Columbia World Projects has announced the latest cohort of Obama Foundation Scholars, emerging leaders from around the world who will study at Columbia University for the 2022-23 academic year. In addition, the University of Chicago and the Obama Foundation have announced the new cohort of University of Chicago Obama Foundation Scholars.

Launched in 2018, the program, which selects 12 emerging leaders at each university, 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. At Columbia, the latest scholars will receive a year-long academic experience including a customized weekly seminar, personal and professional development workshops, audited coursework, a thought-leadership speaker series, and additional programming designed by Columbia World Projects in consultation with the Obama Foundation. The newly redesigned program at the University of Chicago will bring together scholars who are current students in their final year of study in a master's program at UChicago’s Booth School of Business, Harris School of Public Policy, or Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. The scholars will supplement their UChicago studies with innovative co-curricular programming, engage with partners on the South Side of Chicago, and apply those experiences in communities in Chicago and across the globe.

This year’s Columbia scholars include Amna Akhtar, co-founder and creative director of GirlDreamer, who is increasing access to opportunities for young women of color to support their professional and entrepreneurial development and increase representation for minority communities; Jesús Armas, president of Ciudadanía Sin Límites, who is promoting democracy and human rights in Venezuela through grassroots mobilization, technology, and equitable access to water and energy; and Dinara Auyelbekova, founder and director of the Girls Power Foundation, who is designing and delivering innovative solutions to address gender inequality in rural Kazakhstan by promoting girls’ access to STEM education.

The Chicago scholars include Deqa Aden, the former manager of Harhub, who is working to empower victims of gender-based violence in Somaliland by providing access to legal services as well as medical and psychosocial treatment programs; Chris Akel, the co-founder of Pathways, who is nurturing access to education and mental health counseling for youth leadership development in refugee, rural, and low-income Palestinian communities; and Olamide Babatunde, the former director of the alumni career office at the Noble Network of Charter Schools, who is improving career opportunities for low-income youth and adults across Chicago.

“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,” said Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett. “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.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Pete Souza)