Skip to main content

The Program

Leadership and Impact for the Public Good

The Obama Scholars program, inspired and informed by the President’s own experience at Occidental, provides exceptional students from all backgrounds with a carefully crafted set of curated experiences over the course of two years to help propel them toward leadership and impact for the public good. Applied for in the fall of sophomore year and beginning in the summer between sophomore and junior year, the program is designed to enable its Scholars to create lasting and meaningful change.

A group of Obama Scholars pose with Judge Lucy after an event

Program Components and Benefits:

  • All Scholars will participate in the Obama Scholars Seminar during the academic year.

  • All Scholars will participate in the LA Summer Experience, a fully-funded 10-week summer program of experiential learning and leadership training. This program will take place the summer after they are selected.

  • Scholars who enter as sophomores are eligible to apply for the Junior Summer Experience, a second summer of funding for an independent internship, research project, or community service opportunity. These opportunities can be domestic or abroad.

  • Scholars will receive mentorship from Obama Scholars faculty advisors and from members of the Obama Scholars Advisory Council.

  • Scholars will have additional networking and leadership development opportunities with partner organizations

  • All Scholars may apply for up to $10,000 in postgraduate funding to launch their career in support of the public good. This fellowship can be used to fund graduate school tuition, qualifying living expenses while continuing their studies or working at a first job, or a service project designed by the Scholar.

Sample Funding Pathways

Explore how Scholars have tailored program resources to address the issues they care about most.

Raja is smiling and wearing a black top with a light green jacket

Raja Bella Hicks ’25 | DWA

Raja is dedicated to international policymaking that addresses poverty through social and economic development
pathway icon
LA Summer Experience Independent internship at the British Consulate in Los Angeles
Junior Summer Experience Internship abroad at the South African Institute of International Affairs
Postgrad Funded Opportunity  Masters of International Social and Public Policy at London School of Economics, with a concentration in Education
 
Yenni is smiling and is wearing a white top with pink florals

Yenni Guadalupe Gonzalez Salinas ’25 | History

Yenni is dedicated to supporting legal rights for immigrant and marginalized communities
pathway icon
LA Summer Experience Summer Research Program project on the history of the Bracero Program
Junior Summer Experience Washington Internship Institute intern in the human rights special prosecution section at the Dept. of Justice
Postgrad Funded Opportunity Work at the Public Defender's Office with Partnerships for Justice in Los Angeles
 
Liliana is smiling and is wearing a gray top

Liliana Madrid Larrañaga ’26 | Kinesiology

Liliana is dedicated to advocating for the rights of Indigenous women and maternal public health in rural New Mexico
LA Summer Experience Independent internship at Emmons Wellness Center at Oxy
pathway icon
Junior Summer Experience Healthcare courses at the University of New Mexico
Postgrad Funded Opportunity Graduate program in Maternal Child Health at the University of New Mexico

 

Obama Scholar Joy Mopeli smiles for the camera
Obama Scholar Joy Mopeli ’25
An Oxy student presents his research at the annual summer Undergraduate Research Conference
Obama Scholar Jessie Salinas ’25 presenting his geology research at Occidental’s annual Undergraduate Research Conference
Raja Bella Hicks in Washington, DC posing in front of a portrait of Obama
Obama Scholar Raja Bella Hicks ’25 in D.C.
A group of Obama Scholars and two professors enjoying the Huntington Gardens
Obama Scholars with Faculty Director Ryan Preston-Roedder and Professor Gretchen North at the Huntington Library and Gardens