Meet Amara

In addition to her role as President of transnational advocacy organization Global Black, she also serves as the Director of Policy & Research for the Movement for Black Lives, Senior Advisor for the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy at The New School, and as a Strategy Advisor for organizations, companies, political campaigns, and public sector institutions globally. She is a Leader-in-Residence for Policy and Change with the Atlantic Institute. Dr. Enyia also serves as Chairwoman of the International Working Group for the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent and Chairwoman of the working group on Global Economic Systems, Institutions and Policy.

Her strategy and policy work connects her to the 6^th Region of the African Union Commission and she is member of the 2020-2022 cohort with the London School of Economics Executive Program in Cities. Prior to her current roles, she worked in the Mayor’s Office for the City of Chicago and served as Executive Director of community-based organizations. As a grassroots organizer she worked on issues of education equity, economic justice, and environmental justice.

Amara holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and bachelor’s degree in Political Science. She also holds a master’s degree in education, a masters degree in Cities from the London School of Economics, a law degree, and a PhD in Education Policy with a specialization in Evaluation. She serves on the Board of the Pakistan Journal of Urban Affairs, the Chicago Community Loan Fund, and Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives Microfinance Group. She also serves on the National Advisory Board of the Public Banking Institute and is a 2022 inductee into the Illini Media Company Hall of Fame. Dr. Enyia maintains proficiency in Igbo, Spanish, French, and Portuguese and was named a Public Policy Global Leadership Fellow with the Global Strategists Association.