2 students named McLarty Scholars

Two University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service students have been named McLarty Scholars, enabling them to serve a semester-long fellowship in the nation’s capital.

Ophelia Delali Akoto and Rodrigo Santos Legaspi will both work for the Vital Voices Global Partnership.

Donna McLarty, one of the co-founders of the McLarty Scholars program, is also co-founder and chair emeritus of Vital Voices, a nonprofit organization that works to “identify, invest in and bring visibility to extraordinary women around the world.”

“Since 2017, McLarty Scholars have conducted research and analysis to support the [Vital Voices] network of women leaders around the world,” McLarty said. “This year’s focus will be on collecting stories of the women’s experiences as they confronted and reacted to the crises arising from the pandemic. This will provide significant insights and guidance in future programming and network collaboration.”

Akoto, who has a master’s in business administration from the University of Central Arkansas and a bachelor’s degree in management and entrepreneurship from Henderson State University, will “generate and analyze a wide range of economic, social and on-theground data” for Vital Voices.

Santos Legaspi, who holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Texas at El Paso, has recently been conducting surveys measuring Central Arkansans’ views about poverty, hunger and homelessness.

“Ophelia and Rodrigo will gain a deeper global vision through their work at Vital Voices and in turn the organization will benefit from their contributions of research and perspective,” said Mack McLarty, another McLarty Scholars co-founder.

Planning to visit the nation’s capital? Know something happening in Washington, D.C.? Please contact Frank Lockwood at (501) 908-5204 or flockwood@adgnewsroom.com. Want to get the latest from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Washington bureau? It’s available on Twitter, @LockwoodFrank.