LYNN — English High School graduate Marvelous Akande has been awarded the first annual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Scholarship by Salem-based Groom Construction Co.
Akande plans to take a gap year to serve in the National Guard while training as a carpentry and masonry specialist before attending the University of Massachusetts – Amherst Honors College, where she will study architecture.
“Marvelous is one of the most amazing young people I have ever met. She is very self aware, intelligent, as well as a hard worker,” said Kathleen Cormier, college mentor at Girls Inc. “She has been very active in programs at Girls Inc. and has taken several leadership roles, including serving as a peer leader in the Beach Sisters Program, where she mentors middle-school students in a collaborative marine science-based curriculum.”
Akande is also a member of the robotics club and math team at English and currently has an internship at HGA Architects through the Career Paths Programs at Girls Inc.
Born in Nigeria, Akande fell in love with art and architecture after taking a technical drawing class at her boarding school. She came to the United States with her family to join her father and brothers three days before she started high school.
She said that her role model is Lix Ogbu, a socially-conscious architect who addresses spatial and racial justice in her community-centered work.
“Architecture is a vehicle to promote cultural awareness,” Akande said. “I will work hard to be a mentor and role model for others someday.”
The scholarship will be awarded annually to students from historically-underrepresented demographics, as well as students entering the construction management field through an academic track.
“Groom Construction is pleased to award this scholarship to such an exceptional young person who is destined to make a mark on this world,” said Dwight Groom, principal at Groom Construction.
