Zoë Jenkins

Zoë Jenkins is a National Geographic Young Explorer and a high school student from Lexington, Kentucky.

Her mission to break perceived norms and overcome biases that perpetuate education inequities. As a member of the Prichard Committee Student Voice Team, she supports and engages students as education research, policy, and advocacy partners to improve education in Kentucky.

The Prichard Committee Student Voice Team now serves as a national model for how young people can hold educational institutions accountable and consists of over 150 young people across Kentucky.

Her grandparents’ story of rising above their sharecropping status to becoming first-generation college graduates drives her understanding of education as a path to a fuller life, especially for those from more marginalized communities.

This mindset has been a facet of her experience as a minority student in a racially homogeneous school. Being the only African American in the room is part of what inspires her passion for education equality.

Zoë joins us in our November 2020 classroom, Global Generations, alongside Tiassa Mutunkei.