Georgia Youth Leadership Awards 2020

Leaders, 21st Century Leaders has remained at the forefront of leadership, diversity training, and workforce development for 30 years. As we move forward into our 4th decade of service to the state of Georgia, our vision on leadership and the future of our students and programs is as clear as ever. We must find new innovative ways to serve more students around the state and expose students to more career opportunities than ever before. Investing in youth leadership matters, because it?s an investment in our future.

Though we are disappointed that our annual event had to be canceled in the interest of safety, please join me in celebrating the Georgia Youth Leadership Award (GYLA) winners who prove that the future is bright in the work they're doing in their schools, communities, and around the world. As you read through this program, you will meet 21 extraordinary Georgia high school students and all students of the 21st Century Leaders program. Each leader exemplifies our core leadership values including passion, forward thinking, resourcefulness, leverages diversity, and service oriented.

While this year's event did not move forward in-person, as planned, I want to make it clear that all proceeds raised will still go to the same great mission of 21st Century Leaders. Proceeds will help support the launch of our newest Healthcare & IT summer institute, our year-round leadership programs, and most importantly our students - including this year's GYLA winners. I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to our event sponsors for keeping their commitment to youth leadership and recognizing our 21 students and providing them with $6,000 in grants, including WarnerMedia's Student Leadership Award Winner's $1,000 grant.

I want to thank our individual and in-kind donors for supporting this event and silent auction.

To all of our partners, the Atlanta Business Chronicle?s 40 under 40 members, 21CL supporters, alumni, and board members, thank you for your time and helping select and mentor our student award winners.

With your support now and in the future we will continue inspiring youth to lead in our communities and workplaces for years to come.

With gratitude,

Kate Hewitt Executive Director

Georgia Youth Leadership Awards Committee Thank you to our GYLA Co-Chairs 21CL Board of Directors Corey Dortch, Ph.D., Emory University's Goizueta Business School Danette Johnson, Dot & Lace: A People and Culture Boutique

GYLA Auction Committee Josephine Obiofuma, Emory School of Law, 21CL Junior Board, Co-Chair Melissa Royal, Flexpot, 21CL Alumna, Co-Chair Peyton Callanan, Visit Sandy Springs , 21CL Junior Board of Directors Dennis Adamovich, College Football Hall of Fame

GYLA Coaches & Selection Committee Monique Bell, Bobby Dodd Institute Chadwick Boyd, Lovely & Delicious Chandra Farley, Partnership for Southern Equity David Felfoldi, Sherpa Global Marty Fleischmann, Atlanta Formula E-Prix, 21CL Board Kareem Hall, K. Hall Consulting, LLC. April Jackson, SunTrust Dr. Shaneeta Johnson, Morehouse School of Medicine Jared Kozel, Moxie

Amanda Mewborn, Navicient Health Tamira Moon, Georgia Dept. of Public Health & To the Moon & Back Foundation Inc. Marguerite Pressley-Davis, Pressley-Davis Strategic Business Consulting & Tulle La La Dr. Adriane Randolph, KSU, Coles College of Business, BrainLab Dr. Jyoti Sharma, Piedmont Healthcare, 21CL ALumna Maria Thacker Goethe, GA BIO, Global Health Alliance

Adriana Embus, Samuel A. Ramirez & CO., Inc, 21CL Junior Board, Past GYLA Winner Jordan Jackson, 21CL Student, Past GYLA Winner JP James, Libreum International, 21CL

Cherene Johnson, MBUSA Chance Mack, 21CL Junior Board C.J. Stewart, L.E.A.D., Diamond Directors Kayla Weeks, 21CL Student, Past GYLA Winner Laura Whitaker, Extra Special People

OUR MISSION 21st Century Leaders is a non-profit organization that connects, transforms, and inspires high school students all across Georgia to leverage diversity, explore career opportunities, and become leaders in their schools, communities, and ultimately the workforce. www.21stcenturyleaders.org

