Fall Registration is NOW OPEN!

Thank you for celebrating with us!

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the New Jersey Orators 41st Annual Scholarship & Awards Gala. Together, we celebrated 41 years of empowering youth voices, honored outstanding student achievement, and reaffirmed our commitment to developing the next generation of leaders and communicators.

We are grateful to our students, families, alumni, volunteers, sponsors, donors, and supporters who made this year’s event a success.

New Jersey Orators will continue to honor your legacy

New Jersey Orators Spring Registration Open!

Who We Are

Our mission is to teach the art of public speaking and appreciation for reading media arts literature, civic engagement and college readiness workshops, and life skills to children from ages 7 to 18 in preparation for college and bachelor degrees.

Founded in 1985, the New Jersey Orators, Inc. (NJO) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit youth organization that prepares elementary, middle, and high school students for college and future careers.

Concerned by the lack of formal language skills demonstrated by young people interviewing for jobs at their respective companies, a small group of African-American executives formed NJO with 16 students in the first chapter in Somerset to grow to over 200 students statewide to help address a learning achievement gap within their community.

What We Do

Public Speaking Workshops

High school students, especially low income and minority students, struggle on state and international achievement tests and fall short of college entrance requirements in reading and math.

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Literacy Workshops

College and careers now require the same level of skills. Productivity, the foundation of American competitiveness, depends on a skilled workforce at every level.

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Civic Engagement and College Readiness Workshop

How students perform in two key areas, reading and math, may affect how they see the world and how they make decisions in that world. Standardized testing in New Jersey has revealed that African-Americans and other minority “at-risk” youth…are not scoring competitively in language skills. Sixty-eight percent of New Jersey high school students met or exceeded literacy expectations.

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Oral History Interviewing

This new program offers students enrolled in our public speaking program to expand their oratorical skills and to embark on a remarkable journey to honor the voices and experiences of senior residents, initially in New Jersey, who witnessed the Civil Rights Era and then interviewing Seniors throughout the nation. The students’ audio and video recordings provide narratives that delved into the stories of the Seniors who navigated the challenges of segregation and dedicated themselves to the fight for equality

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Roundtable Discussions

The New Jersey Orators’ Roundtable Discussion provides a unique platform for middle and high school students to engage in meaningful, intergenerational conversations about civil rights. These discussions bring together community members of all ages to explore the historical and ongoing impact of civil rights legislation on key areas such as education, voting rights, social justice, and civil liberties. By fostering dialogue between younger and older generations, the program aims to deepen understanding, promote awareness, and inspire action within the community.

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