Mayowa Fageyinbo

Mayowa’s life was transformed by higher education and she wishes to impart this to others through policy and programming. She is pursuing a Master of Science in Social Policy. Fundamentally, Mayowa believes educational achievement is an intervention for marginalized peoples, domestically and globally. Consequently, Mayowa’s focus lies at the intersection of anti-racism, governance, and education reform. Specifically, she is curious about the role of higher education in the “American Dream” and holds this beside socio-political barriers to degree completion. As a child of Nigerian immigrants, Mayowa believes education is integral to Africa’s agency and future.

Prior to Penn, Mayowa worked for the Maryland Department of Health and then returned to her alma mater, Howard University, as a Program Coordinator in Howard’s international affairs center. With the Maryland Department of Health, Mayowa provided direct care to adolescents experiencing mental health challenges or receiving evaluation to determine their competency to stand trial for juvenile offenses. While there, she developed programs–specifically for college-readiness and another for adult life-skills. This experience caused Mayowa to further consider the institutional and systemic barriers to education. At Howard University, Mayowa enriched the HU community through global partnerships, programs, and professional opportunities. She also spearheaded the center’s partnership with Theodore Roosevelt, DC’s international high school. Remarkably, Mayowa’s last project at Howard was coordinating with her team and IREX to build the week-long orientation for 200 Mandela Washington Fellows coming from across Sub-Saharan Africa.

More recently, Mayowa joined Perry World House–Penn’s hub for Global Affairs–as a Graduate Associate, and she completed a research internship in Gaborone, Botswana at the University of Botswana. She also serves as the Director of Equity & Access for the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly (GAPSA). Mayowa holds a bachelor of science in Psychology with a minor in sociology from Howard University. Her mantra–for dancing, community building, or anything in-between–is a quote by Howard Thurman which says, “Do not ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”