Systems Architect · Organizational Builder · Associate Director
Mariame Touré
Today, it’s the American Federation of Teachers. The work behind national campaigns, high-stakes events, federal litigation, and the systems that carry them.
About this site
This portfolio gathers some of the work I’ve done, the systems I’ve put in place, and the people and institutions I’ve walked alongside. It’s for those considering a deeper conversation.
I don’t actively promote this site. I hold a position I take seriously, and the people I want reading these pages are the ones I’ve invited, or the ones who arrived through someone I trust.
If you’re here, I assume you have a reason. Welcome.
About Mariame
The instincts came first. The systems came later.
I learned to read rooms before I learned to build the systems that hold them together.
I didn’t start at the top. I started as a temp. Twice, in two different countries, each time at the door. And from that door, I worked my way to the decision table. Every time.
Those early years gave me something no senior title could have. Before I ever designed a system, I learned to observe. To spot what was missing in a room. To find the places where I could add something that mattered. I learned to listen before deciding. To try before declaring. To test before committing. And to dare, when it mattered.
I also learned to fill the gap when I saw it. Not because someone asked me to, but because I could see it, and I believed it was mine to build.
That is still how I enter every room.
I was never supposed to be the one building the infrastructure and built it anyway.
I’m also building Bold Effcy Solutions by MT — an independent practice where I get to apply my passion entirely and 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 stood 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
- Credential of Digital Innovation and Strategy · Harvard Business School Online · Expected 2026
- Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) · Universal Accreditation Board (UAB) · In Progress
- Six languages: English · French · Spanish · Dutch · Malinké · 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. The work got done.
The pattern has never changed: enter, read the situation clearly, identify what is needed, and build the solution. There were drafts. There were tests. There were moments of building the plane while flying it. Every time, I learned. Every time, I delivered.
THE FOUNDATION: Toyota motor europe
This is where the instincts met world-class systems. Working within one of the most operationally rigorous companies in the world, I coordinated complex, forward-looking public relations across diverse European markets.
“ 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 · Then Vice President, External Affairs · Toyota Motor Europe (LinkedIn recommendation)
Oct 2022 – Present • AFT • Washington, DC
Assistant Director → Associate Director, Research, Strategic
Initiatives & Economic Security
Promoted twice
My work spans national advocacy campaigns, federal litigation support, member engagement infrastructure, and policy communications. The strategic and the operational, both, usually at the same time.
What that looks like in practice:
- Designed the strategic member engagement plan for one of AFT’s major national campaigns, and built the member trust that lets people share their most sensitive information with us.
- Served as primary research lead on active federal litigation.
- Built and ran the 2024 National Convention Activity Center for a national advocacy campaign for 3,000+ attendees.
- Lead for one of AFT’s major advocacy pages on AFT.org. Rewrote the communications strategy behind it; visitors now leave the page equipped to act. The Affordability campaign page followed the same model.
- Named lead for one of the new campaign Activity Centers at the 2026 National Convention.
Assistant Director → Associate Director · Also ran largest-ever Collective Bargaining Conference (record attendance)
Jan 2021 – Oct 2022 • AFT • Washington, DC
Project Manager (Sr. Associate), HR & Research, Strategic Initiatives & Economic Security
Workforce Systems & Program Infrastructure · Aug 2021 – Oct 2022
Built the COVID Compliance and Safety System on a compressed timeline with no prior infrastructure to build on: submission, tracking, testing, inventory, waivers, all integrated. Designed and automated five other HR systems: kit requests, telework contracts, temp onboarding, candidate management, and the staff onboarding workflow. Operational time across those functions dropped by 80%. Separately, identified and secured an organization-wide professional development pathway, and built the internship and fellowship program framework from the ground up. The program was adopted beyond the original department.
AFT’s core workforce operations now run on systems instead of email threads.
Aug 2017 – Jan 2021 • AFT • Washington, DC
Legal Executive Assistant to the General Counsel → Project Manager (Sr. Associate), Legal
Office of General Counsel
Established the organization’s first Continuing Legal Education (CLE) accreditation infrastructure from scratch: multi-state bar requirements, attendance verification, compliance reporting, certificate generation. All while simultaneously planning the office’s annual conference alongside the General Counsel. Built the operational infrastructure that allowed the organization to conduct virtual disciplinary hearings for the first time in its history, under crisis pressure, and kept afterward. Served as research support for active federal litigation. HR reclassified me from administrative to Project Manager to match the scope of the work.
