Chatham University’s Business and Entrepreneurship Department would like to welcome Diarra Clarke as the newest Office Assistant. Diarra is an undergraduate student planning to complete Chatham’s five-year Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. She is currently on a journey to create a self-designed undergraduate major that includes the studies of International Business, Cultural Studies, and Women’s Studies. Diarra is a local student from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is a former center field for the university softball team. (Go Cougars!)
Diarra comes from an entrepreneurship-oriented family who devises innovative ways to give back to the community. Her father, Delroy, came to the United States from Jamaica at the age of 22 to pursue music production and engineering. In 2014, he performed at Chatham University to kick off the celebration of Black History Month on campus! Diarra’s mother, Veronica, is working to build a platform for yoga and wellness in the East End of Pittsburgh. Diarra would like to follow in her parents’ entrepreneurial footsteps. Due to challenges faced in her childhood, Diarra is encouraged to attain a college degree so that she can have the knowledge and skills needed to address local and global socio-economic issues.
In high school, Diarra assisted in developing business plans for three organizations that she would like to pursue further in the future. The first of these organizations is a nonprofit social and economic justice program called HandsOn CapsOff™. This is a curriculum focused on guiding high school students into secondary education or the work force. Several teachers, mentors and other members of the community have welcomed and agreed to work with Diarra to achieve this goal.
The second of these organizations is called Lotus™, an all-girl summer intensive camp that focuses on the wellness and self-development of ladies between the ages of 12-18. This camp takes place in the Poconos Lodges to help ladies escape the disarray that they may be facing at home or in their communities.
Lastly is Heritage.Heart™, an organization based on genealogy, STEM, and scholarly funded trips abroad. Heritage.Heart™ hosts a 9-month class with three segments: building relationships with a counselor who can further their genealogical studies, studying the sociological climate of the student’s homeland, and finally using STEM to develop an instrument that helps to meet the needs of the homeland. Students then present their research to judges. The winning student is awarded a scholarship that funds a trip back to his or her homeland. The student then has the opportunity to present the project to the government and influential leaders of that country.
Diarra hopes to continue building upon her entrepreneurship ventures in the future with the knowledge and experience she gains as a student and employee in Chatham’s Business & Entrepreneurship Department. Welcome to the department, Diarra!