- Forward Thinking Maahi Jain, a senior at Milton High School in Fulton County, is the founder of the Young Leaders of Healthcare at Milton High School and a researcher on therapeutic technology for patients with Alzheimer?s disease. Maahi created the Young Leaders of Healthcare Club in 2018 to help educate her peers about healthcare professions. The club, which meets twice a month at the public library, allows 10-25 students to learn from a guest speaker in careers like cardiology, dentistry, and public health. Maahi has also been working with a laboratory at Columbia University to conduct a research study on the uses of 3D printing technology to facilitate reminiscence therapy for seniors with Alzheimer?s disease. Maahi?s passion to research Alzheimer?s disease is personal, after seeing family members suffering from severe forms of the disease and after volunteering at the Arbor Terrace Assisted Living and Senior Care in the dementia facility for over four years. She conducted her research with nine residents of Arbor Terrace for 2 months before entering the analysis phase. Her goal for her project is to research a technological solution to therapy options in Alzheimer?s disease for future use in senior facilities. She has also volunteered and interned at various medical facilities both locally and in India. Maahi is also the co-creator of a tutoring company called TutorShine, is a lifelong pianist, a Bollywood dancer, and a 21st Century Leaders Youth Ambassador. In the future, Maahi hopes to go to medical school to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor and expanding her research on the human brain.

Madison Kenney, a junior at Georgia Connections Academy in Gwinnett County, is the founder of the RoboChicks Robotics Team and a STEM advocate for girls. At the age of nine, Madison founded the RoboChicks Robotics Team, after realizing that girls were underrepresented at robotics competitions. At the age of thirteen, Madison began writing grants to cover the cost of coaching younger girls in underserved areas.

She has secured over $4,000 in funding and has coached 195 girls and counting through RoboChicks. Recently, she created RoboChicks 2G (Second Generation), a competitive robotics team for elementary and middle school-aged girls at the Andrew and Walter Young Family YMCA. Madison also started a Girls Who Code Club at her online school, signing up 135 new members with hopes of expanding the program nationally on the Connection Academy online platform. She averages over 100 Outreach hours each school year by exhibiting at STEM Expos, holding STEM training, and speaking engagements. She has competed in the FIRST Lego League, FIRST Tech Challenge and Seaperch Underwater Robotics and has many awards both locally and nationally.

Madison has been named an "Everyday Young Hero'" by Youth Services America for all of her efforts to bring more girls into STEM and was nominated as ?WIT Girl of the Year Finalist.? Madison is a 21CL Youth Ambassador, a Dual Enrolled student at Kennesaw State University, and aspires to become a Mechatronics Engineer.

Jacob Lee, a junior at the Kennesaw Mountain High School Academy of Mathematics, Science and Technology in Cobb County, is the founder and President of Tech Gap Reboot, a 501(c)(3) providing classroombased technology solutions to close the education gap. After a several trips to South America and Africa, Jacob noticed that many of the educational resources he had access to were not available for many other kids globally. Jacob recognized this unfair playing field, damaging kids? ability to escape poverty from their earliest years of learning. Jacob has raised $32,000 and works with 40 volunteers in order to close the gap for hundreds of kids internationally by using technology-based learning systems. He has brought access to Khan Academy in Lima, Peru, with plans to serve kids in Cusco starting in May 2020. They have also provided hundreds of textbooks, maps, and other educational resources to places of learning in need. In addition, Jacob started a local tutoring program in Atlanta for homeless kids who are taught by retired teachers and high school student volunteers. Through these programs, many kids have already jumped several reading grade levels within the first year.

Jacob serves as his class treasurer, is the varsity defense captain on KMHS?lacrosse team, a Life Scout, and an intern for the Kennesaw Business Association. In the future, Jacob plans to attend college studying towards a Physics degree or an Aerospace Engineering degree.

Forward Thinking Aakash Pothu, a senior at South Forsyth High School in Forsyth County, is the founder of CardioSmart, a cardiac health predictor for patients who are susceptible to chronic cardiac diseases. CardioSmart incorporates an intuitive risk algorithm by using the Heart Rate Variability (HRV) scans of patients. The app feeds in thousands of different heart rate variability scans and uses machine learning to match certain arrhythmias and heart defects to diagnose a patient, which is usable for prevention, monitoring, and even for insurance purposes. To explore his passion for life-saving technology, Aakash assisted Dr. Michael Borich at the Neural Plasticity Research Lab at the Department of Rehabilitation at the Emory School of Medicine. In this lab, he helped conduct research on Sensorimotor Deprivation and plasticity of the human hand motor cortex.

