Born and raised in Philadelphia, Tamir Harper (tamirdharper) is on a mission to transform education in his hometown. “I’m a product of the Philadelphia public school system,” says 18-year-old Tamir. “I attended my sixth-grade year at one of the worst middle schools in the city. It really made me see the inequalities in education here. With that motivation, I decided that I was going to do something about it.” Last year, Tamir co-founded the nonprofit UrbEd, which empowers students to speak up about education inequalities and offers solutions to address these issues. “I have two amazing nephews who I refuse to allow to go through the same system,” says Tamir. “I refuse to make them have to travel outside their ZIP code just to receive a quality and efficient urban education.” Next fall, Tamir heads to American University as a Frederick Douglass Distinguished Scholar to study education. “I have the goal of coming back to teach education in Philadelphia public schools, hopefully seventh o...