Maya Soetoro-Ng recalls the summers she spent with her brother on Chicago's South Side as inspirational to her community advocacy and education career. She discusses her education at Punahou School, where like her brother, she had Eric Kusunoki as an instructor. Maya reminisces on some of her family's difficult times: her mother's passing and, later, her grandmother's passing during Obama's campaig n. Finally, Maya details how through helping her brother campaign, she learned how to become a public speaker. She speaks proudly of her brother's accomplishments, noting impacts made in healthcare and with LGBTQ issues. She also reveals some of the personal struggles Obama faced while being an influential public figure. She overviews her many responsibilities and roles in various foundations and organizations
Presidents--United States; Presidents--Family--United States; South Side (Chicago, Ill.); Soetoro-Ng, Maya, 1970-; Obama, Barack; Punahou School
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2022
Physical Description
76 pages
Note (Biographical)
Maya Soetoro-Ng is an advocate, educator, and sister to Barack Obama. She attended Punahou School in Hawaii, the College of Education at NYU to receive her bachelor's degree, and received a Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii. She helps run the Obama Foundation Organization Asia Pacific Leaders Program and works for the Spark Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution. In addition, she has worked as a high school social studies teacher in New York and Hawaii and has founded and co-founded several non-profit organizations focused on leadership development and community-sourced solutions
Note
Interviewed by Dr. Davianna McGregor and Kaylene Iñuraaq Evans on January 27, and February 25, 2020 and by Dr. Davianna McGregor and Landon Tom on Tuesday, August 30, 2022. This interview is part of the University of Hawai'i: Obama Presidency Oral Hi story Project
Note (Provenance)
Maya Soetoro-Ng, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023