On Saturday, May 24, 2014 Alumna Megan MacDonald (’02) was awarded with the 2014 Harmon Wilkinson Award by Wilkinson College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

About Megan MacDonald:

Megan MacDonald has been dedicated to service since her undergraduate days when she served as the student representative to the Chapman Heritage Report led by Professor Don Will.

Following graduation, she gained public policy experience working in local government and acquired consulting experience working with Professor Fred Smoller on focus groups regarding public safety and transportation.

In addition to to working with those fine Wilkinson professors, she collaborated with Dr. Roberta Lessor on The Africa Project, an initiative to address health and education of children orphaned by AIDS.

Her involvement led to a volunteer year in South Africa during which she earned the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship through the Orange Rotary Club and went on to earn her M.A. in Development Studies in Kenya.

MacDonald’s appreciation for education as the key factor for community development continued to grow and she explored ways to create access to global markets for artisans and craft workers in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa. Her successes led to a fellowship with Vittana, an international organization, where she facilitated micro-loans for higher education in West Africa.

On her return from West Africa, she was granted a fellowship with Education Pioneers in Los Angeles where she established funding for underfunded educational programs.

Since January 2012, MacDonald has been managing Sasa Designs by the Deaf, a non-profit enterprise employing deaf women in Kenya in the creation of jewelry sold internationally at retail and wholesale.

She’s continued to raise money for individual school fees for young Kenyans, a project she began when she first moved to Kenya, where she recently became a member of the Ndoto Project Board, a small non-profit raising funds for Kenyan higher education scholarships.

Like Harmon and Nadine Wilkinson, MacDonald also acts to help individuals. She is currently raising funds to sponsor Margaret Wanjiku, a freshman at the United States International University in Nairobi, who she describes as a “promising future leader.”  MacDonald herself is a leader that Wilkinson College can be proud to call its own.

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Chapman University, Wilkinson College Alumna Megan MacDonald!!!