2021 – Oct 2022 • American Federation of Teachers • Washington, DC

Project Manager (Sr. Associate), HR & Research, Strategic Initiatives & Economic Security

Workforce Systems & Program Infrastructure · Aug 2021 – Oct 2022

I built the COVID Compliance and Safety System on a compressed timeline with no prior infrastructure to build on — proof-of-vaccination submission, compliance tracking, test request and delivery, supply inventory, and waiver tracking, all integrated. The organization met its compliance window. I also designed and automated five additional HR systems — antigen testing kit requests, telework request and contract automation, temporary staff onboarding, job candidate management, and the staff onboarding workflow — which cut operational time by 80%. A hiring precision tool I designed doubled recruitment accuracy.

Separately, I identified and secured an organization-wide professional development pathway for staff — negotiating enterprise terms that gave a defined group of staff unlimited access to courses for a full year, closing the gap between what they were being asked to take on and what they had been trained for. HR institutionalized the program and announced it organization-wide.

I designed and built the internship and fellowship program framework from the ground up — conducted stakeholder interviews before I touched a single deliverable, defined entry criteria, structured the participant experience, built mentorship pathways, wrote the full documentation, and integrated automation for assignment submission and approval. The program was adopted beyond the original department.

Aug 2017 – Jan 2021 American Federation of Teachers Washington, DC

Legal Executive Assistant to the General Counsel → Project Manager (Sr. Associate), Legal

Office of General Counsel

I established AFT’s first Continuing Legal Education (CLE) accreditation infrastructure from scratch — navigating complex multi-state bar association requirements, designing attendance verification and documentation workflows, building compliance reporting, and creating certificate generation processes.

I also built the operational infrastructure that allowed the organization to conduct virtual disciplinary hearings for the first time in its history — capability created under crisis pressure and kept afterward, so the organization can now hold its governance and accountability functions regardless of geography or disruption.

I served as primary research lead for active federal litigation, and the work was recognized. HR reclassified me from administrative to Project Manager based on the expanded scope — formal recognition that I had exceeded the role.

Jun 2015 – Aug 2017 American Federation of Teachers Washington, DC

Publication, Production & Research Review Assistant, Educational Issues

Editorial & Production Management

I co-managed the complete editorial and production lifecycle for multiple nationally distributed publications — reviewing content, running the editorial process, and obtaining director approval at each stage. I built a publication tracking and workflow system that became standard departmental practice and outlasted my time in the role. Publications managed included Becoming a Teacher (for which I had carte blanche), Union Role in Diversifying the Educator Workforce, Community School Checklist, and a range of professional learning resources, all nationally distributed.

Feb 2010 – Jun 2015 American Federation of Teachers Washington, DC

Assistant, Educational Issues Department

English Language Learner Program · Entered via Temp

I supported the program director on national English Language Learner (ELL) initiatives — coordinating the development of training manuals for multilingual teacher preparation, supporting the train-the-trainer program, working with a cadre of ELL teachers, and running the internship program. I also coordinated national meetings and member events.

2004 – 2010 Multiple Organizations Washington DC–Baltimore Area

Freelance & Temp, Administrative, Communications & Project Roles

Verizon Regulatory Affairs · BAE Systems · Reznik Group · AFT (temp)

Six years of freelance and temp work across regulatory affairs, defense, accounting, and a first stint at AFT. This is where I learned to enter a room, assess it, and add something real before I had any formal authority — which turned out to be the foundation everything since has rested on.

Aug 1999 – Mar 2003 Toyota Motor Europe Brussels, Belgium

Temporary Employee → Administrative → Public Relations Specialist

Specialist & Coordinator level · Entered as temp

I was promoted from temp to Administrative Assistant to Public Relations Specialist inside Toyota Motor Europe’s multinational corporate communications division, working at a scope that routinely extended beyond the role title. I was the primary point of contact for all corporate photo shoots, managed interview requests from the press, and ran executive corporate press events at the major motor shows in Paris, Geneva, and Frankfurt — coordinating press and corporate schedules in real time across live event floors. I prepared executive briefings, and was designated for a third promotion to Media Specialist before I left for Washington, DC.

I was among very few, if not the only, person of African descent in the organization at that level. The organization saw me anyway — promoted me, trusted me with the work that mattered. I learned then that it was possible, that an institution at this scale could see people like me. That knowledge has shaped every room I've entered since.

Sep 1997 – May 1998 EBN, European Business & Innovation Centre Network

Brussels, Belgium

Intern

My first professional experience, inside an international innovation network in Brussels. The beginning of a career that would go on to be built across two continents.

