Jamia Jowers

Jamia Jowers is currently the executive director of the What's Your Forte Foundation where she designs innovative programming to solve the most pressing challenges faced by Chicago's South and West side neighborhoods. A former security fellow with Truman National Security Project, she also currently serves as president of the Chicago Refugee Coalition board of directors.

Previously, she served as director of the Obama Foundation Scholars Program at the Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago, where she designed and delivered strategic programming for rising global leaders in coordination with the Obama Foundation. 

Jowers previously served as the associate director of student recruitment and global outreach as well as worked for the office of academic leadership, advancement, and diversity under the provost where she fostered a diverse and inclusive campus community through initiatives aimed at underrepresented minorities. Prior to that post, Jowers was a staffer with the National Security Council (NSC-African Affairs) and spent two years in the multilateral affairs office advocating for human rights and United Nations reform. In her position with the African Affairs Directorate, she was instrumental in the US-Africa Leaders Summit, which focused on trade, investment, and security on the continent. While in the Multilateral Affairs office, she contributed to the Atrocity Prevention Board, the US National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security, and the Presidential Memorandum on International Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQ Persons. Jowers received her BA in political science from the University of Illinois and her MA in international relations from Salve Regina University.