Aakash also established various connections through 21CL that helped him develop his app and business, one of which was an internship with Hire Dynamics. Currently, Aakash is working on releasing the application to the public. Going forward, Aakash is adamant about revolutionizing his dream of helping lives around the world while simultaneously creating a legacy that will impact generations to come.

Ciera Walker, a senior at Hardaway High School in Muscogee County, is the founder of Young Black Writers, an organization that promotes literacy, journalism, and public speaking in 3rd - 5th grade students.

Ciera was motivated to create Young Black Writers during the 2019-2020 school year after observing a deficit of seniors in her high school community being eligible for graduation. Coming from a high school with a 94% economically disadvantaged student population, the majority of these students had very low literacy scores and had little interest in reading and writing in general. Every Monday, Ciera works with 10-15 elementary students teaching the fundamentals of English in a unique way. Ciera has dedicated over 80 hours to establishing and running Young Black Writers, and has seen 75% of her students feel more confident in their writing and public speaking skills. Aside from working this program, Ciera also serves as a 21CL Youth Ambassador, President of the National English Honor Society at her school, and is a Girl Scout.

She volunteers regularly with her local United Way Youth Council and participated in iLead, a leadership program where she contributed to the service project of revamping Truth Springs Academy, a low income elementary school. Ciera intends to major in Broadcast Journalism. She wants to use her voice to uplift and encourage those in this country who feel unheard and underrepresented.

- Leverages Diversity Keith Harris, a senior at Westlake High School in Fulton County, is a history-making public speaker and entrepreneur. As part of the nationally known Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project, Keith and his debate partner were the first African Americans to go undefeated and win the Harvard Summer Residency International Tournament in Harvard history. After attending one of 21CL?s summer institutes, Keith was inspired to use his platform and skills from his time at both 21CL and Harvard Debate Council to reach back into his community and start a public speaking workshop in partnership with Youth Challenge Incorporated. He believes that in every profession, the need to communicate your thoughts concisely is a must. Because of this, he launched this program in September 2019 in order to give students access to this invaluable communication skill. Keith has impacted over 40 youth who participated in his workshop series, which he led every other Saturday from September through December. He is recruiting a younger public speaker to succeed him as leader of this workshop so it may continue in the local community after he graduates high school. In the Fall, Keith plans to attend college and major in Business Management and eventually become an Entertainment Lawyer.

- Leverages Diversity Shalin Jain, a senior at Duluth High School in Gwinnett County, launched VietSkype in 2018, an online platform to teach English to disadvantaged high school students in Vietnam. Being a second-generation immigrant and going to school surrounded by other first and second-generation immigrants, Shalin says the language barrier is a common struggle in his community. He leveraged high school volunteerism to begin VietSkype in his school, pairing English-speaking peers with disadvantaged high school students in Vietnam who were looking to overcome the language barrier. Thanks to having volunteers and a video chat system, Shalin has tutored over 70 rural Vietnamese students for free, allowing them to improve their English with the hopes of studying abroad. While overcoming the language barrier, tutors and students were able to find common ground across opposite hemispheres. Shalin hopes to expand the impact of the project to other parts of the world, applying the same model to other underserved areas wishing to have access to English tutoring. Aside from operating VietSkype, Shalin is an officer of National Honor Society, on the board for Duluth International Night, the Lead Engineer of the robotics team, and the President of Science Olympiad.

Outside of school, Shalin is a part of a K-Pop dance group and helps teach classes at the Francis Fong Martial Arts Academy.

