Jamira Burley

About

Human rights activist and social impact strategist best known as the Head of Youth Engagement and Skills at the Global Business Coalition for Education Summit and an MIT Media Lab Director's Fellow. She educates her followers and shares her beliefs on her jamiraburley Instagram page. 

Before Fame

She attended Overbrook High School, where she founded Panther Peace Corps, a violence prevention group. After reducing violence by 30%, she received a grant from Governor Ed Rendell to expand the program to the ten high schools in Philadelphia with the highest rates of violence. She graduated from Temple University, where she studied business and international studies.   

Trivia

In 2014, she received the "White House Champion of Change'' award from the White House in Washington DC for her advocacy work. She appeared in a video shown on the opening night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention which also features Joe Biden and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Family Life

She had fifteen siblings, including a brother who was murdered in an act of gun violence, and ten others who had been incarcerated. Her father was also incarcerated with a lengthy murder sentence, and her mother was a recidivist convict. 

Associated With

In 2012, she became Philadelphia's youngest-ever agency executive when she was named executive director of the Philadelphia Youth Commission by Mayor Michael Nutter.