Tippi McCullough

Tippi McCullough is a lifelong Arkansan. She dedicated thirty-three years of her life to educating and coaching young people at high schools in Kingston, Newport, Mountain Pine, Mount St. Mary Academy, and Little Rock Central. In 2013, Tippi was moved to action when she was fired from her teaching job after marrying her longtime partner. Quickly hired by the Pulaski County Special School District, Tippi then finished her career teaching English at Central High School. She was chosen a 2013 Person of the Year by the Arkansas Times, and The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas awarded Tippi, and her spouse Barbara, with the 2014 Champions of Liberty Award. She served as a 2016 delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. In 2014, Tippi was elected chair of the Stonewall Democratic Caucus, then chair of the Democratic Party of Pulaski County, also honored by the Young Democrats of Arkansas with the Lifetime Member Award, and was chosen to speak at the historic 2017 Women’s March at Arkansas’s State Capitol. Tippi served as the vice-president of the Hillcrest Resident’s Association, chair of HarvestFest 2017 and 2018, and as a Little Rock Education Association building representative at Central High School where she sponsored the Central HS Young Democrats, the Feminist Alliance, and the Gay/Straight Alliance. She was also appointed to the Arkansas Education Association’s Legislative Committee, and the National Education Association’s Women’s Committee in 2017. Tippi graduated with a BSE from Ouachita Baptist University and earned a MSE in English from Henderson State University. She has taught and coached in communities all over Arkansas and was the first woman to serve as president of the Arkansas High School Coaches Association. Tippi also served as the co-chair of Pridecorps, and is active in her church, First United Methodist Church downtown where she served on the Staff Parish Relations Committee. She currently serves on the boards of The Arkansas Humanities Council, Just Communities of Arkansas, Kaleidoscope Film Festival, the Arkansas Cinema Society, and the Stonewall Democratic Caucus of AR. She is currently serving her 3rd term in the Arkansas General Assembly representing District 74 in Little Rock and was elected Minority Leader in August 2020 and re-elected as Minority Leader in May of 2022. She serves on the Judiciary Committee, the City/County/Local Affairs Committee, Public Retirement and Social Security Programs, the Arkansas Legislative Council, and Joint Auditing. She was also appointed to the National Conference of State Legislators International Relations Task Force and the Governing Board of The Council of State Governments (CSG). She has received awards for her work from the AR Coalition Against Domestic Violence, The Advocate magazine, the AR Municipal League, the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, AR Advocates for Children and Families, the Victory Fund Midwest Reception Deb Shore award, the Stonewall Democratic Caucus of Arkansas, the Arkansas Times, and the Young Democrats of Arkansas. For twenty-four years, Tippi and wife, Barbara Mariani, a 6th Judicial District of AR prosecutor, have made their home in District 74 where they enjoy reading, movies, traveling, hiking, and cycling.