Jay Miranda, a native of Honduras, was raised in San Francisco, CA. He cultivated his passion for community transformation from a young age. Mentorship and faith-based programs aimed at impacting immigrant youth in low-income neighborhoods played a pivotal role in his upbringing. Raised by his single grandmother, he learned to seize opportunities and advocate for those whose voices were not heard equally.

Jay is a first-year International Migration and Refugee Studies graduate student at Georgetown's School of Foreign Service. He also holds a key role as the Program Administrator for Employer Relations at the Graduate School of Foreign Service. In this capacity, he is instrumental in designing frameworks to build bridges between students and employers, ensuring dynamic programming and business development strategies.

Jay's journey to academia is a testament to his determination and resilience. He is the first in his family to attend college, a milestone he achieved with a degree in Public Administration from National University. His thirst for knowledge led him to pursue graduate studies at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education, and he is now continuing his academic journey at Georgetown's School of Foreign Service.

At 18, Jay began a lengthy career in the nonprofit sector, focusing on developing programs for immigrant and refugee youth and families in San Francisco and the US. His success in this field led him to be selected to help launch the work of a global youth organization in Mexico. This endeavor took him to Chiapas, Mexico, where he spent several years developing educational, life skills, and mentoring programs that have impacted thousands of youth. Those programs continue to operate today, led by extraordinary local leadership, many of whom Jay raised and trained.

Following his return from Mexico, Jay continued his community transformation work as a board member and affiliate Executive Director for Elevate USA, a national life skills and mentoring organization that provides training and life-long mentoring relationships that equip youth to thrive and become contributing members in their local communities. At Elevate, Jay helped to launch life skills classes and mentoring programs at low-performing schools in Dallas with high immigrant and refugee populations.

During his tenure as a Business Development Manager for Latin America at a global leader in warehouse automation, Jay excelled in establishing valuable relationships with industry leaders and securing multimillion-dollar leads and projects.

Most recently, Jay was a divisional coordinator with Young Life, a global youth organization, where he recruited and supervised staff in five states. In his role, Jay helped develop a multiethnic leadership pipeline program from the ground up that aimed to create more talent pools that were representative of our country's changing youth demographic. Jay also helped co-lead curriculum design development, staff recruitment, and fundraising efforts.

Jay is a certified Cultural Intelligence coach, motivational speaker, and passionate community advocate. He has served on committees and boards with Young Life, Elevate USA, Las Mañanitas Foundation, and EXP Church.

Throughout his tenure at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service, Jay is dedicated to deepening his comprehension of migration and refugee trends. He is excited about the opportunity to help shape policies and programs that bring about positive change in migrant and refugee communities and nations as a whole.