03/25/2025
A year ago, Ikenna Okoye graduated high school. Now, the SUNY Cortland Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) student finds himself among the 18 members of an inaugural class of ambassadors for a national program led by former president Barack Obama.
Okoye, a first-year physical education major from Uniondale, N.Y., is representing the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance (MBK Alliance), created through the Obama Foundation. The alliance’s mission is to improve the lives of boys and young men of color through service and mentorship in communities across the country.
Over the next two years, he and the other ambassadors will lead community projects, advocate for policy, and participate in MBK Alliance events to make that change a lasting reality.
They will also participate in hands-on service, develop leadership skills through mentorship, and collaborate on community-centered programs.
“It’s believing that our communities are a unit of change,” Okoye said.
Okoye had participated in the MBK Alliance during his senior year in high school. He first learned of the not-yet-public ambassadorship while he was balancing senior-year academics, athletics and work when he decided to apply.
“One of my mentors let me know that it was happening, that this was a new thing that’s coming along, and he asked me if I’ll be interested, Okoye said. “Thank God I was given an opportunity.”
The MBK website describes Okoye as “passionate about shifting perceptions of role models in Black communities away from gang culture.”
His mentor in the MBK Alliance recommended him as an ambassador due to his dedication to the program and ability to connect with others, Okoye recalled. Those qualities led the mentor to believe he would make a strong role model.
In his new two-year role, he will meet with the other ambassadors to develop plans that could strengthen the foundations of the communities where they live and elsewhere. It’s an ethos that’s also seen him become a member of Cortland’s Multicultural Male Initiative, a student organization created to help men of color access education, stay in school and graduate.
“Ikenna Okoye’s selection as an ambassador for the Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance is a testament to his unwavering commitment to uplifting and inspiring the next generation,” said Kharmen Wingard, assistant director of the EOP. “His leadership, integrity, and service embody the very spirit of what it means to be a beacon of hope and change in our communities.”
The MBK Alliance website describes the beginnings of the group as Obama’s response to the 2012 fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watch member, sparking rallies and protests across the country. It lists its main goal as addressing gaps in opportunity often faced by boys or young men of color and helping them reach their full potential.
One of Okoye's standout moments from his time in the MBK Alliance began after he started at SUNY Cortland. He traveled with other members from downstate to Albany, where they worked with children in an exercise designed to show them what it’s like to be mentors to others. To Okoye, it was a powerful, rewarding experience.
“These kids were younger than us and everything we did mattered, everything we said,” he explained. “The way we acted, our maturity level, we had to make sure that we were really teaching these kids even though we were having fun on the side and eating together. It really showed us what it means to be a mentor. I love that.”