Board of Directors
BOD members are elected once a year by a vote of the entire NYRA membership, either by electronic ballot or in person at the annual meeting. The current NYRA Board of Directors (BOD) is made up of the following people (in alphabetical order):
Jaylen Bledsoe
Entrepreneur Jaylen D. Bledsoe has done much for youth rights and to increase the number of successful youth entrepreneurs. He runs a successful I.T. company, and as chapter president of NYRA-St. Louis, he successfully got his middle school cafeteria to offer vegan choices daily so no student need ever again violate their ethics or their faith to enjoy a warm lunch. Jaylen was elected in 2012.
Craig Bolz
Craig has been instrumentally involved with NYRA-SEFL since 2009. He is Currently studying Political Science and Finance at the University of Central Florida where he serves as president of the Young Investors Club. Craig joined the board in 2012.
Hardy Macia
The owner of Catamount Software, Hardy Macia is active in the Libertarian Party as NH State Director for the Gary Johnson for President campaign and has been a candidate himself for public office. Hardy was elected to NYRA’s board in 2012.
Keith Mandell
Keith Mandell has had an interest in youth rights since he drafted a “Students’ Bill of Rights” at age 10. At 14, he convinced his elementary school’s student council to approve a student court where teachers could be judged by students for improper conduct (unfortunately it never materialized). At age 23, Keith ran for mayor of Columbia, Missouri, focusing on job growth and transportation issues. Keith became involved in youth voting rights in the late 1990′s, working with YouthSpeak to organize voting age protests and drafting a proposal to lower the voting age in Washington D.C. Keith is now an attorney in the Chicago area and especially interested in voting rights and youth political empowerment. Keith joined the Board in 2004.
Katrina Moncure
Katrina has been involved with NYRA since 2004. She has helped table at many events including NCOR, JSA, and more with NYRA’s Washington, D.C. chapter, and has attended all annual meetings from 2005 to present. She has been a moderator for the NYRA forums since 2005 and is a regular contributor to the NYRA blog. Katrina has lived in Montgomery County, MD her entire life. She graduated from Salisbury State University in 2003, and currently, she is working as a biotech lab assistant. Katrina joined the Board in 2005.
Stefan Muller
A Harvard graduate and now a computer science PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University, Stefan Muller has served previously as NYRA’s President, Vice-President, and Treasurer. He was instrumental in creating NYRA’s Student Rights Handbook. Stefan was re-elected to NYRA’s board in 2012.
Jeffrey Nadel
Jeffrey Nadel, born in 1993, lives in South Florida. At a young age, he became interested in civil rights and began combating the injustices he faced on a daily basis. Eventually, his passion for civil rights evolved into a focused dedication on youth rights. In May 2008, Nadel founded NYRA of Southeast Florida, the chapter of which he is President. The chapter quickly became active, commencing efforts to lower the voting age in Florida to sixteen, meeting with legislators across the state, holding rallies, and spreading awareness. Later that year, the chapter of NYRA began fighting an unconstitutional curfew in West Palm Beach and filed a lawsuit, the first lawsuit filed by a youth-led civil rights group against a curfew, against the City in 2009. In addition to the curfew and voting age, he is interested in all youth rights issues and abhors the injustices to which youth are so commonly subjected. His ultimate goal is to work with youth, adults, legislators, organizations across the country, and others in the community to effect real, lasting change. Elected to the Board in 2009, Jeffrey was re-elected President of NYRA in 2012.
*All affiliations are for identification purposes only.
