Layla Hussein is an English major at Columbia University, working towards a concentration in Education. She has a vibrant personality with an extensive skill set, ranging from the humanities and the arts, to STEM and entrepreneurship. Layla is passionate about creating safe and empowering spaces for BIPOC folx to collectively heal, as well as advocating for racial and education justice through project initiatives and curriculum development.

She is an award-winning, published journalist, with works featured in the New York Daily News, YR Media, and the Yale Daily News. Her passion for community service has earned her recognition at the Yankee Stadium, as well as being the New York City winner of the Princeton Prize in Race Relations. Additionally, Layla has a background in computer science and UI/UX design, and is working towards implementing technology to create impactful multimedia projects.

Layla founded Journals of Color, a Bronx-based literary magazine, that created a safe space for over 40+ NYC teenagers to express their creative voices through monthly literary magazines. With other initiatives that she founded, Layla has been able to impact hundreds of teens, across her school community, Bronx community, and on an international scale. As she uses photography, journalism, computer science, graphic design, and business skills as her outlets for storytelling and expression, she ultimately seeks to equip her Bronx community with skills to produce an initiative of their own.