Harry Grammer

Born March 12, 1975, in Chicago, Illinois, to parents Harry LeRoux Grammer III and Leila Grammer, Harry Grammer was raised alongside his sisters Kelly, Christiana and Rebecca. In his adolescence, Grammer found himself in trouble with the law and was sentenced to five years on juvenile probation. In 1994, at the age of 18, Grammer's first son was born. His daughter was born in 1999. Grammer attended Etiwanda High School and eventually received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Phoenix University.

In 2004, Grammer founded a non-profit organization, New Earth, with the mission of empowering system-involved youth to transform their lives through arts, education, and vocational programs in order to decrease youth recidivism rates. The organization's programming was rooted in providing poetry, spoken word, and self-expression workshops in youth detention centers in Los Angeles County.

New Earth expanded in 2004 to serve youth in probation camps, group homes, placements, and juvenile halls throughout Los Angeles County and Orange County. Today, the non-profit provides multiple programs, including a charter high school, mental health services and other wrap-around supportive care, as well as programs developed by Grammer, including FLOW and Down to Earth (a hands-on gardening-based education program).

Harry Grammer is an American poet and the founder of New Earth, a non-profit organization that assists youth avoid prison. He was named a CNN Hero in July 2017 and an Inaugural Obama Foundation Fellow for the 2018–2020 class.