Obidimma Okobi Memorial Endowed Scholarship: College Of Education Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT
The Obidimma Okobi Memorial Foundation was created in memory of Obidimma Okobi, who passed away on April 3, 2017. “Obi,” as she was affectionately called, was the school principal of City Neighbours Hamilton School at the time of her death. Many students, teachers, families, and colleagues throughout the Baltimore district and Connecticut saw her as a source of inspiration and joy. She personified the love of learning, commitment to students, and dedication to the principles of equity and justice that are the hallmark of a great educator.
An avid runner, Obi participated in several half-marathons. She was active in sports, captaining lacrosse in college, and serving as co-captain for the lacrosse and field hockey teams in high school. While teaching, she coached girl’s lacrosse.
Obi served as a mentor, motivational speaker, and outreach coordinator. She was also an active member of many organizations and communities, focusing on arts and culture, children, civil rights and social action, education, health, human rights, poverty alleviation, and social services.
In remembrance of Obi, her family founded the Obidimma Okobi Memorial Foundation, an organization that is dedicated to improving the lives of children and the community at large. The Foundation especially focuses on youth education and community outreach.
Obidimma Okobi was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Anthony N. Okobi, MD and Elsie Rogers Halliday Okobi, Ed.D., MLS, MSIS. She came to Connecticut with her mother and her three younger siblings after her parents divorced and her mother took a job with the State of Connecticut. While living in Clinton, Obi attended elementary school at the Jared Elliot School and was in the Gifted and Talented Program. She then went to Miss Porter’s School, in Farmington, Connecticut, for high school, graduating in 1994, and to Wesleyan University in
Middleton, Connecticut, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History in 1998. She interned at the Museum of Modern Arts, (MOMA) in New York City. In 2001, Obi graduated with a Master’s Degree in Urban Studies from Southern Connecticut State University.
Obi was very interested in Education and took a job with the Hamden Public School system as an ombudsman and an advocate for students and their parents. Based on this experience, she decided to work with disadvantaged populations and moved to Baltimore, Maryland as a Teacher in the House program participant and obtained her State of Maryland Teacher Certification in 2004 through the Johns Hopkins University, School of Education program. She taught at in the Waverly Elementary School in Baltimore City and in Park School, a private school in Baltimore City. Obi went on to Harvard University Graduate School of Education and graduated with a Master of Education in 2012. She became the principal of City Neighbor’s Hamilton Charter School in Baltimore at age 35. She was there for five years when she died suddenly in April 2017. ”
To honor Obi’s passion for and dedication to improving the lives and educational experiences of children and peers, the Obidimma Okobi Memorial Foundation is establishing a scholarship to support students in the elementary education program at Southern Connecticut State University.
In addition to Obi obtaining a Master’s Degree in Urban Studies from Southern, her brother Olisemeka (Emmy) received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Southern in 2004, and her mother, Dr. Elsie Okobi, served on Southern’s faculty from 1990 until her retirement in Spring, 2022.
Donations
Please help us to make Obi’s passion a reality and keep her memory alive by donating through one of the following channels:
- Directly to the scholarship fund at the Obidimma Okobi Foundation website: https://obidimmaokobifoundation.org/. All donations are tax deductible
Thank you and God Bless you for your generosity.
Obidimma Okobi Foundation