Portfolio · Demonstrated Work

Eleven pieces of work, across sectors, functions, and levels.

01 Member Voice & Advocacy Infrastructure

Student Debt Advocacy Infrastructure

I created the student debt story bank that gave public service members a voice — in federal litigation, in Senate testimony, and in national advocacy. The bank grew to 1,800+ members and 600+ stories. I designed the communications and education framework, the borrower response system, the DebtJourney survey deployed to post-clinic participants, and the full member engagement ecosystem of clinics, webinars, and affiliate coordination. I managed the multimillion-dollar partnership with a national financial services partner serving thousands of enrolled members. The infrastructure gave members — always with their consent — a platform to testify before Congress, appear in the State of the Union address, join a Vice Presidential White House roundtable, and be featured on MSNBC and NBC News.

The result: AFT can now move individual member stories into national advocacy — with members speaking in their own voices to Congress, the White House, and national media, backed by the systems and data that give them standing.

Evidence Story bank independently requested by peer director · Research became evidentiary foundation of active federal complaint · Work referenced by the President in national leadership calls · Members reached the State of the Union, a Vice Presidential roundtable, a U.S. Secretary of Education convening, a U.S. Senate event, and MSNBC / NBC News national coverage

Coverage the work contributed to

National broadcast coverage of public service borrowers featured on MSNBC and NBC News
Federal court coverage of student debt litigation on which research provided evidentiary foundation
Supreme Court demonstration coverage featuring members whose stories were captured through the story bank
A national union's federal legal action on student debt servicing

02 Federal Litigation Infrastructure

Federal Litigation Research & Continuity

In high-stakes legal environments, I’m the person who holds a case together across time. For an active federal lawsuit, I served as primary research lead and institutional knowledge holder — verifying every piece of information going before the legal teams, keeping case continuity across months of activity, and coordinating directly with general counsel, outside litigation counsel, and senior legal advisors.

What this means in practice: a case like this needs someone inside who can keep it coherent across the handoffs between internal counsel, outside counsel, and senior advisors — and keep the institution’s knowledge intact while the work moves.

Evidence Research quality, depth, and clarity recognized on the record by general counsel, outside litigation counsel, and top legal advisors.

03 Convention-Scale Experience Design

National Convention Student Debt Activity Center

I designed and produced a full member engagement experience for a national convention of 3,000+ attendees. The build ran three simultaneous audience streams — celebration, guidance, and skeptic engagement — using QR-code digital engagement, looping video testimonials, forgiveness celebration photography, and a cloud-based message board.

The outcome: AFT now has a proven model for designing member-facing experiences at the scale of its largest convening — celebrating wins, guiding the uncertain, and engaging the skeptical inside a single integrated environment.

Evidence Recognized organization-wide as the model for member engagement at scale · Design approach selected as the model for 2026 national convention

04 Member Engagement · Named Lead

National Convention Affordability Activity Center

Organizational leadership named me lead for the 2026 National Convention Affordability Activity Center — a direct result of the 2024 Student Debt Activity Center, which became AFT’s organizational model for member engagement at scale.

This means the organization can carry the model that succeeded once into the next major campaign without rebuilding from scratch — which is what it actually means for a piece of work to become institutional infrastructure.

Evidence Named lead by organizational leadership · Selected based on 2024 model

05 Executive Intelligence Architecture

Organizational Intelligence System

I’m currently designing and building a multi-dimensional intelligence system for an internal division — integrating operational data, workforce intelligence, policy intelligence, contract tracking, and cross-departmental activity logs into a unified executive dashboard. Built to scale across regions.

Once it’s live, executive leadership will have a single integrated view across operational, workforce, policy, and contractual data — instead of waiting for each department to produce its own fragmented reports.

Evidence Active engagement · Intelligence system in design phase

06 Multi-State Regulatory Build

CLE Regulatory Accreditation System

I built the end-to-end Continuing Legal Education accreditation infrastructure that allowed AFT to function as a multi-state CLE sponsor — a six-phase system covering jurisdiction targeting, regulatory intelligence, application assembly, regulator liaison, approval processing, and participant credit fulfillment. The organization still relies on it every year to deliver CLE credits to affiliate attorneys.

What that gave the organization: the ability to offer Continuing Legal Education credits across multiple state bars — a capability it had never held before — which eliminated its dependence on outside providers and created a new category of value for its legal members.

