American Express NGen Leadership Award

Megan Jacobs is the recipient of the 2019 American Express NGen Leadership Award.

Presented annually since 2010, the award recognizes one emerging changemaker 40 or under who has demonstrated transformative social impact through collaborative leadership. American Express is also the lead sponsor of the American Express NGen Fellows Program, which offers emerging nonprofit and philanthropic leaders opportunities to strengthen their capacity for future impact.

“Megan’s work is a profound example of the variety of ways changemakers all over the country are being responsive to actively manifest the health and equity outcomes we want to see,” said Daniel J. Cardinali, president and CEO of Independent Sector. “Megan’s contributions are an example of the kind of life-changing innovation we often see in civil society organizations. We are proud to honor her work at Truth Initiative this year.”

Megan was selected for the award for outstanding contributions throughout her career to addressing public health challenges, particularly through the application of technology. In service of Truth Initiative’s mission of making tobacco use a thing of the past, Megan has most recently overseen the modernization and day-to-day operations of Truth Initiative’s existing efforts to help young people quit tobacco, as well as the launch of a new program called This is Quitting (TIQ) to help teens quit vaping. Launched earlier this year, TIQ’s launch comes amid rising use of e-cigarettes among minors, and a rising number of vaping-related deaths and illnesses nationwide.

Learn more about Megan.

Learn more about the 2019 finalists.