Placement: Department of Juvenile Services

What I Worked On: Designated as a Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative (JDAI) site in 2006, the East Baton Rouge Parish Department of Juvenile Services has been actively taking steps toward reducing the ills juvenile incarceration compounds including recidivism, truancy and poverty. Part of these efforts include creating alternatives to secure detention as well as improving conditions of confinement. Therefore, my two major projects involve the construction of an Evening Reporting Center and a year-round creative arts program in the detention facility, with particular attention paid to child development, community safety, and department and taxpayer cost savings. The Evening Reporting Center is an alternative to detention which consists of structured activities for non-violent offenders such as social skills instruction, while creative arts programming exposes incarcerated youth to various arts including theater, gardening, painting, etc. Both projects function with the help of a vast arsenal of community partners.

Hometown: New Orleans, LA

School: Louisiana State University

Fields of Study: BA, Political Science; Minor in French and International Studies

Selected Honors: Graduated Cum Laude and with College Honors, Chancellor’s Honor Roll, Dean’s List, Chancellor’s Aide, Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science Honors Society

Selected Activities and Community Involvement: Of Moving Colors Productions Board Member, Recruitment and Service Committees of the Gamma Theta Chapter of Phi Sigma Pi National Honors Fraternity, Volunteers in Public Schools Reading Friend, Student-Athlete Tutor

Prior Work Experience: Intern & Legislative Aide for Baton Rouge State Senator Pro Tempore Sharon Weston Broome; Data Manager and Assistant Office Manager at Westbank KUMON Math and Reading Center in New Orleans

Why Baton Rouge is important to me: After Hurricane Katrina, Baton Rouge was a physical, educational and economic haven for many of my friends and family members from New Orleans, playing an integral part in the rebuilding of the city. In addition, for the past four years, I have attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, which has become my home away from home. While here, I worked for a State Senator as an intern and a legislative aide, familiarizing myself with the challenges our city continues to face. I appreciate the lead Baton Rouge has actively taken in strides to improve the lives of its citizens in an attempt to protect its valuable diversity and hope to contribute to its evolution in the present as well as in the future.

Something unique about me: I am a first generation Nigerian-American.

What I’m doing now: Case Western Reserve University Law School