A'Dorian Murray-Thomas

A’Dorian Murray-Thomas is the Founder and CEO of SHE Wins Inc., an organization that offers a free leadership and social action program for middle and high school girls who have been affected by violence in Newark, New Jersey. A’Dorian founded SHE Wins to create a pipeline of college, career, and community ready young women leaders using an early intervention and long-term engagement model in the city where she was born and raised. A trauma-informed program, SHE Wins consists of a Summer and Afterschool Leadership Academy where girls hone their leadership, literacy, and self-regulatory skills through mentorship, project-based learning, and service-learning opportunities. At 23 years old, A’Dorian became the youngest woman ever elected to the Newark School Board, the largest school district in state of New Jersey.

A’Dorian has been recognized as one of President Barack Obama’s 2016 White House “Champions of Change for College Opportunity”, a Glamour Magazine “College Woman of the Year”, a Youth Service America “Everyday Young Hero”, a Thomas Jefferson Governor’s Award recipient, and one of “The Root” Magazine’s 25 Young Futurists for her work in education and youth development. A’Dorian and her SHE Wins scholars have been featured in ESSENCE Magazine’s ‘Black Girl Magic’ docuseries, ABC’s “Here and Now” talk show, The New Jersey Star Ledger, USA Today, Positive Community Magazine, and Fox Nightly News.

A’Dorian formerly served at the Newark Opportunity Youth Network, where she empowered overaged and under-credited youth to reconnect to educational options, and supported restorative justice-based interventions for students on school suspension. A’Dorian is a 2016 graduate of Swarthmore College and holds a B.A. in Political Science and Educational Studies.