Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Illinois students selected for inaugural Voyager Scholarships

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Two University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign juniors are among 100 students nationwide awarded the inaugural Obama-Chesky Scholarship for Public Service, also known as Voyager Scholarships.

Ella Dennis, of Downers Grove, Illinois, and a graduate of Downers Grove North High School, is a junior double-majoring in global studies and psychology. She is currently studying Wolof at the West African Research Center in Senegal as a Boren Scholar through the National Security Education Program. She is a member of the Campus Honors Program and founder of It’s On Us UIUC, a chapter of the national movement that involves students in the fight against sexual assault.

Ella Dennis individual portrait

Ella Dennis

Dennis has served as a social justice peer educator at the campus Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations and remotely at the Alliance for Citizen Engagement, a think tank that publishes policy briefs on development in sub-Saharan Africa. Dennis also volunteers for the United Nations at the Tanzania Development Trust, creating GPS routes to help facilitate young girls’ and women’s safe journeys to shelters in rural Tanzania.

She recently finished a government affairs and advocacy internship at the Jed Foundation, a mental health nonprofit that focuses on teens and young adults. Dennis said she aspires to work as a global assault prevention advocate, creating and mandating culturally specific prevention programs to fight against gender-based violence.

Linh Nguyen, of South Beloit, Illinois, and a graduate of South Beloit High School, is a junior double-majoring in political science and psychology with a minor in criminology. Before enrolling at Illinois, Nguyen participated in the Running Start program, earning both a high school diploma and associate degree with honors concurrently through attending Rock Valley College full-time during her junior and senior years of high school.

Linh Nguyen individual portrait

Linh Nguyen

At Illinois, Nguyen works the night shift as the team leader to student patrol officers in the Division of Public Safety, helping to ensure student safety on campus. She previously worked as the youth development coordinator at Stateline Boys and Girls Club.

Nguyen also has served as the vice president of the university FBI Collegiate Academy and as vice chair of the Illinois Student Government Sexual Assault Prevention Department. She said she seeks a career in federal law enforcement helping to reunite families by focusing on investigations, crisis management and services for children who are victims of violent crimes and human trafficking.

Funded by a $100 million personal contribution to the Obama Foundation from Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky, the Voyager Scholarship is a two-year program for students in their junior and senior years of college from across the U.S. who are committed to pursuing careers that serve the public and their communities.

The award provides up to $50,000 to use toward education-related expenses, a $10,000 stipend and Airbnb credit to implement an immersive work-travel experience to explore their desired issue-area within public service, and $2,000 of Airbnb travel credit for 10 years following graduation to continue to gain exposure to new communities and broaden their horizons.

Voyager Scholars also are invited to meet with former President Obama, Chesky and fellow recipients to discuss the role of empathy and understanding in leadership and public service, along with further professional development opportunities throughout the program.

Editor’s note: For more information, contact David Schug, National and International Scholarships Program director, 217-333-4710; topscholars@illinois.edu

Read Next

Humanities Diptych image with book cover of "The New Internationals" and a headshot of English professor David Wright Faladé

English professor’s novel tells of love triangle in post-WWII Paris, based on his family history

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new novel by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign English professor David Wright Faladé tells the story of three people in a love triangle in post-World War II Paris. The characters in “The New Internationals” — a young French woman who has survived the Holocaust, a university student from West Africa and a […]

Life sciences Portrait of the research team posing together.

Minecraft players can now explore whole cells and their contents

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists have translated nanoscale experimental and computational data into precise 3D representations of bacteria, yeast and human epithelial, breast and breast cancer cells in Minecraft, a video game that allows players to explore, build and manipulate structures in three dimensions. The innovation will allow researchers and students of all ages to navigate […]

Arts Photo of seven dancers onstage wearing blue tops and orange or yellow flowing skirts. The backdrop is a Persian design.

February Dance includes works experimenting with live music, technology and a ‘sneaker ballet’

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The dance department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will present February Dance 2025: Fast Forward this week at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. February Dance will be one of the first performances in the newly renovated Colwell Playhouse Theatre since its reopening. The performances are Jan. 30-Feb. 1. Dance professor […]

Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

507 E. Green St
MC-426
Champaign, IL 61820

Email: stratcom@illinois.edu

Phone (217) 333-5010