SEATTLE — Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng, half-sister of President Barack Obama, was recently in Seattle attending a series of events which will benefit girls graduating from Mercer Island and Rainier Beach high schools.
The Stanley Ann Dunham Fund honors Dr. Soetoro-Ng's and Barack Obama's mother, who attended high school on Mercer Island and went on to empower communities around the world and lift women out of poverty.
"She exposed us to every religion and faith, a great many philosophies, music, textures of many cultures, people and communities," Soetoro-Ng said.
"While we didn't always welcome the instability that emerged from the childhood, I think we learned a great deal and it allowed us to flexibly navigate many worlds as adults," Soetoro-Ng said of her and the former president's upbringing.
Their mother also worked in micro-finance. Soetoro-Ng said that her mother followed in the steps of Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank but with a key difference. "She really focused on cottage industries to keep communities strong," Soetoro-Ng said.
"She saw that by focusing on these cottage industries, and giving the tools and processes a chance to flourish broadly, people could find a measure of empowerment and freedom and craft a life they wanted, and not run off to the cities," she said.
Now there is a scholarship fund in her mother's honor. The fund provides college scholarships to young women dedicated to "activism, global citizenship, and educational excellence."
If you would like to become a mentor, or help in another way, visit the Stanley Ann Dunham fund's website.
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