Brian Brady

Brian Brady leads the Mikva Challenge with the vision of bringing civic empowerment and political participation to all young people, especially low-income youth of color who are often left out of the democratic process. Coming from a family that was very civically engaged, Brady understood early in life the transformative impacts of engaging in civics. His experience as a youth worker on the West Side of Chicago reinforced for him the critical need for authentic youth voice and youth activism in our public schools. In 15 years of leadership, Brady has helped grow Mikva Challenge from an all-volunteer operation that served 120 students in 8 schools to one that now engages over 8,000 youth annually from 120 Chicago area schools, and there are new program sites being launched in Los Angeles and Washington, DC.