Evidence System documented in authored SOP · Enabled multi-state accreditation at scale · Eliminated individual memory dependency

07 Workforce Operations Architecture

HR Workforce Systems, Six Automated Platforms

I designed and deployed six operational HR systems: the COVID-19 vaccination portal, the antigen testing kit request system, telework request and contract automation, the temporary staff onboarding portal, the job candidate management pipeline, and the staff onboarding workflow redesign.

The result: AFT runs its core workforce operations on automated systems rather than manual processes, and brought its full COVID compliance program online inside a window that couldn’t have been met by hand.

Evidence Systems deployed and adopted across the organization · Designed for continuity beyond any single staff member

08 Program Architecture & Launch

Internship & Fellowship Program, Architecture & Launch

I rebuilt the internship program end to end — application workflow feeding an automated candidate database, supervisor request form, project and task assignment tracker, dual dashboards, 30-day review cycles, peer intern meeting series, and a program evaluation instrument. Partnerships with Cornell ILR and the Roosevelt Network.

AFT now has a documented internship and fellowship program with university partnerships, structured supervision, evaluation cycles, and full operating documentation — capable of running, growing, and being adopted by any department without depending on the person who built it.

Evidence Program adopted beyond the original department · Partnerships with Cornell ILR and Roosevelt Network · SOP authored and documented

09 Information Management at Scale

Contract Management Across a Federated Network

To track the status of contracts across the network, I designed and built a centralized database with automation and structured fields for expiration status, review assignment, review date, review progress, load date, and regional classification.

The department can now see the live status of every contract under its responsibility — expiration, review assignment, review progress, regional classification — instead of working from a static archive nobody had the time to maintain.

Evidence System became the operational foundation for the department’s contract maintenance work · 1,100+ pages of contract records centralized

10 Partner Accountability

National Benefit Program Partnership

I’m currently managing a multi-year national benefit program partnership and leading the work on strengthening its accountability and reporting.

This gives AFT a way to hold a multi-year national partnership to a shared standard of measurement — closing the gap between accounts in a system and members actually being served.

Evidence Tens of thousands of member accounts covered · Ongoing accountability and reporting work

11 Enterprise Systems Adoption

Cross-Functional Institutional Decision

I identified the system AFT needed to run its operations across departments at scale. I built the case for its adoption, secured executive approval, and negotiated the enterprise terms. Today, several departments run critical operations on it.

What this means for the organization: information is centralized across departments, workflows that were previously manual are automated, and institutional memory lives inside systems rather than inside the people who happen to hold the knowledge.

Evidence Adopted across multiple departments as core operational infrastructure · Enterprise-scale decision driven from a non-executive seat · Multiple departmental systems built on top of it

Selected Moments

Moments the work was recognized outside its own walls.

Invitations to speak, contribute, and represent at national convenings — moments where work I built for one organization was recognized more broadly.

Panel Speaker · November 2023

National Consumer Law Center · Consumer Rights Litigation Conference

Invited to speak on the new federal discharge rules from the U.S. Department of Education — Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Borrower Defense, Total & Permanent Disability Discharge, False Certification, and Closed School Discharge — representing AFT’s borrower advocacy work alongside counsel from Legal Aid and consumer rights organizations.

Capabilities

What I build for the organizations I work with

01 Intelligence & Information Architecture

Member intelligence platforms, campaign pipeline systems, workforce intelligence dashboards, multi-source data integration, automated alert systems.

02 Credentialing & Professional Development Systems

Full infrastructure to offer CLEs. Regulatory research across jurisdictions, application assembly, compliance documentation, certificate generation.

03 Conference, Meeting & Event Architecture

National conference design, simultaneous audience experience engineering, materials development, facilitation frameworks, post-event knowledge capture.

04 Program Development, Design & Launch

New program design from concept to operational reality. Program diagnosis and structural redesign. Internship and fellowship architectures.

05 Operational Crisis Navigation

Organizational stabilization, leadership transition management, change management architecture, interim operational leadership.

06 Content, Publication & Communication Systems

Publication workflow design, editorial tracking, approval architecture. Member and stakeholder communication infrastructure. Story and institutional memory systems.

07 Strategic Planning & Execution Infrastructure

Taking an existing strategic plan and building the execution infrastructure behind it: workstreams, owners, milestone maps, accountability structures, tracking systems.

How I Approach the Work

Before I build anything, I understand what I am building and why.

The discipline that shapes everything downstream. Three moves, in sequence, before any project takes its first concrete step.

01 Understand the Why

I start by figuring out what the organization is actually trying to do — which is rarely the same as what the brief says. Getting that right is the whole foundation. Everything else depends on it.

