Amanda Gorman is an American poet and activist from Los Angeles. Her poetry focuses on themes of race, feminism and oppression. Gorman was the first person ever to be named National Youth Poet Laureate of the U.S. In 2015, she published her first poetry book, "The One For Whom Food Is Not Enough."

In 2017, Gorman said she hopes to run for president in 2036. Gorman is the founder of One Pen One Page, a non-profit that works with youth on writing and leadership skills. Also in 2017, she became first youth poet to open the literary season for the Library of Congress and has read her poetry on MTV.

At 22 years old, Gorman became the youngest inaugural poet to help mark the transition of presidential power in U.S. history. She performed a piece titled “The Hill We Climb” during the inauguration, in which Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn in as President and Vice President of the United States. Her poem addressed the difficulties the country has faced in recent years and emphasized collective healing, touching on the inauguration’s theme of “America United.”

Gorman turned to writing at an early age to cope with her speech impediment. At age 14, Gorman joined WriteGirl, an L.A.-based nonprofit organization that helps empower teenage girls through creative writing. Throughout her high school years, Gorman found her voice by attending WriteGirl’s monthly creative writing workshops and was matched with writing mentors for one-on-one mentoring. While in the program, Gorman was named as the first-ever Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate in 2014. By the following year, Gorman published her first book of poetry, “The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough.”

Poetry, Spoken Word Poetry, Activists, Writers, Diversity, Black Heritage, African-American Women, Literary, Feminism, Disability, Harvard, Non-Profit Professionals, Authors, BLM Female Leadership, Influential Women, Black History Month, Youth, Leadership, Women, Speaking Engagements, Forbes, Forbes Top Lists, Racism,