Kadja Manuel

Kadja Manuel's first experience in politics was canvassing for Barack Obama in 2008. Since leaving the Army in 2019 he has volunteered with Student Veterans of America, which helps veterans obtain federal benefits and otherwise transition to civilian life; he has served as Vice President for the Staten Island, NY chapter of the organization. Manuel looks to Trenton’s former mayor Doug Palmer as a mentor, whom he met through the New Jersey chapter of New Leaders Council (NLC), a nonprofit that supports millennials seeking to be of service through civic engagement and other areas. “NLC gets you to ask yourself the tough questions to get you to your fullest potential. With NLC I learned the discipline of not comparing myself to others. It gave me the chance to ask the right questions: where am I, where do I want to go, who’s going to help me get there, when I get there what do I plan to do, and how do I tie that all up and bring it back to my community.” He has also worked as a community organizer for Garden State Equality, the largest LGBTQ advocacy and education organization in the state, conducting trainings in advocacy and policy work. His various experiences share a common thread of “being there for others. I’m passionate about helping, about reaching out and letting people know that they matter. I’ve worked with the Trenton Health Team’s COVID vaccination program and managed to get 3,000 people vaccinated. As we learned in the Army, if you take care of your soldiers, they’ll take care of you.”