Amanda Ebokosia
2025-2026 Obama Foundation USA Leader
Founder and CEO, The Gem Project
Bloomfield, New Jersey
Amanda Ebokosia is the founder and chief executive officer of The Gem Project, a youth-led nonprofit that equips underserved high school and college students with the tools to lead change in their communities. Since 2006, Amanda has mobilized over 3,500 youth across New Jersey, championing civic engagement and policy reform through peer-based fellowships. Under her leadership, the organization’s youth-led testimony efforts helped secure the first ordinance in the state’s history to lower the voting age in Newark school board elections and developed statewide civic engagement models now replicated across 21st Century Learning Centers. Rooted in a belief that youth are not just beneficiaries but changemakers, Amanda centers transparency and commitment to community as core leadership values. Her long-term vision is to expand The Gem Project nationally and build an ecosystem where youth shape equitable systems across education, health, justice, and democracy.
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