Jaleel Baker
2025 OBSERVER “30 Under 30” Honoree
Find Jaleel Online
Age: 27
Occupation: Program Coordinator at Improve Your Tomorrow | Law Clerk with CA Attorney General’s Office Police Practices Section
Jaleel Baker is a passionate advocate, educator, and emerging legal professional committed to empowering Sacramento’s Black community. Since 2016, he has served as Youth President of the Sacramento NAACP, leading voter education campaigns, mobilizing youth for public comment at key government meetings, and partnering with civic leaders to increase political engagement. As Program Coordinator at Improve Your Tomorrow (IYT), Baker has transformed the lives of nearly 300 young men of color, teaching them advocacy skills and placing them in public policy internships. His efforts have reached students at some of the region’s most underserved schools. A first-year law student, he integrates legal knowledge into his mentorship and organizing work. Whether coordinating car caravans or mentoring future leaders, Baker leads with purpose, servant leadership, and an unwavering dedication to social justice.
If you could grab coffee or a meal with any historical Black figure or current influential African American person, who would it be and what would you ask them?
I would like to meet with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or President Barack Obama. I would have a different question for them both. For MLK, how did you build such a strong coalition of people to support those policy reforms and how would you go about recreating a similar movement now? And for Obama, how did you go about building a winning coalition, and how would you recommend political leaders who are more progressive market themselves in today’s politics? I would hope to learn from these conversations and inform my work in Sacramento to be more impactful.
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