At a recent Black graduation ceremony, Terrell Williams was struck by how many people knew Tiffany Dobson.
On stage, student after student greeted Dobson with either a hug or handshake. One would even linger, Williams said, thanking Dobson for all the support she had given them.
It’s the kind of exchange Williams has come to expect from Dobson, who she has gotten to know over the past year as part of Dobson’s work for congressional Rep. Josh Harder.
“She’s all about the community,” said Martinez, a deputy superintendent at the San Joaquin County Office of Education. “She’s inclusive, from the moment I met her.”
And on Monday, Martinez and about a dozen others waited to surprise Dobson with the city’s annual ATHENA Young Professional Award, a recognition given by the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce to those under 40 for their leadership and contributions. The award was created as part of a partnership between the Chamber and the non-profit group ATHENA International.
As Dobson stepped off the elevator from Harder’s office — where she works as its first-ever deputy district director — the crowd waiting inside the Chamber’s conference room did their best to hide behind its glass doors.
“Y’all gave it away,” said Dobson with a laugh, pointing to her parents as they went in to hug her, red roses in hand.
“This is different. Very different,” she continued. “Thank you for believing in me. That means a lot. I hope I make you proud.”
After a beat the person who nominated her, Adam Cheshire — the district director for Harder’s Stockton office — chimed in: “You already have.”
When asked why he chose to nominate Dobson, Cheshire said he’s had a front row seat to the contributions she’s made as the office’s deputy director, including the things people don’t always get to see. From working closely with staff to helping create a workplace where people feel safe, Cheshire said she makes others feel supported.
Of Dobson’s reaction to the award, Cheshire said it showed humility.
“Her willingness to not stop at a certain point, but to keep going and say, ‘What more can we be doing?’ I think that’s indicative of the kind of person she is,” Cheshire said.
When Dobson had first entered the conference room Richard Williams, Dobson’s father, recorded the entire scene. Holding his iPhone sideways with both hands, he lowered his head to his shirt sleeve to wipe at one eye.
For Williams, seeing his daughter’s work being recognized was hardly a surprise. Dobson’s service mindset is something Williams said he’s seen in his daughter since elementary school, when she received an award for her contributions to the school.
“She would want to take it to the next level,” said Paula Williams, Dobson’s mother, jumping in to add to her husband’s story. “As much as [she] could in elementary school.”
Her dedication to service is something Dobson continued through high school, Paula said. And now, through her work at Harder’s office, bridging the needs of Stockton’s local nonprofits to Washington, D.C.
But it’s work that her colleague Hector Soto, who first suggested to Cheshire that he nominate her for the award, has seen go beyond her role as a congressional aide.
At a recent summer music program, where Soto was there to present a certificate from Harder’s office, he saw firsthand how “entrenched” Dobson was in the community. With her kids a part of it, she was there to help set up the event.
And outside of that, according to the Chamber’s news release, Dobson’s involvement in the community is “broad and deeply personal.” Whether leading an annual Little Library crawl across the county or advocating for urban agriculture and small family farms, Dobson “represents a new generation of community leadership,” said the Chambers.
Soto said she is “always doing something else in the community, always volunteering extra time. She really kind of lives and breathes that mentality of ‘Yeah, I don’t just work here.’”
Dobson, for her part, said she always wanted her work to serve those around her
“In every job interview I’ve ever had, not like a high school job, whenever the question of, ‘What do you see yourself doing in five years?’ comes up, I always say, ‘I’m not really sure, but I hope that I’m serving the community in which I’m in,'” she said. “I’ve always meant that. I just want to do good work.”