Foundation selects Olusola Owonikoko as part of Obama Scholars

Obama Foundation has selected the Executive Director of Stanforte Edge and Founder of Project Enable Africa, Olusola Owonikoko, as part of the fifth cohort of Obama Scholars.

The cohort is made up of 30 emerging leaders from around the world who will study at either Columbia University or the University of Chicago for the 2022-2023 academic year.

Olusola Owonikoko works at the intersection of inclusion, business and technology. His work at Project Enable Africa is bridging the gap between the demand and supply of talents with disabilities in the formal and informal sectors towards equitable access to economic opportunities.

His organization has provided training and support services to over 250 organizations to develop inclusive policies, practices, and programs, and trained over 5,000 young persons with disabilities in eight years. Olusola is promoting disability diversity, equity, and inclusion in workplaces and legislations to enable people with disabilities to fully participate in employment and civic life.

Chief Executive Officer, Obama Foundation, Valerie Jarrett said the Obama Foundation Scholars programme partners with the University of Chicago and Columbia to combine academic learnings with one-of-a-kind experiences.

The program aims to empower emerging leaders with a proven commitment to service with the tools they need to make their efforts more effective and impactful upon their return home.

“The Obama Scholars program provides students with the unique opportunity to give and gain insight into the work that fellow young leaders are driving in their communities, while speaking to the intersectionality of their efforts through collaboration,” Jarrett said.

“We are eager to welcome the new cohort of Scholars to the Foundation family–a network of changemakers tirelessly working for a more equitable future.”

She explained that at Columbia University, 12 Obama Scholars will complete a nine-month residency with Columbia World Projects, an initiative that mobilizes the university’s faculty and researchers to work with governments, nongovernmental organizations, businesses, and communities to create tangible solutions to real-world issues.

This cohort will also participate in seminars, personal and professional development workshops, audited coursework, and other programming designed in consultation with the Foundation.

The Obama Foundation Scholars program is designed to inspire, empower, and connect emerging leaders with the tools they need to make their efforts more effective and impactful across their global communities. Since its inception in 2018, the program has served 125 young leaders from 55 countries.