The organization can now offer CLE credits across multiple state bars and hold its governance functions regardless of geography or disruption. Capabilities it never had before.
Jun 2015 – Aug 2017 • AFT • Washington, DC
Publication, Production & Research Review Assistant, Educational Issues
Editorial & Production Management
Co-managed the complete editorial and production lifecycle for multiple nationally distributed publications: content review, editorial process, director approval at each stage. Built a publication tracking and workflow system that became standard departmental practice. Publications managed included Becoming a Teacher (carte blanche), Union Role in Diversifying the Educator Workforce, Community School Checklist, and a range of professional learning resources, all nationally distributed.
The tracking system outlasted my time in the role. That is the test of whether a system was actually built.
Feb 2010 – Jun 2015 • AFT • Washington, DC
Assistant, Educational Issues Department
English Language Learner Program · Entered via Temp
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. Coordinated national meetings and member events.
The coordination layer underneath was held, which let the substance of the program move on schedule.
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. Walked into rooms I hadn’t built, read them, and added something real before having any formal authority to do so.
That’s the foundation everything since has rested on.
Aug 1999 – Mar 2003 • Toyota Motor Europe (TME) • Brussels, Belgium
Temporary Employee → Administrative → Public Relations Specialist
Specialist & Coordinator level · Entered as temp
Promoted from temp to Administrative Assistant to Public Relations Specialist inside Toyota Motor Europe’s multinational corporate communications division, at a scope that routinely extended beyond the role title. Primary point of contact for all corporate photo shoots. Ran executive corporate press events at the major motor shows in Paris, Geneva, and Frankfurt. Designated for a third promotion to Media Specialist before leaving 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. 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.
” 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.
Portfolio · Demonstrated Work
Twelve pieces of work, across sectors, functions, and levels.
01 Director-Level Build
Constituent Voice Infrastructure at National Scale
Built at AFT as the Student Debt Story Bank, Engagement Framework, and National Partnership
I build systems that earn constituent trust at scale, capture their stories under their own control, and retrieve the right voice for the right moment.
At AFT, that infrastructure put members in front of Congress, in the State of the Union, at a Vice Presidential White House roundtable, and in national news coverage. Always with their consent. Always in their own voice. The story bank now holds 1,800+ members and 600+ stories. Its distinguishing capability is precision: the organization can extract the right constituent profile for a specific advocacy ask, rather than searching a static archive. I designed the surrounding communications and education framework, the borrower response system, and the DebtJourney survey deployed across the organization’s primary member engagement channels.
Transfers to: Patient story infrastructure for health systems · Grantee voice systems for philanthropy · Beneficiary narrative pipelines for international development · Stakeholder testimony for any organization that needs lived experience to move decision-makers.
Evidence Congressional testimony · State of the Union representation · Vice Presidential White House roundtable · National news features · 1,800+ members, 600+ stories captured under member-controlled consent
Coverage the work contributed to
- Article and event links
02 Director-Level Build
Large-Scale Stakeholder Engagement Architecture
Built at AFT as the Student Debt Activity Center, and now the model for the Affordability Activity Center
I design member-facing experiences that meet multiple audiences in the same space at the same time, without forcing one audience to wait through what another needs.
At AFT, I designed and produced the Student Debt Activity Center for a national convention of 3,000+ attendees: three simultaneous audience streams (celebration, guidance, skeptical inquiry), QR-code digital engagement, looping video testimonials, forgiveness celebration photography with personalized amount displays, and a cloud-based message board. The design became AFT’s organizational model for member engagement at scale, and leadership named me lead for the 2026 National Convention Affordability Activity Center on that basis.
Transfers to: Annual meetings for health systems, foundations, and international development · Donor and grantee experience design at scale · Multi-audience stakeholder convenings for any organization not getting return on its events.
Evidence 3,000+ attendees · Three simultaneous audience streams · Adopted as AFT’s organizational model · Named lead for the 2026 National Convention activity center.
03 Director-Level Build
High-Stakes Research and Institutional Knowledge Continuity
Built at AFT as Federal Litigation Research Lead
I serve as the institutional knowledge holder and primary research lead on work where one inaccurate fact in front of decision-makers changes the outcome.
