D.C. Scholars Win Prestigious Fellowships

This year, four Posse D.C. Scholars won highly competitive fellowships for independent study, national and global service, and teaching assistantships.

Newly graduated from Bucknell University, Lisa Hubbard, who majored in sociology, will travel to Malaysia later this year for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship. Lisa is the fifth Posse D.C. Scholar to be awarded this prestigious fellowship and the second to travel to Malaysia for the opportunity.

“Receiving a Fulbright provides me with an amazing opportunity to effect positive change in the world,” says Lisa, who will also run an afterschool program to teach and learn traditional Malaysian dances. “I am excited to fully immerse myself in a new culture and share what I know with youth.”

Opeyemi Awe, a 2015 graduate of Grinnell College, was selected as Posse D.C.’s first Watson Fellow. The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship enables a select group of dynamic graduates to pursue a year of independent study and travel outside the United States. Following graduation, she will travel to South Korea, Indonesia, Brazil, Rwanda and Kenya to study how entrepreneurial communities are thriving in countries along the development spectrum.

Ashley Boyd, a double anthropology/sociology and English major at Lafayette College, received a Newman’s Own Fellowship, which aims to develop the next generation of social sector leaders. Following her graduation, Ashley joined SeriousFun Children’s Network, which utilizes camp experiences to help children with serious illnesses discover joy, gain confidence, and develop resilience.

“I am excited to learn hands-on what it takes to really make a dream come true; how to build a nonprofit organization from a passion and watch it grow and flourish into a tangible benefit for those in need,” said Ashley.

Finally, Natasha Frazier, a rising senior and sociology major at Pepperdine University, will participate in the Humanity in Action Fellowship, which creates a conversation around national histories of discrimination among international college students and recent graduates. Natasha will study human rights, diversity and active citizenship in Copenhagen, Denmark, with students and recent graduates from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States.