Aoife Mokalla ’28 will receive up to $50,000 in financial aid as part of the two-year scholarship, created to support young leaders who can bridge divides and help solve the world’s biggest challenges.
From co-founding a gender justice club at her Minneapolis high school that raised money for menstrual products to being inspired by Occidental College Professor Richard Mora to research menstrual poverty in his course Sociology of Education, Aoife Mokalla ’28 is the kind of Occidental student who works towards implementing effective solutions.
Majoring in sociology, with minors in Spanish studies; public health; and gender, women, and sexuality studies, Mokalla has channeled her passion for public service into jobs as an equity ambassador in Occidental’s Intercultural Community Center (ICC), which uplifts and centers the experiences of BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, low income, and first-generation students, and as a peer health educator in the Emmons Wellness Center.
In 2025, through the ICC, she launched a yearly campus celebration for Nowruz, the Persian new year. She is also co-president of the Middle Eastern and North African Students Association (MENASA).
Mokalla is one of 100 college juniors nationally to receive the esteemed Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship for Public Service. The 2026-28 cohort of Voyagers represents 68 colleges and universities from 39 U.S. states and territories, and 61% are first-generation college students.
“This scholarship will do amazing things for my career, and I feel a sense of duty to use it to the best of my ability so that I can make change,” says Mokalla. “I’m not first generation, but I’m low income, and an integral part of my Oxy experience has been that my academic and need-based aid has covered my tuition. Oxy was my top choice for college, and I was astonished that I got that aid. It felt like a weight being lifted off my chest.”
The two-year leadership development and scholarship program gives college students barrier-reducing financial aid to alleviate the burden of college debt, with recipients receiving up to $50,000 to support their junior and senior year of college.
This scholarship will do amazing things for my career, and I feel a sense of duty to use it to the best of my ability so that I can make change.
As part of the program, they will also receive a $10,000 stipend and free housing in Airbnb listings—up to $4,200—to implement an immersive summer work-travel experience between their junior and senior year of college to help deepen their commitment to public service and refine their future career vision. The students design their own Summer Voyage to gain exposure to new communities and experiences in a chosen field.
The scholarship also includes access to a network of leaders and mentors to prepare them to enter public service careers, and $2,000 in Airbnb travel credit every year for 10 years—totaling $20,000—following their graduation. Students also have the option to attend an in-person convening where they will engage in community-building activities with other Voyagers and learn from experienced leaders in public service.
“I've had so many opportunities to explore what I'm interested in at Oxy, and my roles at the ICC and Emmons have been most influential,” says Mokalla. “Applying for this scholarship, I thought that I would love the chance to explore what that means professionally.
“For the Summer Voyage, I applied with the intention of studying the effect of period poverty on students' chronic stress in New Zealand and Kenya. Now I know that I want to do something with my own research or others' research on the topic of public health and gender equity. I'm excited to dream about it.”
Former President Barack Obama, who was a member of the Occidental Class of 1983, considers the Voyager Scholarship as part of a commitment to “passing the baton,” according to the Obama Foundation. The scholarship was created by the Obamas and Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, to help shape leaders who can bridge divides and help solve the world’s biggest challenges together.
Both President Obama and Chesky believe that exposure to new places and experiences generates understanding, empathy, and cooperation which equips the next generation to create meaningful change.
Throughout the program, students will be invited to an ongoing speaker series, with leaders informing them of new areas of service and innovations happening in their fields. After graduation, they will join the Obama Foundation’s global community, providing them with the foundation’s resources and programming.
“With the Voyager Scholarship, I'm excited for the chance to learn about policy positions and whether I would be interested in being a legislator, and research also calls to me,” says Mokalla. “This entire fall semester my online programming with the scholarship is to decide what I want to do for the summer. I was matched with a coach, and she starts the process by highlighting what my values and interests are. We dream big first, then bring it into focus.”
Mokalla’s future is wide open.
Read more about Mokalla in her Oxy Story
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