Staff Spotlight: Niambi Sampson

Sampson receiving her certification of participation in the EPFP

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."

Staff Spotlight: Elisa Molina

We’ve been chatting about #NationalWomensBusinessWeek for the past few days, and now we want to highlight one of our own successful women in business!

Elisa Molina embodies the JA of Georgia guiding principles of teamwork, excellence and innovation. Her contagious positive attitude and perseverance to do the job right makes her an asset to our whole team. She has worked in various departments during her years at JA of Georgia, and her passion is prevalent no matter what she is doing. We are proud to have people like Elisa working towards our mission of empowering the next generation!

Check out Elisa’s thoughts on success & being a woman in business:

What does success mean to you?

To me, success means I am able to accomplish the personal, professional and financial goals I’ve set for myself, regardless of how small or big they are. It’s not about how much you’ve accomplished, but how the things you’ve achieved make you a stronger individual.  Life is challenging and you need to be able to overcome the challenges you are faced with as you work towards higher- level leadership roles.

How does this fit in with being a woman in the business world?

When I think about my definition of success and how this fits in the business world, it’s simple: you need to show results.  When you read the stories of the many successful women that are doing amazing work today, they say they got to where they are because they were able to show positive results their respective fields.  You can be the smartest person in the world, but if you cannot show results, and help people grow along the way, you won’t go much further.

What does being a #womanofachievement mean to you?

Being a woman of achievement means I’ve been able to earn the respect and trust of those around me by being my true self.  Often, women change their personalities so they can earn the respect and trust of those around them, regardless of the consequences it can have in their future careers.  People accept and respect me for who I am, and that to me is an achievement in itself.