Niambi Sampson is the Vice President of Programs at JA of Georgia, and has been with the organization for eight years. She has held various positions throughout her time, and continues to help achieve our mission of preparing today's students for tomorrow's economy.

Her favorite thing about working for JA of Georgia is working with the districts to make sure all students have access to life changing programs.

"They really are dedicated, passionate people who work tirelessly for their students. So working with them, on behalf of kids, is awesome!" Sampson said.

Sampson recently completed the Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP), a national professional development program sponsored by the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) that provides potential leaders with the knowledge and networks to advance the core issues of education policy.

According to their website, EPFP is an initiative of the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education and is co-sponsored by the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University and the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach at the University of Georgia. The program connects potential educational leaders with one another to build the capacity for our state to raise the bar for student learning and achievement.

It addresses the need for an education leadership development program in the state to provide potential leaders with the knowledge and networks to advance the core issues of education policy. It serves as a critical resource for individuals, organizations and the state to increase the knowledge about education policy and linkages between policy and practice. Ultimately EPEP seeks to improve the chances of children and youth to succeed.

"Being in the Education Policy Fellowship Program unveiled the many inputs that affect the output of an excellent education," said Sampson. "It reinforced my foundational belief that schools will never succeed alone. It takes that proverbial village to even scratch the surface of what is needed to educate a child."