2026 Citizens Miles that Matter Award Winner Spotlight Alliyah Logan

Citizens Miles That Matter is a community-driven platform, launched in partnership with New York Road Runners, that recognizes purpose-driven New Yorkers whose marathon journeys create meaningful impact across their communities. The program celebrates individuals who embody the spirit of the race, grit, resilience, leadership, and generosity, and who use the marathon as a platform for service, leadership, and giving back, not just personal achievement.

For Alliyah, every mile is about more than reaching the finish line. It's about staying grounded in purpose, honoring where she comes from, and creating pathways for the next generation of girls to succeed.

A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree whose work has spanned classrooms, communities and advocacy efforts around the world, Alliyah has dedicated much of her career to advancing girls' education and well-being. Through her work with organizations such as Cultivate Global Education and UNICEF, she has championed opportunities for young women, helping elevate issues that too often go unheard. But despite the global scope of her work, her motivation has always remained deeply personal.

For Alliyah, it starts in the Bronx.

Alliyah was raised in the Bronx. A lifetime in the borough revealed the power of opportunity and the importance of seeing someone achieve something they once thought was out of reach. That perspective has shaped her career and continues to influence how she approaches advocacy today.

Now, she has found an unexpected new platform for that mission: running.

A self-described new runner, Alliyah laced up for the first time in 2025. What began as a personal challenge quickly became something more meaningful. Within a year, she progressed to completing her first half marathon, discovering lessons along the way that mirrored the values she has long shared with students and young people.

Running taught her patience. It taught her consistency. Most importantly, it taught her to trust the process.

Progress comes from showing up, even on difficult days. Growth happens one step at a time. This applies as much to pursuing an education or building a career as to training for a race.

For Alliyah, running has become a powerful reminder that purpose is not always about speed. Sometimes, it's about persistence.

These lessons have resonated strongly with the young people she mentors. Whether discussing academic goals, leadership development, or personal well-being, she encourages students to stay focused on their path, even when success feels distant. The same resilience required to push through the final miles of a race can often help young people overcome obstacles in their own lives.

As her passion for running grew, so did her desire to connect it with the causes she cares about most.

That connection led her to Girls Inc. of NYC.

Representing the Bronx, Alliyah is running in support of an organization, whose mission is to empower young women through education, leadership and wellness. This aligns seamlessly with the work she has championed throughout her career as part of a partnership that feels less like a new chapter and more like a continuation of a lifelong commitment.

What makes the organization especially meaningful to Alliyah is its local impact. While her professional work has taken her across continents and into conversations about global change, Girls Inc. of NYC is creating opportunities right in the neighborhoods she knows best.

For Alliyah, that's where meaningful change begins.

One thing Alliyah admires about Girls Inc. of NYC is their commitment to turning young girls into strong leaders. As someone who's born and raised in New York, she goes on to share an appreciation for “programs that invest in girls, invest in their education and overall, their empowerment. So I feel very empowered and excited to run for [Girls Inc. of NYC] this November."

From Alliyah's perspective, investing in girls is one of the most effective ways to strengthen communities. When girls have access to education, mentorship, leadership development and wellness resources, they gain the tools to shape their own futures. Those benefits ripple outward, influencing families, neighborhoods and future generations.

That belief is rooted in both her professional experience, and her own story growing up in the Bronx.

It's so important for girls to be educated and for them to be educated in primary and secondary schooling," Alliyah shares during her interview. "[Being] educated as a young woman from the Bronx is very important, and [it's] equally important for young girls everywhere to also be educated because of the power of education."

Girls Inc. of NYC is helping make Alliyah's vision a reality, particularly for young women in underserved communities. By supporting programs that build confidence, leadership skills and academic success, the organization is helping girls recognize their potential and pursue it with conviction, which mirrors the aspirations that have guided Alliyah's work.

Whether she's advocating on a global stage, mentoring students, or training for her next race, the underlying mission remains the same: helping young people believe in what's possible.

Today, Alliyah prepares for the road ahead. She sees every training run as both a personal journey and a public statement. Each mile represents perseverance. Each finish line represents possibility. And each step forward is an opportunity to raise awareness for causes that matter.

For Alliyah, running isn't simply about how far she can go. It's about gathering the lessons, opportunities and inspiration she's collected along the way, and bringing them back home to the Bronx. She hopes countless others will find the confidence to start their own journeys. Her story is proof that impact doesn't have to be confined to one arena. It can happen in classrooms, on community streets, at nonprofit organizations, and even on racecourses. The thread connecting all of it is a commitment to lifting others up.