Volunteer Spotlight: Emmanuella Osei

Emmanuella Osei is a volunteer with the Luminus Network for New Americans.

Emmanuella Osei is a rising sophomore at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) studying Public Health. She is a resident of Columbia, Howard County, and a graduate of Wilde Lake High School, class of 2022. Emmanuella is from Ghana, West Africa, and immigrated to the United States in 2015. She volunteers with Luminus because she knows it is a great organization that has not only helped her family, but many others in her community.  

As someone passionate about service, she volunteered weekly at Luminus during her senior year of high school. Emmanuella continues to volunteer with Luminus occasionally and most recently helped out at the Race4TheWorld event for the second time. As a student volunteer last year, she assisted in planning the inaugural Race4TheWorld event; she was happy to come back to volunteer at this event for the second time and engage with fellow immigrants in her community. This year, her role at the race included handing out water to runners and giving out medals at the end of the race.  

At UMBC, Emmanuella is a member of the Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program. She also received numerous scholarships, including the Jack Kent Cooke scholarship, enabling her to attend college on a full ride. As an immigrant and first-generation student, she is passionate about mentoring other students in navigating the college application process and academics in general. This upcoming year, Emmanuella will be a peer mentor in the UMBC Shriver Living Learning Community and an Academic Peer Advocate through UMBC’s Academic Success Center.  

After undergrad, Emmanuella hopes to pursue a graduate degree in Public Health, Public Policy, or a related field. She hopes to do work that advances health equity and contributes to making health care more accessible to everyone, regardless of immigration status, socioeconomic status, race, etc. Emmanuella looks forward to staying connected to Luminus and volunteering at future events.