NAME: DARA OGUNSAKIN
HOMETOWN: WARNER ROBINS, GEORGIA
It’s time to meet the second member of the Washington, D.C. team! Meet Dara, a recent graduate of the University of Georgia with a major in Social Work and a minor in Human Development and Family Science.
At America Works, Dara has jumped into multiple projects, from communications to curriculum design. She has helped the Washington, D.C. office maintain its work during the pandemic, creating weekly newsletters condensing available training and employment opportunities and developing self-paced trainings and webinars for clients. Given her background in social work and child advocacy, she is interested in two-generational approaches to workforce development and poverty alleviation, leading her to pursue research on women’s health and family dynamics, particularly when it comes to virtual schooling during COVID-19.
DARA’S FAVORITE QUOTE:
"Next time, ask: What's the worst that will happen? Then push yourself a little further than you dare. Once you start to speak, people will yell at you. They will interrupt you, put you down and suggest it's personal. And the world won't end.
And the speaking will get easier and easier. And you will find you have fallen in love with your own vision, which you may never have realized you had. And you will lose some friends and lovers, and realize you don't miss them. And new ones will find you and cherish you. And you will still flirt and paint your nails, dress up and party, because, as I think Emma Goldman said, ‘If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution.’ And at last you'll know with surpassing certainty that only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth. And that is not speaking.”
― Audre Lorde
SOMETHING MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT DARA:
She’s beginning training to become a certified doula!
ON DARA’S D.C. BUCKET LIST:
Going to Jazz in the Garden at the National Gallery of Art
WHAT DARA’S WATCHING:
She’s currently watching Married at First Sight and Queen Sugar!
Last year, Dara interned at a Child Advocacy Center, doing a lot of case management, adult education, and facilitating supervised visitation. In this role, she was able to build connections with clients and get to know their stories and family dynamics, but she also saw firsthand how barriers and biases in the system keep individuals from making genuine growth and progress. This and other experiences confirmed her belief that direct service and policy have to go hand-in-hand for change to occur. It also showed her how issues such as poverty, mental illness, drug use, and family violence compound each other, rather than existing in isolation. She’s enjoying working in these intersections this year through the lens of workforce development.
In undergrad, Dara was a social work major in a program that was very micro-focused. Although she really enjoyed gaining experience working with individuals, she’s always known that her interest lies in groups and overall communities. She thinks that it is a common misconception that social work only happens with individuals, so she was excited to find a fellowship that combines direct service, policy, and research, and she thinks this year will help her solidify plans for grad school and the future.
Now that you’ve met some of our Work First Fellows, keep up with them! Follow Work First on Twitter and Facebook to support our work connecting people with jobs and researching innovative strategies to combat poverty.