A Note from Our Founder
At SHE Wins, our motto is "she needed a hero, so she became her own". Our logo features our name alongside a pink Queen chess piece, the most powerful piece on a chess board. I have strived to give my girls what so many others have given me--the space to become their own heroes.
Despite losing my father to gun violence at a young age, I had a mother and community whose fierce belief and investment in my gifts and talents helped me achieve my goals. The people who supported me at home, school, and in the community have been essential to my success. My goal has been to create a similar system of supports for girls in my hometown of Newark, New Jersey, with particular attention to girls whose lives, like mine, have been affected by violence. I founded the non-profit SHE Wins Inc. to create a pipeline of college and career-ready young women leaders who help find solutions to the issues that most affect their lives and communities.
At SHE Wins Inc., we believe that young people most affected by issues in their community can be the best advocates for their solutions. Our girls have done everything from reading to classrooms at various elementary schools to promote early childhood literacy to advocating for legislation like the Let Girls Learn Act on Capitol Hill. The end goal is to create a community of young women leaders from Newark equipped with the tools and resources to help be agents of positive change.
Sincerely,
A’Dorian Murray-Thomas
Founder and CEO
A’Dorian Murray-Thomas Biography
A’Dorian Murray-Thomas is the Founder and CEO of SHE Wins Inc., a leadership and social action organization for middle and high school girls in Newark, New Jersey. Born and raised in the city of Newark, A’Dorian founded SHE Wins to create a pipeline of Newark college and career-ready young women leaders.
At only 23 years old, A’Dorian has been recognized as one of President Obama’s White House Champion of Change for College Opportunity, one of Glamour Magazine’s “College Women of the Year”, a Youth Service America’s “Everyday Young Hero”, named a New Jersey Hero by New Jersey Former First Lady Pat Christie, 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. ADorian chaired the Education Committee as a Board Member on the State Farm Youth Advisory Board, where she helped allocate funds for more than $5 million dollars worth of service-learning grants across the U.S. and Canada until 2016,
A'Dorian previously served at the Newark Opportunity Youth Network, where she empowered over-aged and under-credited high school youth from Newark Public Schools to reconnect to educational options, as well as helped implement the district’s restorative-based intervention for students on long-term suspension. A’Dorian is a 2016 graduate of Swarthmore College and holds a B.A. in Political Science and Educational Studies.