Jamila White

Ward 8 residents deserve to live happy, healthy, dignified, and prosperous lives. We belong to this community, and the city belongs to us.

CONTRIBUTE

DC VOTER REGISTRATION

Jamila White at Old Market House Square, Historical Anacostia

Jamila comes from powerful trailblazing women such as her Great Grandma Lou, an entrepreneur, and landowner, in the Jim Crow South to her Aunt Lula, a Freedom Rider, detained at Mississippi's Parchman Prison for integrating public transportation. They instilled in her a deeply-rooted commitment to community, solidarity, and social justice.

At 19, Jamila experienced Africa for the first time; she witnessed absolute beauty and poverty, and both looked like her. She learned about pre-colonial history and culture and felt one with the land and people. After university, she returned for almost a decade, learning from and with solidarity-based communities and African women cooperatives. Jamila realized that anti-black racism was exported and packaged international development. She advocated against anti-black racism in development, which led her back to D.C. to use her platform for influence. In 2020, she transitioned from development to starting blakQuity, an aspiring Black liberation cooperative.

Jamila serves her community in various ways, including volunteering with local Mutual Aid networks, mentoring students through College Bound, volunteering with her church and several local organizations, supporting HBCUs, and active racial equity, justice, and Black liberationist. She co-founded the Geraldine N. Coleman “A Seat at the Kitchen Table” College Scholarship fund to honor her late grandmother and provides scholarships to first-generation college-bound seniors from Washington, D.C.

Jamila is a local political leader, elected to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission for Ward 8A in November 2020 for a two-year term, and chairs the 2022 Commission. She is also a trusted advisor serving in various leadership positions and programs such as the Hampton University 2020 Forty Under 40, an Elected Term Member at the Council on Foreign Affairs, Senior Advisor for the Women of Color in Advancing Peace & Security Network (WCAPs), and more.

Jamila holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Hampton University and a Master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in Economic Development and International Affairs from Indiana University. Jamila and her sister Aisha were raised by their mother in Fredericksburg, VA, and their father in Washington, D.C.

Trusted advisor serving in leadership positions:

Elected Term Member at the Council on Foreign Affairs
International Career Advancement Program (ICAP)
Fellowship Alumnae Association Board Member
Africa Summit Board Advisor
Society for International Development's Young Professional Network Co-Chair
Working Group Chair for the Women of Color in Advancing Peace & Security Network
Hampton University 2020 Forty Under 40 Hampton Top Young Alumni Class

Jamila's Values & Position

"Integrity and values are the core of my existence and guide my decisions and how I build community and create consensus. I am guided primarily by the values of equity and unity. Community empowerment is about nurturing the seeds that already exist in Ward 8. I'm about being inclusive - I truly believe we can cultivate a wealth of opportunity, even in challenging times, through working in unity, and through partnerships that honor our community's knowledge and result in real positive progress for Ward 8 residents. I envision a future where Ward 8 residents thrive in a prosperous, connected, and equitable community. I'm running for ANC representative to build and strengthen pipelines of empowerment with my neighbors." - Jamila White

Ward 8 residents deserve to live happy, healthy, dignified, and prosperous lives. We belong to this community, and the city belongs to us. As commissioner, Jamila will work with her constituents on a range of issues that matter most to residents, including:

Making sure local voices are heard and listened to in important decisions about education and housing

Working to ensure social justice is a guiding factor not only in decision making but in who is at the table making the decisions

Prioritizing racial equity and racial justice through advocating for fair budgets that reinvest resources into Ward 8

Working to build economic opportunities in Ward 8 and advocating for access to full-range healthcare services and healthy food

Supporting reallocating funds to focus public safety on non-militarized, non-violent community-supported efforts

Jamila's Impact

Co-created a " Seat at the Kitchen Table Scholarship " for DC College Bound Seniors attending an HBCU. Jamila created this scholarship in memory of her late Grandmother, who educated her family around an old mahogany kitchen table.

Created one of the first International Development sector’s only, HBCU Pathways Pipeline Paid Internship Program to increase access into Foreign Affairs for HB.

Seasoned humanitarian who deployed to the Bahamas as an emergency responder, following the 2019 Hurricane Dorian, where she helped raise almost $2 million dollars for a Small Business Economic Recovery Fund .

An Ebola fighter who has been credited with "helping to save thousands of lives by transforming access to health and social care in Sierra Leone” by OB Sisay, former Director of Sierra Leone's National Ebola Response Center’s Situation Room.