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Neva Zamil ‘27 was recently awarded the prestigious Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship for Public Service. The scholarship, created by President Barack Obama, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and Airbnb's Brian Chesky, aims to shape empathetic and cooperative leaders by exposing them to new places and experiences that will allow them to create meaningful change. Students awarded are selected based on their evident curiosity about the world and desire to make positive changes within it. 

The Voyager Scholarship program is a 2-year leadership development program that affords students the resources to begin launching their career in public service. As a program member, Zamil will receive $50,000 in financial aid to support her last 2 years of college as well as a $10,000 stipend and free Airbnb housing to pursue a summer work-travel experience between their third and fourth year of college. Students will also continue to receive $2,000 from Airbnb per year for 10 years in order to continue forging new connections in public service. Furthermore, in the Fall of their 3^rd year, students may have the option to attend an in-person convening where they will engage in community building activities with fellow Voyagers, build their leadership skills, and learn from experienced leaders in public service. 

With this funding, Zamil hopes to draw from her studies in art history and sociology to conduct global research on artists as activists. Specifically, Zamil will be traveling to research art in countries that have experienced severe political oppression or dictatorships. Though her project is still in the development phase, Zamil shares that she intends to begin her research in Chile. 

She says, “In Chile, I will research the tradition of Arpilleras, burlap textiles used during the Pinochet regime to communicate with the outside world and document the abuses occurring. I want to focus on illuminating tangible impacts of activist art in raising attention, building solidarity, and forming healing practices, resulting in a framework that museums could use to spotlight activist art, and diverse communities could use to engage in political resistance. Part of my inspiration for this project actually came from two sociology classes I took last year. I was taking Professor Snooks’ Arts, Crafts, and Activism concurrently with Professor Haenfler’s Social Movements, and the clear practical applications in both these courses led me to contemplate what role I could have in highlighting broader applications of art as a form of change-making.”

The College celebrates Zamil on her accomplishment and looks forward to seeing how her research project and career in public service continue to flourish over the next 2 years of the program and beyond.