Nitya Jella, a senior at the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology in Gwinnett County, is an advocate of the visually impaired and co-founder of the Buddy Runners, an organization that pairs guide runners with blind athletes to help them run races. After two years of volunteering with the blind community, she noticed the lack of adapted sports and opportunities for the visually impaired to get involved in athletics. She wanted them to be able to experience the sport of running, so she created this organization in 2017. Personally, Nitya has run six 5K races as a guide for blind runners. In addition to ?running? her organization, Nitya is an active volunteer in Atlanta's blind community; and she has spent over 1,000 hours working with this community and has impacted over 200 blind children. She volunteers at the Center for the Visually Impaired and at the National Federation for the Blind summer camps to help visually impaired children live independently. For seven summers she has worked with Camp Abilities, another organization that provides a stay-away summer camp for kids to experience other adapted sports. She is also an audiobook reader for the Georgia Radio Reading Services, a station under Georgia Public Broadcasting. Nitya recently won the Posse Scholarship, a full-tuition scholarship that is based on leadership and service, and she will be attending Texas A&M University in the fall. Nitya is a 21CL Youth Ambassador and is very passionate about service and, in the future, would like to become a music therapist.

Camisha Smith, a senior at Henry W. Grady High School in Fulton County, is the founder of All Mixed Up Project and business entrepreneur. The All Mixed Up Project started as a 15 member group that advocates for people of multiracial backgrounds and spreads awareness. Camisha envisioned this project based on her own experiences as a biracial teen in Atlanta and wanted to teach people how to inquire about other people?s backgrounds in a respectful way. Started in 2018, the organization has impacted hundreds of people worldwide, educating people at community events, through their social media platforms, and the documentary that was directed and produced by Camisha. The documentary profiles various multiracial teens who she interviewed to share their stories and experiences and has been shown at several screenings across the city with the All Mixed Up group hosting panel discussions to spark a conversation about race. Additionally, she started her own business two years ago selling thrifted clothes on an Instagram page, with a growing following of over 5,000 people. She has sold over 600 items and plans to continue this into her college career.

Camisha is also an active member of the National Honor Society, National Beta Club, and 21st Century Leaders Club at her school. Her future plans include majoring in public relations or marketing, expanding her business, and continuing to spread awareness on campus and the world around her.

- Leverages Diversity Alvin Wright, a junior at Clarkston High School in DeKalb County, is committed to serving the immigrant population in his community. An immigrant himself, Alvin moved to the United States from Liberia, Africa in 2018. Not long after Alvin moved to the U.S. (and to Clarkston, GA, the ?most diverse square mile in America?), he started to dedicate his time and pay it forward because he understood what it feels like to need help.

Through his community work, Alvin has impacted over 15 students through the program, ?Transforming Lives, One Child At a Time,? which counsels and supports children who have lost their homes and are living in hotels. He's also a peer tutor for ESL students and other immigrant teenagers as they prepare to take the SAT with Re'Generation Movement's SAT and leadership classes. Alvin spends hundreds of hours volunteering with clean-up campaigns, the food pantry at his school that provides boxed meals to over 100 families once a month, and other outreach and service projects. Through sharing his experience and passion, Alvin has created a more inclusive community, celebrating differences and raising awareness of the diaspora experience. He dreams of becoming a diplomat or an international lawyer to fight for the causes of those who are victims of the current problems in the world or who are unable to defend themselves.

- Resourcefulness Luisa De Macedo, a senior at Chattahoochee High School in Fulton County, promotes Latin culture through her numerous volunteer initiatives. As a bilingual Brazilian-American, she is using her unique resources to help others while sharing and exchanging their cultures. In 2018, Luisa co-founded a volunteer project through her church, AGAPE Church in Lawrenceville, GA, that teaches English to native Spanish speakers. Through this tutoring service, she has helped 32 Spanish speaking individuals to learn English and better connect with the world around them. In 2019, she founded the Spanish Club at her school in order to spread cultural awareness among her generation of peers. Luisa says connecting with her peers opened her worldview, and further emphasized to her the important role diversity plays in our lives. In addition, she serves in her school as president of her Spanish Club, Events Coordinator for her National Honor Society Chapter, and is an avid member of her school?s drama troupe and musical theatre class. Outside of school, she is a proud member of the 21st Century Leaders?Youth Ambassadors, volunteers in the community, and is a skilled ballet and pointe dancer. Luisa will attend the University of Georgia in the fall, where she hopes to pursue a pre-medical path and leverage her passion for biology to become a leader in the medical industry.

