Living Portrait of Courage: Jamira Burley

Jamira realized her life’s calling when she was only 16 years old. She was born in Philadelphia where circumstances seemed to dictate that teen pregnancy, incarceration and gun violence were inevitable. In 2005, her family endured two tragedies – within only a few months of each other, Jamira’s brother was killed by gun violence and separately, her father was a perpetrator of violence. From the pain surrounding these two events, Jamira cultivated a deep commitment to serve and better her community. Like many young teens, Jamira questioned what impact she could make with very limited resources and little sway among adults, but realized that as long as she had a voice, she had power to create change. She joined city commissions and started school initiatives to reduce gun violence, an issue that both devastated her personal life and touched an overwhelming majority of others in her neighborhood. Jamira’s fellow classmates rallied around her efforts, relating to the tragedies that she and her family had experienced. Within 12 months of starting her initiative, the violence rate at Jamira’s school was reduced by 30 percent. Given the success, Jamira received a grant from the government to implement her program in top 10 most violent schools in her district.

Jamira’s sense of civic duty became ever more apparent after graduating from college as she brought her advocacy to the national stage, taking on issues of gun violence, youth engagement, education reform, global citizenship, corporate social responsibility and criminal justice reform. She served as the National Deputy Millennial Vote Director and the Manager of Gun Violence for Amnesty International. Jamira also founded GenYNot, giving space for youth to voice their opinions and offer solutions to the issues that directly impact them.

Jamira currently works as a community and youth engagement strategist in countries throughout the world, believing that policies empowering and giving voice to youth are critical to positive social change. Jamira is herself a testament to the ideas she holds true about youth and what she constantly tries to instill in the next generation—they are their own heroes. While many encourage her to pursue public office, Jamira is inspired by finding unconventional ways to achieve her goals and live her passion.

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