At AFT, I held that role for an active federal lawsuit over a sustained period, coordinating directly with general counsel, outside litigation counsel, and senior legal advisors. At the conclusion of a major briefing session, all three independently recognized the quality, depth, and clarity of the research on the record.
Transfers to: Board-facing research on regulatory matters, audits, and investigations across health, philanthropy, and education · Research support for general counsel offices and policy teams · Institutional memory architecture for organizations losing senior staff
Evidence Active federal litigation · Praised on the record by general counsel, outside litigation counsel, and senior legal advisors · Sustained case continuity.
04 Director-Level Build
Multi-Source Intelligence System for Executive Decision-Making
I design intelligence systems that pull fragmented data from across an organization into a unified view leadership can act on.
I am currently architecting a multi-dimensional intelligence system integrating operational data, workforce intelligence, policy intelligence, contract tracking, and cross-departmental activity logs into a unified executive dashboard, designed to scale across regions.
Evidence Active engagement
05 Director-Level Build
Multi-Jurisdiction Regulatory Accreditation Infrastructure
Built at AFT as the CLE Regulatory Accreditation System
I build the institutional infrastructure required to operate as a credentialing body across multiple regulatory jurisdictions.
At AFT, I built the end-to-end Continuing Legal Education accreditation system that enabled the organization to function as a multi-state CLE sponsor. The six-phase architecture covers jurisdiction targeting, regulatory intelligence, application assembly, regulator liaison, approval processing, and participant credit fulfillment. It replaced an annual rebuild from scratch with a reusable institutional knowledge base, documented in an SOP I authored.
Evidence Multi-state CLE sponsor status achieved · SOP authored · Eliminated individual memory dependency
06 Director-Level Build
Program Architecture and Launch from Concept to Operating Reality
Built at AFT as the research department’s internship and fellowship program
I rebuild programs that exist in name but lack the infrastructure to run.
The research department’s internship program at AFT existed in name. I rebuilt it end to end. Discovery conversations with every supervisor mapped expectations and success profiles. A separate process review with HR identified onboarding and offboarding gaps. From that intelligence I built the full operating system: application form feeding an automated candidate database, supervisor request form, project and task tracker, dual dashboards. I co-authored the inaugural guidelines, implemented 30-day review cycles and a program evaluation instrument, launched a peer-only intern meeting series, and initiated the first fellowship partnership with the Roosevelt Network.
Evidence Adopted beyond the original department and administered organization-wide · Partnerships with Cornell ILR, and the Roosevelt Network · SOP authored.
07 Director-Level Build
International Coalition Building Across Languages and Political Contexts
Built at AFT for the Education International leadership campaign
I build coalitions across the linguistic, cultural, and political contexts most teams cannot reach into.
When AFT pursued a leadership seat at Education International, the global federation representing education unions across more than 170 countries, I was responsible for rallying African union affiliates in support of the campaign. I navigated the distinct political landscapes of those unions, communicated in the languages those relationships required, and made the case for the candidacy on terms partners could trust. The seat was won.
Evidence Evidence: Campaign outcome achieved · African affiliate coalition secured · Multilingual engagement across international union partners.
08 Director-Level Build
Workforce Operations Automation
Built at AFT as six HR systems through the Office of Strategic Initiatives
I design and deploy the operational systems that turn workforce administration from manual coordination into running infrastructure.
At AFT, I designed and deployed six systems under compressed timelines: COVID-19 vaccination compliance and safety, antigen testing kit request, telework request and contract automation, temporary staff onboarding portal, job candidate management pipeline, and staff onboarding workflow redesign. The COVID compliance build enabled the organization to meet its compliance window with no prior infrastructure in place.
Evidence Six operational systems deployed · Organization met its compliance window · Adopted across the organization.
09 Director-Level Build
Production Architecture and End-to-End Management for High-Visibility Content
Built at AFT in the Educational Issues Department
I build the workflow infrastructure that turns multi-stakeholder content production from individual memory into institutional practice, and I own everything around the content itself.
At AFT, I identified the absence of a production tracking system when no one else had named the gap, then built a comprehensive workflow and accountability system documenting every stage of the publication lifecycle. The system was adopted as departmental standard practice and outlasted my time in that department. On the execution side, I managed end-to-end production for nationally distributed AFT member resources including Becoming a Teacher, Union Role in Diversifying the Educator Workforce, Community School Checklist, and professional learning resources, covering content review, editorial process, director approval, copyediting, design, sign-off, print coordination, and release timing aligned to organizational events to keep costs at or below quote.
