When Tolulope Fafowora came to the United States from Nigeria, she was seeking a better situation for herself, her daughter, and her disabled sister. Shortly after Fafowora entered the Carey Business School’s part-time evening MBA program, however, she was laid off from her job at Howard County General Hospital, leaving her worried about how she would pay for her education. “It was a big struggle to continue going to school,” Fafowora recalls, “but I knew I had to finish the program to reach my goals.”
It was about this time that the Dean’s Alumni Advisory Board (DAAB) created a scholarship program for Carey Business School students with financial need. With funds from the DAAB program, Fafowora was able to finish her degree in medical services management, which ultimately helped her land her present job as a research associate and project manager at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C.
Providing scholarships to students like Fafowora is one of the central initiatives of the DAAB. Its 28 members serve on at least one of the DAAB’s four committees (nominations, fundraising, governance-strategy, and networking-career service); provide feedback to school officials on new initiatives, services, alumni programs, and volunteer opportunities; and support community-building activities.
All board members are Carey Business School alumni. DAAB member Jeri Fellerman, a senior vice president at Wells Fargo Bank, remembers seeing some classmates struggling to pay for their education while working full-time jobs and supporting families. Now, Fellerman says, she feels she should help support Carey students who have high academic standards and ambitious goals but also financial need. Fellow DAAB member William Enright, president-CEO of vaccine creator Vaxin Inc., says, “All of the students that we are looking at [for scholarships] are very driven. We look at giving aid to those students who are out to make a difference in their lives and in the lives of others.”
To make a gift please visit carey.jhu.edu/give-to-carey.