Kiran Gadde, a junior at the Westminster Schools in Fulton County, founded Keep the Ball Rolling (KBR), a program that recycles retired athletic equipment and gear. In 2018, after learning that his school would be switching their athletic supplier and consequently would have to discontinue use of their current sports equipment, Kiran came up with the idea to begin a sports equipment recycling program that would organize sports equipment drives and donate gently used athletic gear to organizations and communities in need. Kiran has since collected over 300 pieces of individual equipment, donated to organizations such as Agape Youth & Family Center and Boys & Girls Clubs, as well as the previous uniforms for the entire football and baseball programs. He donated the uniforms to re:loom, an organization that employs and empowers homeless and low-income individuals through the craft of textile weaving, to whom he was introduced at 21CL?s summer institute in 2019. He's currently working on a project with re:loom for the merchandise created from the recycled uniforms to be sold at his school. When Kiran is not working on outreach for KBR, he organizes blood drives with his twin brother Teja in association with the American Red Cross, an organization that saved the life of a family member when an emergency blood transfusion was needed. After hosting three blood drives, the two brothers have collected over 72 pints of blood - equivalent to saving over 216 lives. Kiran says experience with 21st Century leaders opened his eyes to efficient and beneficial leadership, and he hopes to leverage his network to further his projects in the Atlanta community.

- Resourcefulness Kelsey Henderson, a senior at Westlake High School in Fulton County, is the co-founder of The Brainy Bunch, a mental health support program for her school. Founded in 2019 by Kelsey and two of her peers, Julia Seay and India Rice, The Brainy Bunch aims to implement healthy and positive mental health initiatives into the ordinary school day. Kelsey co-founded this club after witnessing several of her friends and family battle with mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and ultimately suicide. This program has already served over 100 Westlake students through monthly events focused on mental health and the involvement of over 50 volunteers. Through The Brainy Bunch and her role as Student Body President, Kelsey expresses passion for mental healthcare and to bridge the gap between administration and the student body. Outside of school, Kelsey is involved in multiple leadership programs in addition to 21st Century Leaders: the Fulton County Youth Commission, Re: Imagine ATL Teen Advisory Board, Girl Scouts, National Honor Society, and Beta Club.

Kelsey wants to expand The Brainy Bunch into more schools and uplift others through her passion for television and film production. She wants to continue to make society and the media more inclusive, spread awareness and better our society by aiding in a mentally healthy future. She plans to attend Howard University in the fall to study Film and Television Production and Strategic Communications.

Conner Kanaly, a junior at The Lovett School in Fulton County, is the co-founder of the CPK Scholarship. Through money raised from year-round jobs and fundraising efforts, Conner, along with his sister, created the CPK Scholarship to help families in-need defray the costs of books and course materials for college-bound students. The CPK Scholarship has awarded $500 to families being served by Agape, an Atlanta-based non-profit. Conner first became involved with Agape when he was in grade school ? regularly volunteering his time both during the school year and over summer break he witnessed the needs first hand. His goal for the scholarship is not only to increase the number of recipients each year, but also to increase the dollar amount awarded, with the overarching goal of helping talented, less-fortunate candidates become successful leaders. Outside of his involvement with Agape, Conner continues to works three year-round jobs to keep the scholarship funded. Conner is a member of the Children?s Healthcare of Atlanta Club, a leader of a Bible Study Program for middle- and lower-school students, and a co-founder and co-president of the High School Club at Lovett, an outlet for students to relieve stress and enjoy their afternoons during a rigorous academic day. Conner views all of these activities as a means of promoting (and funding) student leadership for underprivileged children in and out of the Atlanta community ? this is his unifying goal.

Cody Nelson, a junior at St. Pius X Catholic High School in DeKalb County, founded Reaction VR Sports, Inc, a company that provides lacrosse goalies with a virtual reality training environment, called Virtual Goalie.