Evidence Workflow system adopted as departmental standard practice · Outlasted my departure · Multiple nationally distributed AFT publications managed end-to-end.
10 Director-Level Build
Operational Database Architecture for High-Volume Records Management
Built at AFT for the Collective Bargaining department
I design database architecture that turns unmanaged records environments into working operational instruments.
At AFT, the labor contracts database had grown unwieldy: records spanning hundreds of affiliated locals across dozens of states, contracts long expired, review statuses untracked. I designed and built a Smartsheet-based database with structured fields for expiration status, review assignment, review date, review progress, load date, and regional classification. For the first time, the Collective Bargaining department had a live instrument for tracking where contracts stood and who was responsible.
Evidence Operational foundation for the department’s contract.
11 Coordination & Management
National Conference Operations Leadership
Built at AFT as Co-Lead of the Collective Bargaining Conference
I own the operational architecture of national convenings while the content lead owns the substance.
I co-led AFT’s national Collective Bargaining Conference, a two-day gathering of union leaders, educators, and labor professionals. While the director owned session content, I owned the operational architecture: run of show, AV coordination, badge assignments, MC scripts, staff role assignments, materials logistics, interactive polling with external partners, and the certificate recognition process. I delivered the opening remarks introducing the Secretary-Treasurer.
Evidence Record attendance · Co-lead designation · Opening remarks before the Secretary-Treasurer.
12 Coordination & Management
Multilingual Program Coordination and Access Design at National Scale
Built at AFT across the English Language Learner program and the Student Debt Story Collection
I coordinate national programs and design access systems that depend on linguistic and cultural fluency the rest of the team does not have.
At AFT, I helped bring the program director’s vision for national ELL initiatives to life: coordinating the development the train-the-trainer module for multilingual educator preparation, co-managing interns, supporting the efforts of a national cadre of teachers serving English Language Learner populations, and coordinating national meetings across a multilingual member base spanning regions, and school contexts. Separately, in addition to creating the AFT’s student debt story collection tool, I translated and adapted the full intake and management system into Spanish, ensuring the questions, framing, and response pathways worked for Spanish-speaking members whose relationship to debt, institutions, and the labor movement carried its own context. The work brought a new member population into the story bank.
Evidence National ELL cadre coordination sustained · Train-the-trainer module delivered · Spanish-language story collection system deployed · New constituent population brought into the story bank.
In the Spotlight
The rooms where the policy met the people.
In 2023, I sat on a panel at the National Consumer Law Center’s Consumer Rights Litigation Conference, speaking on the new federal discharge rules from the U.S. Department of Education alongside attorneys from Legal Aid and consumer rights organizations. They knew the law. Borrowers shared with us, in their own voices, what the waiting did to them. They covered Borrower Defense, Total and Permanent Disability Discharge, False Certification, and Closed School Discharge. I covered Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Behind every one of those acronyms was a person we had walked alongside. That was the contribution I made to the room. The policy, returned to the human it was supposed to serve.
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. Stood up the institution’s first virtual disciplinary hearings under crisis conditions; capability retained afterward for governance continuity.
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
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
Cathryn Jackson · Reported to Mariame Directly · Intern
” I had the immense pleasure of working very closely with Mariame during my two years at the American Federation of Teachers. She consistently approached her work with both professionalism and genuine care for the members we serve. What always stood out to me was Mariame’s commitment to continuous improvement. Whether she was serving as the point person for Smartsheet within the union or helping develop professional development programming, she was always looking for ways to strengthen systems, support colleagues, and make our work more effective. Above all, Mariame leads with kindness. She is thoughtful, dependable, and deeply invested in the people behind the work. Her care for AFT members is authentic and evident in every project and interaction.
Jill Hoppe · Reported to Mariame Directly · Intern.
Connect
Let's talk.
Whether you’re reaching out about a professional opportunity, board service, or just to connect, I read every message myself.
Interested in leadership roles at mission-driven organizations where strategy and operational execution have to meet. Washington, DC area or remote.
Languages
French · English · Spanish
Dutch · Malinké · Bambara
Send a structured message
For a thoughtful reply, use the form. For time-sensitive outreach, email or call directly.
Looking forward to hearing from you.