Mia comes from a line of servant leaders, from a family that’s run a small business in Bennettsville for over 100 years. Her small town roots have kept her in tune with the challenges that our families and businesses face every day, and has given her the perspective to bring people from all walks of life together to get things done. And she’s running for Governor so that South Carolina can be a place that is full of opportunity…a place that her two young adult sons and other young South Carolinians can be proud to call home and want to come back to when they’re ready to start their families.
Mia has shown leadership in and outside of government. With 18 years as an entrepreneur and Chief Executive Officer of her own company, she has also served as a college educator, the state’s top victim advocate and has a distinguished career serving the people of SC in the legislative and executive branches.
She has worked with Attorneys General and Governors of both parties to take on South Carolina’s crisis of domestic violence by developing the state’s first protocols and curricula for law enforcement, solicitors, judges and victim advocates, using a multi-disciplinary collaborative approach to training and implementation. While leading the state’s Crime Victim Compensation Program, the Program received national accolades for its innovative expansion of services and access to rural, underserved communities and was used as a model for other states.
She has won multiple high-profile, competitive races for State Representative and State Senate (the latest by more than 24 points), in which she became the first woman and first African-American to win her Senate seat.
In the state legislature, Mia leads with courage to improve and strengthen public and higher education. She is a fierce advocate for jobs, economic and workforce development, access to quality affordable healthcare, higher wages that South Carolinians can actually live on, pay equity, racial equality, safer highways and infrastructure improvements, as well as other systemic reforms that will help strengthen our citizens and communities. She knows how to bring Democrats and Republicans together to make real progress for South Carolina.
Mia resides in Northeast Columbia. She is a Liberty Fellow, SC Education Policy Fellow and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Her sons, BJ and Cam, reside in Columbia and Colorado, respectively, where Cam plays football at Colorado State University.