The alumna, now a student at Boston College Law School, was awarded one of twelve prestigious fellowships that allow them to work with professional policymakers.
The Rappaport Center for Law and Policy Studies at Boston College Law School has selected Mariatu Okonofua ‘19 as one of its 2021 law fellows.
The Rappaport Center awarded twelve law fellowships. The fellows are given the opportunity to improve their skills and expand their interest by working with professional policymakers over the summer. They will also have the chance to speak and work directly with high-level government officials. The fellows were selected from a pool of applicants from schools such as Harvard Law School, Boston College Law School and Northeastern University School of Law.
A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Okonofua is a dual JD/M.Ed. candidate in Educational Leadership and Policy at Boston College Law School and the Lynch School of Education.
At Elon, Okonofua was an Honors Fellow, and a member of the President’s Student Leadership Advisory Council. She also served as a student coordinator for Black Initiatives in the Center for Race Ethnicity and Diversity Education, and as an Executive Intern in the Office of the Associate Provost. Okonofua also spent time as a student teacher at Walter M. Williams High School and volunteered as a tutor at Positive Attitude Youth Center. Okonofua, who majored in policy studies and sociology, also coordinated, planned, and hosted the first Black Solidarity Day Conference at Elon.
After she graduated, Okonofua dedicated a year to service as a Kenan Community Impact Fellow. As a fellow, Okonofua worked with local students through Alamance Achieves, a nonprofit focused on furthering academic success.
Through her work with Alamance Achieves, Okonofua was able to move closer to her long-term goal of working in educational policy to help close achievement gaps and educational disparities in the United States.
In addition to the 10-week long fellowship program, Okonofua will also spend her summer interning at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.