Cody developed Virtual Goalie when he was switching his position on his lacrosse team from an attackman to a goalie. Seeking the resources to develop the skills and train for this position, he invented a way to practice his new lacrosse goalie position using his virtual reality headset in a fully immersive field of play. After realizing that it made him a more effective player, he released the virtual training program to the public as a subscription service. Since its inception in 2017, Cody has built a user base of several hundred subscribers, including schools, universities, lacrosse programs, camps, and individual players. Seeing a 300% growth over last fiscal year, he is developing this same VR service for baseball and other sports. Currently, Cody is exploring a philanthropic opportunity to work with an organization that helps athletes with disabilities. He hopes to rework the VR application so that disabled athletes can benefit from an immersive virtual training environment. In 2018, Cody and his company participated at LaxCon, the National Lacrosse Convention, drawing crowds and new subscribers. Cody is also involved in philanthropic work at Books for Africa, the Zaban Couples Shelter in Midtown, and Creating Connected Communities. Cody wants to study computer science and artificial intelligence to help change the world for the better by creating solutions that change and impact lives in a positive way.

- Service Oriented Ayla Birks, a junior at Twiggs County High School in Twiggs County, is the founder of The MCDC Project and an advocate in her community. She established a new mentoring program, The MCDC (Mentor, Channel, Develop and Connect) Project, after noticing a lack of mentorship resources in her school. With just 250 students in the entire high school, The MCDC Project provides a safe space for all students 7-12th grade to channel their passions, connect with mentors, and develop a plan for their post high school life. The MCDC Project allows 12-15 high school students to serve as mentors to 7th-8th graders and incorporates volunteers from the community, including school alumni. Aylah also made school history, by being the first member to take her school's Beta Club to the National Beta Club Convention in Orlando, Florida. She's also a dedicated volunteer and advocate within her small community, bringing awareness for human sex trafficking and bullying, and advocating for mental health, comprehensive sex education, voting, and social diversity through her Instagram show, Tell Me More with Aylah and as a county representative for Justice For Girls Organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Inc., and the Georgia Campaign For Adolescent Power and Potential. Within school, Aylah has been an active member of 21Club at Twiggs County for the past three years, is President of Beta Club and President and Trumpet Section Leader of Marching Band and a member of several school clubs and sports teams.

Emily Demps, a junior at North Atlanta High School in Fulton County, is the founder of Smart Brown Girls Club. Emily created Smart Brown Girls Club in 2018 as a mentoring group for 5th grade girls at KIPP Woodson Park Academy, located in one of the most economically disadvantaged and underserved communities in Atlanta. Emily?s club mentors, empowers and equips young girls to be successful in school and in their future endeavors.

Emily has invested over 50 hours in planning and mentoring the girls through activities that address topics ranging from positive self-image, personal hygiene, challenging social situations, and the importance of a good education. Emily also facilitated a community drive that benefited around 100 students school-wide. She organized a month-long drive to collect dresses for the girls to wear at their fifth grade prom and collected donations and funds to purchase school supplies, backpacks and clothing from the school?s Amazon wish list. Emily plans to establish a similar mentoring program for the students at Los NiĂąos Primero, where she volunteers as a teaching assistant. She received the Gold President?s Volunteer Service Award in May 2019, after clocking over 700 volunteer hours through services such as a Transit Small Group leader at Buckhead Church/ North Point Ministries and a Regional Co-Leader for Operation Christmas Child, and is a 2020 Atlanta Intown 20 Under 20 Honoree. Emily?s future aspirations include staying involved with her volunteer activities, applying for colleges, and continuing her leadership development.

Michael Fu, a junior at PACE Academy in Fulton County, co-founded Scholarly Chess in 2018. Michael learned to play chess during after school programs in elementary school, winning numerous awards and learning invaluable skills along the way. Scholarly Chess, a nonprofit initiative with a mission to spread the joy and experiences gained from the game of chess to young children and teenagers. Since 2018, Scholarly Chess has helped kick-start two chess clubs at local high schools, raised over $500 through its inaugural ?Chess For Cause? Tournament with over 20 competitors, and partnered with a local library over the summer to host a week-long chess camp. Michael is also the Vice President of the Student Table Tennis Activists Foundation (STTAF), a multi-chapter high school organization aiming to remove the cultural and financial barriers that can keep players from competitive table tennis. Through Michael?s leadership, STTAF?s charity tournament, Pong4Change, has raised over $5,000 to purchase tables and paddles for economically disadvantaged players, and provide personal training. In addition, Michael created VEMS, a mobile application used for tracking volunteer hours. Michael is currently working to coordinate and organize weekly teaching sessions and expand the operations of Scholarly Chess. In the future, Michael hopes to continue impacting his community and strives to always help others.

