Christian Leadership to Change the World
Regent Leaders in the World: Tanya Bullock
CBN.com – In only a few years, Tanya Bullock has become the embodiment of Regent University’s motto, Christian Leadership to Change the World. An alumna of the Civic Leadership Institute, Bullock was named one of Hampton Roads’ Top 40 Business People Under 40 by Inside Business magazine and received a Silver Star Award from the Urban League. In law practice since 2005, she also led the charge against foreclosure-rescue scams in Virginia. Working with state and local officials, she pushed for the development of a much-needed foreclosure-rescue statute in 2008. Fiercely focused on her goal of making life better for others, Bullock reached out for yet another golden ring on the carousel. This time she offered her services to the place she fondly calls home: Virginia Beach, Va.—Tanya Bullock for City Council, 2010.
From a childhood of limited means, how did this young woman rise to such levels of academic and business achievement? “It was truly a divine plan,” she reflects. “If I hadn’t been assigned some advanced-placement courses in high school, I would have missed the positive peer influence. My friends were planning for college, so I started applying to colleges too.”
Even as a young child, Bullock curiously inquired about careers that would lead to financial stability, determined to escape her family’s economic struggles. With self-determination and some basic principles acquired through a church outreach ministry, Bullock dreamed big. She would become a lawyer someday! “Faith made the difference. Things people said were impossible, I never believed were obstacles,” she adds.
After graduating from North Carolina State with an emphasis in criminal justice, 21-year-old Bullock stepped into a maximum-security women’s prison as a correctional officer. Young and inexperienced, she tested her value system in this challenging environment. “I had opportunities to express love, to lift up a life,” she recalls. “Through this experience I learned how to work with all kinds of people.” While learning about life within the confines of prison walls, Bullock continued her quest to become a lawyer, spending endless hours preparing law school applications.
Acceptance at Regent University brought Bullock back home to Virginia. Desiring a law school with Christian core values, she gladly returned. Having received all of her undergraduate education in public schools, Bullock was struck by the seamless integration of Christian principles at Regent University. “Learning the importance of integrity was very influential in my life. It takes a different kind of lawyer to say ‘I’m not going to do something because it is morally wrong,’” she says, “rather than focusing on not getting caught. Regent absolutely played an instrumental part in any leadership role I have today.”
Upon receiving her Juris Doctor in 2000, Bullock’s professional dream had finally materialized. Against all odds, she had achieved what many said was unachievable. First working as a prosecutor in the Norfolk and Virginia Beach Commonwealth Attorney’s Offices, Bullock and her sister, Wanda Cooper, later opened their partnership, Bullock and Cooper, PC, in 2005. A young lawyer experienced in overcoming obstacles, Bullock soon found herself fighting a battle over foreclosure-rescue scams. With a passion for justice that kept her up at night, Bullock knew she had to act. Appearing at committee hearings in Richmond, she brought attention to the plight of people desperately trying to save their homes while being fraudulently taken by profiteers. Finally, a new Consumer Protection Law statute was passed to protect people from 5
these scams, drying up the whole area of litigation. Not exactly a person’s get-rich scheme—but a prime example of a principled lawyer in action: Tanya Bullock.
With a young family and a law practice to tend, why would Bullock want the responsibilities of public service? “It’s truly that Virginia Beach has been good to me. I want to make sure that my grandkids have the same opportunity for success that I did,” she says. Feeling groomed for this moment, Bullock wants to give back through a contribution of leadership. Continuing to believe that nothing is impossible, she holds fast. “Nothing is off the table, out of reach,” she states. For Tanya Bullock, perseverance and faith appear to be an unbeatable combination.
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