Panelists

Anita Chacko

Anita Chacko is currently a junior at Florence Memorial High School. She actively participates in debate, Interact, and science league at her school. She has been a Youth Leader and a mentor for the Youth Leadership Development Program (YLDP) for the past three years – a program that actively works to help children build confidence in their public speaking and communication skills. An integral contribution to Anita’s personality is her obsession with animals – a love that stems from growing up around endless farms. Her fondness for animals has blossomed into an interest in the environment and sustainability, and in an attempt to fulfill this passion, she does research at the University of Pennsylvania in search of toxins in personal care products. Although Anita is currently unsure what exactly she wants to pursue, she hopes to engage in a career that contributes to the well-being of her community.

Organization: Youth Leadership Development Program www.yldp.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/yldp

Aanya Gupta

Aanya Gupta is currently a junior at Robbinsville High School and has been involved with the ONE Project since her freshman year. The ONE Project is a non-profit organization that works to bring the community together to efficiently and effectively address social needs through education and volunteerism. As a board member of the ONE Project, she has been instrumental in the success of the fourth and fifth annual Hunger Project, Scholar Program, and Recovery Project. The ONE Project has brought together over 2,700 volunteers to package over 230,000 meals for food insecure children throughout New Jersey during the previous two Hunger Projects. In charge of youth engagement and outreach, Aanya co-led the ONE Project’s Youth Council to bring in more than 500 student volunteers in an effort to express the importance of community service to her peers. Additionally, she helped start a new leadership development program, the Scholar Program, for seniors in high schools throughout Mercer County to enable them to create and lead their own community service experience. Furthermore, Aanya helped collect thousands of personal hygiene products to create over 600 hygiene kits for teens in recovery as a part of the 2018 Recovery Project.

Aanya plans to pursue an education in STEM, with a particular interest in math and computer science. She participates in multiple sciences and math-based extracurricular activities. Besides her involvement with the ONE Project, she enjoys tutoring both middle school and high school students in various school subjects. She has also been competitively dancing for over ten years, training in dance forms including Bollywood and Indian Classical. She is a fervent New York Rangers hockey fan and her hobbies include piano, music, reading, and archery.

https://www.facebook.com/oneprojectnj/

Organization: One Project NJ

Christian Martin

Christian Martin is currently a senior at Princeton High School, passionate advocate, and community service leader. The leader of numerous clubs and initiatives at PHS, his service work includes serving as the board president for the free, student run tutoring service, The Ideas Center. His other work involves organizing blood drives with the red cross as well as educating underclassmen about sexual and reproductive health. He also serves as president of his schools’ politics club, PHS JSA (Junior State of America), where he works to promote civic education and engagement through canvassing, fundraising, and voter registration initiatives. Outside of school, he turns his love of politics into an advocacy on a multitude of issues from mental health education to gun control and has volunteered on a multitude of campaigns as well as being one of the founders of March for Our Lives New Jersey. Above all, he prides himself as a Ben & Jerry’s aficionado and avid hiker.

Zaire McNeese

Zaire McNeese is 18 years old and grew up in Trenton, New Jersey. He is currently a student  at STEMcivics Charter School in Ewing, New Jersey, where he participates in the National Honor Society. After school he works and is involved in community groups.  He is a bike mechanic at the Boys & Girls Club Bike Exchange and an intern at the Trenton Music Makers Program at Grant Elementary School. This is his fourth year as a Kappa Knight in the Kappa League, Trenton Alumni Chapter. The Kappa League is a leadership development program that is lead by the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. The Kappa League teaches young men in Mercer County how to be role models and how to be successful black men through mentoring, different teachings, and helping the community. Another group he is involved in is the SEED Male Mentoring program that is lead by Mr.Stacy Heading. The SEED program is a mentoring program that teaches young men how to grow into a successful black men and help the community. Both programs make him a well rounded young man and have taught him how to give back to the community.

His academic and community service have been recognized through Awards from various organizations such as:

• 2018 New Jersey Rising Scholars Award from the Department of Education in New Jersey for “Academic Excellence and Leadership”

• 2018 Youth Recognition Award from the National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa, Pi Chapter for extraordinary dedication to the youth, community and the ideals of the National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa”

• Special recognition from 4-H Science Pathways at Rutgers University

In his free time, Zaire plays basketball, video games and hangs out with friends. He enjoys basketball because it clears his mind and it is great exercise. He likes hanging out with friends in the community because they learn a lot from the community and enjoy themselves. As for his future, he hopes to attend college and become a computer programmer.

Jamayrah Moore

At age fifteen, Jamayrah Moore (known affectionately as Jammy) turned her life into a movement.  Aligned with her love of volunteering and helping others Jammy has become an exceptional community activist and beloved mentor.  Her passion and enthusiasm for her hometown of Trenton, NJ led her to found the My life Movement, a thriving non-profit that caters to the development of youth by way of training, community outreach, and mentoring.

Jammy has received countless awards and delegations for her contribution in her community as a servant leader such as The Wesley and Saint Michael’s book award for Social Conscience, the Hurled grant ($2,500), and the State and General Assembly award for Outstanding Community Service.

Jammy is a recent graduate of the College of Saint Elizabeth, where she studied Communications and Mathematics. While in college, Jammy continued to manifest her passion for community outreach; she has accumulated several awards as the CEO and founder of the My Life Movement, such as The Alumnae Association Leadership Award, as well as, the 2015 and 2017 Elizabeth S.Ford Service Award.

Through the My Life Movement, she has coordinated coat drives, leadership forums, and developmental workshops, and implemented after-school mentoring programs in Public schools. Partnering with other organizations like The Age out Angels, New Jersey Department of Corrections, Fan Favorite, The Stacey Blount Rising Stars Organization, and more, has enabled her to serve roughly 250 youth per year.

Part of the My Life Movement’s mission is to serve the youth and adolescents of New Jersey through leadership training, mentoring, and community service. Jammy’s life is the embodiment of this organization’s vision. She has been privileged to aid students in the foster care system, who live with or have been impacted by aids, suffered the loss of a loved one, DREAMers, and those battling chronic diseases.

https://www.mylifemovement321.com/