Wall Service Award 2011 Winners
Jefferson Mok ’02
Jeff Mok ’02 received a Wall Alumni Award to support his work with Imagine Burundi, the first locally-produced English-language radio program in that African nation. It airs weekly and employs the medium of language and radio to bridge the divide between post-conflict recovery and peaceful socio-economic progress in Burundi. The show explores issues of cultural awareness, social cohesion, individual enterprise and local investment in the style of literary non-fiction and investigative reporting. Its ultimate goal is to create a sustainable public forum and increase community participation in the sharing of perspectives and individual experiences of life in Burundi. Imagine Burundi hopes to inspire its listeners through inventive explorations of daily encounters and help expand English-language radio programming, which will be instrumental to meeting Burundi’s ambitions of flourishing in the East African Community. Jeff will use the Wall Award funds to support the radio show, purchase equipment, and train Burundians to continue his work after he departs that country in 2012.
Leah Bry ’04
Leah Bry ’04 received a $25,000 grant to support a Denver organization she founded called GreenLeaf. GreenLeaf engages youth in urban agriculture, farming on available lots in neighborhoods that do not have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. At GreenLeaf, young people ages 14 – 18 earn a fair wage while they grow food for their communities and explore issues of health, nutrition, and social justice. Their diverse crew of youth interns drives GreenLeaf's innovative and project-based curriculum of intensive leadership development and asset-based community building. The young people also grow, challenging themselves and each other in an environment that creates lasting, just, and sustainable social change. GreenLeaf's summer program is the keystone of their work, and will use the Wall Alumni Service Award to fund their summer 2011 project, which represents a unique moment of change, growth, and opportunity for the young organization.
Learn more about the Wall Service Award and see other previous winners.