02 Map the Opportunities and the Restrictions

Then I look at what’s actually available that hasn’t been named yet — the latent capacity, the underused relationship, the adjacent system that could be part of the solution. And I look at what genuinely can’t move: budget, political, regulatory, cultural, technical. A project designed around the real constraints and the real opportunities is the one that has a chance of working.

03 Connect to the Mission

Every project sits inside a larger institutional purpose, and the work I build is designed to serve it. That’s how a piece of work becomes something the organization can actually carry forward — instead of another deliverable that ends when you hand it in.

What I Stand For

What I believe about the work.

01 On invisible labor

Labor that doesn’t get named doesn’t get protected. When an organization keeps asking people to carry it anyway, that’s a design problem, not a performance problem.

02 On systems and people

A broken system isn’t a people problem. The reflex — hire better, train harder, terminate faster — usually misses what’s actually going on, which is that the design around the people was never built to support them in the first place.

03 On insider expertise

A lot of the people giving advice have never actually done the jobs they’re advising on. I have. That shapes what I notice, what I ask, and whether what I build is going to survive contact with the real life of the organization.

04 On legacy

Legacy is built in the small decisions — what you document, who you develop, what you systematize, how you design organizations to outlast any one person inside them. I believe sharing knowledge is power, not a threat to it.

05 On who deserves infrastructure

The organizations that most need strong operational infrastructure are rarely the ones with the biggest budgets to hire for it. Nonprofits, advocacy organizations, and mission-driven institutions deserve systems as strong as their purpose. That’s a conviction I’ve carried through every role I’ve held.

Recommendations

From the people I've worked with.

People who supervised me, reported to me, worked alongside me, and hired me — in their own words.

” Mariame is a forward-thinking and resourceful colleague. She has created a variety of efficient processes for several projects, including publications, intern hiring and onboarding, and conference program development. Mariame is open to sharing resources with others, creating added value wherever she is and whoever she’s working with.

Jasmine D. Oke · Same Team

” She has a rare talent for crafting powerful narratives that resonate across all levels of an organization, from C-suite leaders to front-line teams. Her ability to translate complex ideas into clear, actionable messages is exceptional, and her collaborative approach makes her a trusted advisor and team leader.

Leslie A. Rubin, CEC, CLC · Executive Presence Instructor

” Mariame is very thoughtful and solution-oriented, which makes her very effective in management. She communicates very effectively, is very responsive, and she helpfully shares her knowledge with colleagues across different departments and teams. Mariame is also extremely thorough with her work, paying close attention to detail, and she consistently simplifies and streamlines projects and collaborative efforts.

Katharine Carter, PhD · Reported to Mariame Directly

” I worked with Mariame for close to five years, and was always able to count on her professional and personal skills. She was forward-looking and dynamic, open-minded and cooperative. She was also very thorough and conscientious in her work, and has excellent Public Relations, management and organizational skills. I strongly recommend her.

James Rosenstein · Direct Manager · Toyota Motor Europe

” I had the pleasure of working on a development team with Mariame over a period of five years. She was a key organizer who was an excellent communicator and very detail-oriented. Some of our projects were complex with many edits and multiple authors and Mariame kept it all straight, organizing drafts and electronic copies to keep our national team focused.

Kristina Robertson · Multilingual Education Consultant · Same Team

” I am very grateful to have worked at AFT under Mariame’s supervision. As an intern, Mariame was key in helping me develop some of the basic professional skills that have built a strong foundation for starting my career. She challenged me to take on more responsibility in the office and took the time to assist me on projects outside the scope of work. I can’t imagine navigating the educational issues department without her leadership, kindness, and care.

Cathryn Jackson · Reported to Mariame Directly · Intern

” Mariame is poised and professional in all situations and especially adept at weighing political considerations and adjusting accordingly. We worked together on a strategic campaign that involved multiple languages with people across the globe. Mariame successfully garnered support for our cause and did it with ease.

Serette Kaminski · Same Team · Multilingual Strategic Campaign

” Working with Mariame was a great experience — she was responsive, respectful, and provided clear requirements and feedback throughout the project. This made the development process efficient and stress-free. She is a highly organized and detail-oriented professional who communicates clearly and ensures smooth project execution.

Arman Ashraful · Web Developer · Vizifly · Current Vendor Partner

Connect

Let's talk.

Whether you’re reaching out about a professional opportunity, board service, consulting, or just to connect, I read every message myself.

Currently open to Director of Strategic Initiatives and Senior Director roles at mission-driven organizations — healthcare, education, international development, philanthropy, or social impact — where strategic leadership and operational execution actually have to meet. Washington, DC area or remote.