Jaha Wilder is a writer, producer and artist.
See more at www.jahawilder.com

She is also Founder, Executive Program Director of The Young Journey Foundation.
www.youngjourney.org

Sounds Like: Whitney Houston, Carrie Underwood

Jaha Wilder's bio

There is a popular Texas slogan that says, "Everything's Bigger in Texas". Nothing could be more truthful when it comes to Jaha whose unique name means dignity.
While still in her youth, she developed an appreciation of music as she listened to her parent's favorite artists such as, Ella Fitzgerald, Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin, and her older sibling's favorites from Elton John to Marvin Gaye, the Temptations to Earth Wind and Fire. The exposure to so many styles of music gave Jaha a broad awareness and an ear for different music genres.
As a teenager, life bought Jaha a series of severe trials. At age fourteen, she suffered the devastating loss of her mother due to chronic illness. At age fifteen she was a victim of domestic violence. Her boyfriend (at the time) shot her six times at point-blank range. Bullets riddle her body entering her left thigh and the left side of her jaw. The majority of the bullets remain lodged in her body. After the shooting, doctors told her that more than likely: she would not be able to dance again; she would not be able to talk; surely could not sing and would barely be able to swallow. Astonishingly, the paralysis of her left leg and the disfigurement of her face could not crush her spirit. Even through pain, she never lost her joy. Jaha miraculously recovered rapidly.
Jaha moved to Hawaii with Cat, one of her sisters and started a new life.
She joined her sister's band Fifth Avenue as a songstress and performed live, around the island of Oahu. It was also in Hawaii that she was introduced to television acting and filmed her first television commercial that aired on all of the islands. This dab into television made Jaha realize she wanted to delve deeper into television and acting. She began to frequent Los Angeles. She also studied at prominent dance studios while in LA, made great contacts, and discovered that she enjoyed dance more than acting on television.
During this journey she studied radio, film, writing, and television broadcasting. She was also an on air radio personality, starred in live theatrical productions and wrote and produced her own songs. It became clear that it is the music studio recording life that spoke profoundly to her heart propelling her in that direction. With a new seriousness, Jaha began to learn professional recording techniques, stage protocol and the business of entertainment. With very little money, and the help of family and friends, Jaha recorded a complete children's music CD titled Young Journey. The songs she wrote and recorded with and for children became tools for Jaha to launch school programs creating full music and theater productions with underserved children. She began providing the programs nationally, teaching the songs to children in their schools. Word of mouth caught on quickly and soon Jaha was being contracted by school administrators and asked to customize her programs to meet the social needs of their students. What she discovered was that while the groups and schools were different, the issues they were addressing with the youths were the same. She decided to focus on growing character. Jaha realized that the Arts were a great vehicle that allowed her to speak to the lives of children while having their undivided attention. The programs evolved and now include media education, cheerleading sports and multi disciplinary dance courses.
Now, more than thirteen years after moving to New York, Jaha has established The Young Journey Foundation, a 501c3, non-profit organization based in New York dedicated to building excellent character in youths through the performing arts. She has many programs in motion that help ready young people for college and the work force. She has also established Jaha's Management Team, Inc. which is an umbrella organization for Jaha's creative visions including her music career.