Olugbemisola Amusa-Shonubi '91 recently was named a fellow by the Echoing Green Foundation. The foundation, based in New York City, annually awards seniors and young alumni with $15,000 fellowships to create and carry out public service programs or projects. This year, the foundation received 150 applications, from which 22 fellows were selected.
Amusa-Shonubi will use the fellowship seed money for a multimedia career-exploration project for young people between the ages of 11 and 14. The program, called "The Curious Adventures of Tara Belle Bradley," acts on three levels: as a serial for both radio and the World Wide Web, and as a live-action program for a school or community center setting.
The characters in the serial are involved in story lines that inform young people about various career and professional opportunities and how their school work relates to these future choices. Young participants have the opportunity to contribute to the program's stories, produce newsletters and interact with college students and various professionals online.
Amusa-Shonubi hopes to have "The Curious Adventures of Tara Belle Bradley" program implemented first in a small "New Visions" theme school in the South Bronx, through the Bronx School for Law, Government and Justice. So far she has five episodes in the serial completed, and she will be working with a consultant team of young people to develop more.
Amusa-Shonubi's past service experiences have included participation in Cornell Cooperative Extension's Youth-to-Youth Literacy Project and the Neighborhood Bridges School-to-Work program, and the Women's Web, a South Bronx peer leadership program. She also served as a public relations assistant for President Bill Clinton's inaugural week ceremonies. As a student at Cornell, Amusa-Shonubi was program coordinator for Ujamaa Residential College and a Cornell National Scholar, member of the Quill and Dagger Society and recipient of the Ujamaa Community Service Award.