Jamira Burley is a human rights activist and social impact strategist. She is currently the Head of Youth Engagement and Skills at the Global Business Coalition for Education a Summit and an

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...

Media Lab Director's Fellow.

Early life

Burley grew up in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. She had fifteen siblings, including a brother who was murdered in an act of

gun violence Gun-related violence is violence committed with the use of a firearm. Gun-related violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable), assault with a deadly weapon, a ...

, and ten others that had been incarcerated at some point. Her father was also incarcerated with a lengthy murder sentence, and her mother was a recidivist convict. Attending Overbrook High School, she founded Panther Peace Corps, a violence prevention group. After it was responsible for reducing violence by 30%, she received a grant from Governor

Ed Rendell Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American lawyer, prosecutor, politician, and author. He served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011, as chair of the national Democratic Party, and as the 96th Mayor of Philade ...

to expand the program to the ten high schools in Philadelphia with the highest rates of violence. She was the first of her siblings to graduate from high school, and graduated from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

, where she studied business and international studies.

Career

In 2012 Burley became Philadelphia's youngest ever agency executive when she was named executive director of the Philadelphia Youth Commission by Mayor

Michael Nutter Michael Anthony Nutter (born June 29, 1957) is an American politician who served as the 98th Mayor of Philadelphia. Elected on November 6, 2007, he was reelected to a second term on November 8, 2011. He is a previous member of the Philadelphia ...

. After an initial stint with

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

working on “a united approach to gun violence, police violence and criminal justice reform” according to The Guardian, during Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign she was named the national deputy millennial vote director. In addition to national strategy, her role included work on the ground campaign in Pennsylvania, leading door knocking campaigns and other campaign work. Burley became the sole American to sit on the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Global Education First Initiative, Youth Advocacy Group. After the presidential election, she became the Senior Campaigner for Gun Violence and Criminal Justice with Amnesty International. Her advocacy work led to her receiving a “White House Champion of Change” award from the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

in Washington DC in 2014. Burley is currently Head of Youth Engagement and Skills at the Global Business Coalition for Education and former MIT Media Lab Director's Fellow. Jamira is at the moment directiong Youth Engagement and Skills for the Global Business Coalition for Education, in United States. She also continues her

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

activities with

Amnesty International USA Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) is one of many country sections that make up Amnesty International worldwide. Amnesty International is an organization of more than 7 million supporters, activists and volunteers in over 150 countries, with compl ...

. Burley appeared in a video shown on the opening night of the

2020 Democratic National Convention The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtually across the United States. At the convention, delegates of ...

which also features Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden,

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Police Chief

Art Acevedo Hubert Arturo Acevedo (born July 31, 1964) is an American police officer who is the interim chief of police of the Aurora Police Department as of December 2022. Previously, he was the chief of police of the Houston Police Department, Austin Pol ...

, activist

Gwen Carr Gwen Carr (born 1949) is an American activist, public speaker, and author. Carr's son, Eric Garner, was killed by a New York Police Department officer who used a prohibited chokehold to arrest Garner. Since her son's death, Carr has become active ...

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

President

Derrick Johnson Derrick O’Hara Johnson (born November 22, 1982) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned consensus All-American honors twice. He was drafted by the Kansas City ...

, and

Chicago Mayor The mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of city government in Chicago, Illinois, the third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsible for the administration and management of various city departments, submits proposals and r ...

Lori Lightfoot Lori Elaine Lightfoot (born August 4, 1962) is an American attorney and politician serving since 2019 as the 56th mayor of Chicago. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before becoming mayor, Lightfoot worked in private legal practice as ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burley, Jamira Living people Temple University alumni Activists from Philadelphia Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign Amnesty International people Year of birth missing (living people)