20 Under 40: LeTiffany Obozele
LeTiffany is responsible for criminal case appeals to Kansas District and Appellate Courts. She also provides legal guidance to the city’s elected officials and employees. LeTiffany previously worked for the Douglas County District Attorney, the Office of the Kansas Attorney General, and the Sedgwick County District Attorney.
Originally from Virginia, LeTiffany fell in love with Topeka while attending Washburn Law. A proud Kansan, by choice, she is committed to staying and actively contributing to Topeka’s present and future. She is a member of the City of Topeka Core Team for the Kansas Leadership Center, a member of the Topeka Bar Association, and Sam A. Crow Inn of Court. LeTiffany is on the Board of Directors, Leadership Team, and the Health Heard for Forge Young Professionals. She also is the Topeka representative for the Kansas African American Museum Board of Directors and is the rotating host for KTWU’s I’ve Got Issues program.
With what little additional free time she has, she is also an adjunct professor at Washburn Law where she teaches trial advocacy and coaches the Washburn Law School trial team.
What is the biggest professional goal you have accomplished?
Right now, I think it’s quite simply becoming a better leader day by day, learning to manage myself, and becoming more self-aware. Listening and observing more than I speak. Seeking advice to be better, continue to grow, and become more knowledgeable. Learning from those who have institutional knowledge of the organization and creating avenues for all to learn those things. Determining how people best learn and helping them succeed. It’s also been taking time for self-care and spending quality time enjoying the company of my friends and family and this community I get to be a part of. You can’t pour from an empty cup.
What advice do you have for future leaders?
“Give yourself permission to learn.” I tend to be harder on myself than anyone could ever be. So, when I was stepping into my new role, all I could see was what I was doing wrong/didn’t know/still had to learn/what I could do better, etc. Somehow someone telling me that simple phrase helped me not take myself too seriously and know that as you learn, sometimes you knock it out of the park, and other times you keep growing and adjusting, and as you know more, you become better, and do better. It really allowed me to take the pressure off myself and be kinder to myself.
If you could own stock in any business in Topeka, which would it be?
Architect One...they seem to be investing in Topeka and creating and renovating to make Topeka even cooler!
