University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students Gabrielle Capone, Leland Pan, and Frankie Ward are recipients of the Voyager Scholarship, the Obama-Chesky Scholarship for Public Service.
Capone, who is majoring in geography and geographic information science, is planning to conduct community-based research within the Global South, utilizing geospatial data to examine the disproportionate impact of climate change on vulnerable populations. From Chicago, she is pursuing minors in computer science and political science.
Pan is majoring in political science and plans to work on mitigating burnout and compassion fatigue in social impact organizations with a focus on critical mental health/disability and decolonizing mental health. From Naperville, Illinois, she is currently interning with the Bazelon Law Center for Mental Health and the Disability Culture Lab in Washington, D.C., while pursuing an independent study.
Ward, a Chicago native, wants to explore educational inequity and the effects it has on the development of teens of color as they navigate secondary education and their post-secondary endeavors. He is majoring in English (secondary education).
The Voyager Scholarship was created by former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama along with Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, to help shape leaders. They believe that exposure to new places and experiences generates understanding, empathy, and cooperation, which equips the next generation to create meaningful change. The two-year scholarship program is open to students entering their junior year of college at an accredited four-year college or university in the U.S., who have demonstrated a financial need and who are U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or DACA recipients.
The scholarship provides up to $50,000 to use toward education-related expenses, a $10,000 stipend and free Airbnb housing to pursue a summer work-travel experience between their junior and senior year of college, and $20,000 of Airbnb credits spread out over the next 10 years.
U of I students have received scholarships annually since the establishment of the award in 2022. “While only 100 awards are given out nationwide each year, Illinois is one of a select few institutions to have multiple students selected in each year of the scholarship,” said David Schug, the director of the National and International Scholarships Program at Illinois. “We are in the top ten in total awards received, a testament to the great talents in our student body.”
