R. Jai Gillum Biography
R. Jai Gillum Bio |
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| R. Jai Gillum, the wife to Andrew Gillum, is the director of Foundation Affairs at the Florida Dental Association. She is a former executive director of United Way of the Big Bend’s The BEST Project, which helps people achieve long-term financial stability and quality of life through services such as tax preparation help. | |
| R. Jai Gillum Real Name | Rashada Jai Howard |
| R. Jai Gillum Age | 41 years as of 2018 |
| R. Jai Gillum Birthday | 1978 |
| R. Jai Gillum Husband | Andrew Gillum |
| R. Jai Gillum Children | Jackson, Caroline and Davis Allen Gillum. |
| R. Jai Gillum Education | Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Bachelor of Science in Biology and also a masters degree in health, policy and management from the same institution.
Sidney Lanier High School |
| R. Jai Gillum | unknown |
R. Jai Education
R’ Jai joined Sidney Lanier High School in 1993 graduating in 1996, where she later enrolled for a Bachelor of Science in Biology at the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. She has a masters degree in health, policy and management from the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.
R. Jai Career
While studying at the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University R. Jai was the vice president of the student body (2000 – 2001). In 20004 she began her career as a gubernatorial fellow at the Florida Department of Health for a year before joining Boys & Girls Clubs of the Big Bend as a development coordinator for a year.
R. Jai joined Florida Financial Literacy Council as a staff director, a position she held for a year before joining Florida Department of Financial Services in 2008 as the director of appointments at the Office of the Chief Financial Officer until 2011.
In 2012, she had a six-month stint at Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Big Bend where she served as the development director. She later became an executive director at United Way of the Big Bend’s BEST Project, whose mission is to “help people achieve long-term financial stability and quality of life through services such as tax preparation help.” She also served as the director of Income and Health Strategies.
In October 2016 she became the director of Foundation Affairs at the Florida Dental Association.
R.Jai Gillum and Andrew Gillum/ Andrew Gillum Wife
R. Jai and Andrew Gillum first met in the late 1990s while studying at the Florida A&M University and in the early 2000s they both were in the Student Government Association.
During an interview, Andrew revealed that he penalized Jai for ‘dressing inappropriately’ as a way of flirting.
“She came in one day with sort of a short skirt on, so I gave her a warning and told her she had to leave the chamber because she was not appropriately dressed. My way of flirting was to penalize her, she was the only person I ever had to give a demerit to for wearing a short dress.”
R. Jai, however, countered the statement saying that she was in a business suit. They never dated in college as Gillum tactic didn’t impress R. Jai. After college, they went separate ways but in 2003 R. Jai returned to college to a masters degree while Andrew was elected as a member of the Tallahassee City Commission becoming the youngest person to serve at the position.
R. Jai and Andrew later met at Governor’s Square mall where they talked a bit and Andrew gave R. Jai his home phone number despite having two cells. Jai never called.
“Maybe I felt rushed, I don’t know. I felt like I had given (her) every number that I owned, but (later) she said I only gave her my home phone number.” Andrew said during an interview.
“I didn’t think he was serious, he was wearing both of his cell phones, and then he gave me his home phone number. I said, ‘Anyone with two cell phones is never at home.’” R. Jai said.
A mutual mentor arranged for their meeting which ended up being their first real date which they describe as the “first date that never ended.” Five years later Gillum proposed. Andrew recalls how he had planned for the proposal to go but it somehow didn’t go as planned.
“There was this one place, Larson Family (Winery), where you could horseback ride through the vineyard. So I convinced her that we were going to go here and take a horseback ride. The guy (was) there in advance and had set up a table and two chairs with some wine out in the vineyard. The horses were so familiar with a certain route,
that when they got out there and saw the tablecloths, the horses freaked out. I got down on one knee and asked her if she would be my life partner, She said yes” Andrew recalled.
The couple got married on 24th May 2009.
R. Jai Children
On 19th May 2014, the couple gave birth to twins Jackson and Caroline. Before the birth of the twins, R. Jai suffered three miscarriages in a year.
“One year was incredibly tough, we had three miscarriages in one calendar year. Whenever I would share it with someone, it would be ‘Oh, I did too,’ or ‘I know someone who did. It was kind of shocking that it was so common, but it helped to be able to talk to other women and men who had been through the same thing.”
On May In May 2017, they announced the birth of their son Davis Allen Gillum.
