Judge Tanya Brinkley was elected In August of 2012 as a Miami-Dade County Court Judge, after being nominated for gubernatorial appointment. She one of two black women on the Miami-Dade Circuit bench. Judge Brinkley was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. She attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she obtained her Bachelors of Business Administration in Finance in 1991. After attending the CLEO Six-Week Summer Institute at Georgetown University School of Law in 1992, Judge Brinkley attended the University of Miami School of Law, where she also studied at the London College of Law, before earning her J.D. in 1995. Judge Brinkley is assigned to the criminal division at the South Dade Justice Center, where she presides over misdemeanor crimes, domestic violence cases, and uncontested divorces. Judge Brinkley is actively involved in her community. She was recognized by Legacy magazine as one of the 25 Most Influential and Prominent Black Women in Business for 2012. Judge Brinkley was awarded the 2010 Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. Bar Association Pro Bono Award, and the 2009 Ray Pearson Guardian Ad Litem Pro Bono Award by the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Family Division Judges for her representation of children in contested family cases.