Jamila Trimuel
Founder and CEO
From the south side of Chicago, Jamila Trimuel began her career in a leadership role at one of the top hospitals in the country. She then pivoted from health systems management to educational leadership so she could pursue her purpose. Jamila is now the Founder of Ladies of Virtue, the leading mentoring and leadership program for Black girls in Chicago. Jamila believes that her calling is to empower Black girls to become confident and purpose-driven leaders while strengthening their families and communities.
​
Ladies of Virtue (LOV) is a nationally recognized, award-winning, mentoring and leadership development program serving young women and girls in Chicago. Requested funds would support program expansion to serve over 2,100 residents of Chicago’s South and West Sides annually, primarily Black girls ages 9-24 and their families. This includes 600 program-enrolled girls, ages 9 to 24, and another 1500 girls and families who engage with our outreach initiatives. LOV empowers Black girls to become confident and purpose-driven leaders so they may overcome the challenges of racial inequity and succeed in their careers and communities. We match girls with culturally aligned, successful women as mentors and prepare our girls for leadership through character development, career readiness, and civic engagement. We support our graduates up to 6 years after high school. Today, we are the only Black founded organization offering a unique community-based model that integrates career readiness training, mentoring, and mental health support specifically for girls.
​
Jamila serves as a Steering Committee member for the Greater Bronzeville Neighborhood Network as well as the Status of Women and Girls Working Group led by City Clerk Anna Valencia. Jamila is a Tedx speaker. She is also the co-author of “A Status Report on Teen Girls in Chicago” published by the Coalition on Urban Girls. She was also appointed by Mayor Lightfoot to serve on the 78 Community Advisory Council in 2022.
​
Jamila graduated from UIUC and holds Master of Science in Health Systems Management from Rush University. She also holds a Master of Education from The Broad Center for Management of School Systems. Jamila is a graduate of the IMPACT Leadership Development Program. She lives in the South Loop community with her husband, Damien and son, David. As Founder and CEO, I oversee the day to day operations of Ladies of Virtue along with fundraising.