- Service Oriented Freddie (DJ) Haythorne, a senior at Clinch County High School in Clinch County, is a dedicated community volunteer and host of the podcast ?Wake Up America.? In a city of just 2,400 residents, Freddie?s 200 hours of community service to those in need have impacted his community greatly.

In fact, his impact has been so large that it earned him the City of Homerville Gold Star Award for his service. Freddie says has always possessed leadership qualities and potential inside of him, however, he says once he attended 21st Century Leaders?summer institute, EarthCare, he finally had the confidence to act on it. In 2018, Freddie also started a podcast with a friend from his original hometown, Los Angeles, called ?Wake Up America.?

The podcast serves as a platform for discussion of racial inequality, providing knowledge and awareness to empower his generation to take peaceful action toward radical change. His personal experience and anecdotes from his family motivates him to promote activism and awareness. Freddie is an active member of Clinch County High School Chapter of the National Beta Club. He plans to attend Morehouse College in the Fall.

Jaden Joiner, a junior at KIPP Atlanta Collegiate High School in Fulton County, is the founder of J-Star Sparks Change, an anti-bullying campaign developed to inspire young adults to be positive influences amongst their peers. Jaden founded this movement in 2015 as a 6th-grade student due to his experiences growing up with a speech impediment. This first-hand experience gave Jaden the confidence to take the initiative in his school and community to be the change he wanted to see. J-Star Sparks Change has served over 100 students across Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi and has allowed Jaden to speak at the 2017 Hope Global Forum (HGF), host the 2018 HGF, and speak at the 2016 Steve Harvey Boys Mentoring Camp. His campaign has raised over $5,000 in funding from corporations and has generated $3,000 in revenue from sales of anti-bullying campaign products. Jaden?s leadership initiatives were featured on WCEG talk Radio and also sparked inspiration amongst his peers. Jaden is also a GA state representative for the Be Strong Society, a non-profit organization empowering youth to prevent bullying. He volunteers his summers with KiK Start, a program that provides mentoring and technical assistance in his community.

Jaden is passionate about being an inspiration to others and learning about African American History and entrepreneurship. Jaden aspires to attend a 4-year college and explore the fields of Marketing and Business

Sarah Oburu, a junior at Etowah High School in Cherokee County, is co-founder and Board member of the National Dreamers Association (NDA), a network of high school chapters that empowers teens to chase their dreams and defy the impossible. It?s the largest student-run motivational club in the country. After attending the Disney Dreamers Academy at Walt Disney World, Florida in March 2018, Sarah and a few other Dreamers joined forces to create the student-led association as a way to share some of the life-changing lessons they gained, and to empower other high school students to not sit on the sidelines but to chase their dreams. Within a year, National Dreamers Association established three chapters in Florida and in September 2019 made a ?Defy Impossible? presentation to 4,700 high school students in Weston, FL. Sarah and her team are working to expand more chapters this year, primarily in the state of Georgia and California. In fact, they arranged a meeting with Walt Disney Company executives to collaborate and pitch ideas for the program?s expansion. Sarah has served in various roles since the association?s inception, starting out as Creative Development Department Head, where she worked with a team to create their inaugural curriculum, organize workshops and events, and run their social media campaigns to continue building out the National Dreamers Association brand. Sarah also serves in various leadership roles at her school, including as the Junior Class Vice President, Key Club webmaster, NEHS Junior representative and the junior student director of her high school tutoring center, the East Wing. She volunteers annually to mentor and teach video production to young girls attending a local camp and serves as a Sunday school teacher bi-weekly at her church.

A Clear Vision on Leadership

21CL is launching its fourth summer leadership institute, focused on the Georgia's most in-demand field: the healthcare industry! Each day students will not only build on their leadership skills, but they will also explore career interests in all things healthcare - from clinical and business careers to IT and entrepreneurial.

Help us! Donate to support the launch of this program on July 12- July 17, 2020 on the campus of Kennesaw State University.

