Chioma Ibeku is from South Plainfield, N.J., and southeastern Nigeria. She is pursuing a major in Economics and a minor in Arabic. Her academic interests center around how macroeconomics relates to topics like equality studies, climate change, and political science. On campus, she has served as a Baldwin Scholar, Undergraduate Young Trustee Nominating Committee member, and programming director in DukeAfrica. Outside of Duke, Chioma has been recognized as a Future Climate Leader by the Aspen Institute and she plans to continue this leadership after graduating, working in government to draft economic policy for modern-day issues. In her spare time, she values long walks, television dramas, and fictional novels. She is excited both to join WIN and to build community with its members.

Juliana Alfonso-DeSouza is a rising third-year David M. Rubenstein Scholar from San Antonio, Texas. She is pursuing a bachelor of science in evolutionary anthropology with chemistry and education minors on the premedical track. Juliana is passionate about mending educational inequities and the intersection of medicine and policy. She plans to attend medical school and advocate for holistic patient care focused on quality of life. On campus, she is involved with Duke men’s basketball as a line monitor, the Rajagopal Lab, Camp Kesem, DukeLIFE, the Duke Canine Cognition Center, and Duke Presidential Ambassadors. Some of Juliana’s favorite things are coffee, Duke basketball, and her Yorkipoo puppy at home.

Sofia Morales-Calderon ’24 is a David M. Rubenstein Scholar from Durham, N.C. She plans to graduate with a double major in Russian and International Comparative Studies, with a minor in Chinese. At Duke, she intertwines her regional interest in Russia and China through archival research as to both countries’ economic development. Additionally, she works with the ARAC at Duke to provide a strong mentoring a tutoring experience for students in Durham Public Schools. Being from the Durham community, her academic interests have changed throughout the years, but have grown through her many Duke experiences, including being a SENSOR Academy Mentor at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering, learning about local Durham and North Carolina Environmental Policy at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, and working at the Duke-UNC Brain Imaging and Analysis Center.

During the first half of this summer, Sofia is working as a Finance and Development Intern at StudentU, a local Durham nonprofit that works to build an equitable Durham through education. Additionally, she was awarded the Huayu Scholarship from the Taiwanese government and will study Chinese there for the second half. In her free time, she enjoys watching movies and attempting to cook different cuisines. She is looking forward to being a part of the WIN community and is grateful for this opportunity.