This year’s cohort of University of Chicago Obama Foundation Scholars includes four current Booth MBA students: Aleena Agrawal, Prachi Naik, Isabel Rodriguez Garcia, and Thomas Voutsos.
The four are part of a larger group that also includes students from the Harris School of Public Policy and the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. (The Obama Foundation Scholars program also includes students from Columbia University in New York.)
“Our students are eager to help address some of the world’s greatest challenges,” says UChicago president Paul Alivisatos, AB ’81. “This program provides a vital pathway for them to realize that aspiration.”
Valerie Jarrett, president of the Obama Foundation, says, “These individuals have displayed profound courage, dedication, and the spirit needed to create lasting change in the world.”
First established in 2018 in partnership with the Harris School, the program empowers students who are committed to advancing social change by providing leadership development workshops, mentoring opportunities, and access to strategic communications and fundraising experts. Scholars also have regular meetings with a diverse group of elected officials, diplomats, policymakers, activists, nonprofit leaders, and journalists.
The program was expanded in 2021 to deepen the focus on urban challenges facing the South Side, greater Chicago, and communities around the world while also supporting emerging leaders across several graduate schools on campus—including Booth and the Crown School. Students have already participated in the first of several Civic Treks during which they visited neighborhoods on the South Side, met with community leaders, and had the opportunity to meet with President and Mrs. Obama.
“Chicago Booth is proud to participate in this cross-campus initiative,” said Starr Marcello, AM ’04, MBA ’17, deputy dean for MBA programs. “The Booth students chosen as UChicago-Obama Scholars share a commitment to use their MBAs for good. Now, they can accelerate their impact building on the strengths of the university and the Obama Foundation. I’d especially like to thank Booth’s Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation for supporting this new learning opportunity for students interested in social impact.”
Meet Booth’s 2021 UChicago-Obama Foundation Scholars