$1,000- Sponsor 1 Student Scholarship Provide leadership development and career exploration centered on healthcare & healthcare IT careers for one student for the 6-day, overnight residential institute. $750- Sponsor a Student Table at the Etiquette & Leadership Business Dinner Which fork do I use? Enhance the confidence of our student to make strong first impressions by supporting an entire table during this signature 21CL summer experience. $500- Room & Board for 1 Student at Kennesaw State University Students who have a residential pre-college experience are more likely to be viewed favorably by competitive universities for admission. $250 - Capstone Business Challenge Coaching for 1 Student Team Students will have the opportunity to participate in a real-time problem-solving challenge coached by an industry leader. $100 - Access to Technology The teams need technology to build their presentations. Support the purchase of 20 new tablets for the student business challenge teams to use. $50 - Student Program Materials for 1 Student Equip each student with a polo shirt, messenger bag, notebook, and other program materials for the week

DONATE HERE

A Clear Vision on Leadership My name is Dr. Jyoti Sharma. I am a first generation American, a native Atlantan, a wife, a mother to 2 adorable high energy little boys, an Emory medical school graduate, a cardiologist by profession, and the medical director of Piedmont Healthcare's Women's Heart program. However, I am most excited to share that I'm a 21st Century Leader Alumni. I attended the program in the late 1990s.

As a young woman of color I felt like my high school and my family had taught me a good deal about diversity. But, 21st Century Leaders taught me the lesson that the concept of diversity encompasses more than just ethnicity and socio-economic status.

Geography, religious tradition, and a host of other components define us and shape our worldview. Thanks to 21CL, I met people I would have never met before. It taught me how to communicate with others and helped to expand my idea of community. 21CL also taught me to believe in myself during some of our most formative years. I have struggled off and on throughout my life with the questions- "Am I good enough?" Do I belong?? This skill of believing in oneself has been critical to continuing in my own leadership journey.

Only about 10-15% of women in the US are cardiologists, so often times I am the only woman in the room. I have also been the only person of color in the room. It was at times like this that I would hear the voice saying "Do you belong here?? It's at times like this, as leaders, you have to dig deep into your core and say "I can do this, my voice is relevant, I belong here."

A large part of my personal growth with leadership has been finding a way to educate others through my successes and my interactions with them and that is why I joined 21CL?s Healthcare Committee with other healthcare professionals to help launch the organization?s newest Healthcare & IT summer institute. It's imperative that we?re fostering a diverse workforce in the healthcare industry.

I?ve always loved 21CL?s emphasis on leadership and diversity - the way that 21CL educates and encourages students is changing the way that the next generation thinks about success and leadership. It's programs like these that are eliminating barriers for students to have access to high level programming so they can become the next generation of diverse leaders.

With your help in launching this program, we can strive to make our healthcare industry a more diverse and equitable place.

DONATE HERE

Congr atulations to the 2020 Geor gia Youth Leader ship Awar d winner s.

We ar e pr oud to suppor t 21st Centur y Leader s! www.goizueta.emor y.edu

21st Century Leaders Board of Directors Thank you to our board for their continued support and passion for youth leadership. Together, we can continue to connect, transform and inspire youth to lead.

Matt Johnson, Chairman | KPMG Katelyn Fredericks, Secretary | Nelson Mullins Maria Flores-Blackburn, CPA, Treasurer | Southern Company, 21CL Alumni Chris Caldwell | Georgia Power Steve Cave | Exide Technologies Corey Dortch , Ph.D. | Emory University's Goizueta Business School, 21CL Alumni Jordan Edwards | Alston & Bird Martin Fleischmann | Atlanta Formula E-Prix Hector Gallardo | The Coca-Cola Company Bridges Holmes | MarketSource JP James | Libreum International Danette Johnson | Dot & Lace, LLC. Yolanda Lewis | The Pew Charitable Trusts Jon Neff | Hire Dynamics DeRetta Cole Rhodes | Atlanta Braves Scott Riggs | HD Supply Patrick Solomon | Unravel, LLC. Steven Staes | K&G Fashion Superstore Michael White | Cox Communication A heartfelt thank you to our Advisory Council and Junior Board of Directors for their continued support and investment in 21CL. View our entire Leadership Team here

Inspiring youth to lead.

Be Inspired. Get Involved.

Visit us at www.21stcenturyleaders.org