Aliyha Amani: A leader in tax law and charitable giving

By Kelvin Childs

While some might find the American tax code to be intimidating, Aliyha Amani (’17, B.A.; ’21, J.D.; ’21, MBA) isn’t one of them. On the contrary, Amani is making a name for herself helping companies figure out how tax laws apply to them.

In her role as a tax attorney with the oil and gas conglomerate ExxonMobil, Amani advises the company on international tax matters — some in the billion-dollar range. Prior to that, she worked as a tax associate at the global law firm Baker McKenzie, providing insight and advice to high-net-worth individuals and multi-national corporations. 

“With everything that you do in the economy, there is a tax associated,” she says. “I deal with the more complicated issues that companies have.”

While the work comes second-nature to Amani today, she didn’t always envision her current career path. Her mother was an accountant, and she spent a lot of time in her mother’s office while growing up; yet she didn’t think taxes would play a role in her professional life. Instead, she had a passion for the arts and studied several types of performance dance including modern, tap and ballet.

She chose to attend Howard and major in dance for a number of reasons. “I was born at Howard University Hospital and spent some time at the University in my very young days,” she says. She also had familial connections: Her mother — A. Leaha Crawford (’96, BBA) — and one of her closest aunts, Tamar Woody (’94, B.A.) — both attended Howard. She was also impressed by Howard’s dance program. “Howard was the best option for me because the University has directly and indirectly had a significant impact on my life,” she says.

After Amani and a friend started a dance company during her undergraduate years, she decided to get her law and business degrees so she would be more prepared to run the enterprise. Though the company ultimately shut down, a class on tax law changed the trajectory of Amani’s career. “I fell in love with it,” she says. “Since taking that class, I’ve known that I wanted to pursue a career as a tax attorney.”

That career got off to a good start. When she took her bar exam, Amani scored in the 99th percentile. “There’s quite a bit of data out there about African-Americans not passing the bar, but not only can we pass, we can do so with flying colors,” she says. She’s also committed to helping other Black lawyers succeed through a nonprofit organization she founded called UPLIFT, which aims to increase the number of Black attorneys in the legal profession. “The path to and through the profession can be very challenging,” she says. “I created UPLIFT so that we could, as an organization, provide resources and a network to help aspiring attorneys navigate their journeys.”

With a dedication to giving back, one of her proudest achievements at ExxonMobil is not so much about tax law as it is about charitable giving. Amani coordinated a Howard donation project with other Bison who are company employees. Amani learned that ExxonMobil has a match program where it will donate $2 for every $1 an employee donates to a university. She searched for other Howard alumni who worked at the company and found approximately 13 who were willing to pool their donations together so they could get a bigger company match. Currently, the donation total stands at more than $12,000 and it’s likely to rise. Even if an alumnus does not have much to give, “Collectively, it’s a significant pot of money that goes to the school,” Amani says.

As she continues to move forward in her career, she’s clear that Howard has had a major impact on her success. The Howard community has been a steady and supportive beacon of encouragement, she says, and she believes she was well prepared academically. “The professors at the University definitely helped me learn the skills that I needed to perform at or above the level of my peers when I entered the workforce,” she says.

That’s why she believes it is so important to give back to the institution that has poured so much into her. “Howard is truly a special place,” she says. She encourages other alumni to ask themselves, “How do we use the capital that we’re earning in the market to help ensure that our university is self-sustaining?”

With the support of alumni, Howard can increase its influence not only on the students that walk its halls, but in the world at large, Amani says. “It will allow us to be more powerful.”