Advocating for the Dream with Tolu Olubunmi

Respected immigrants’ activist Tolu Olubunmi joins Brian Levenson to discuss her unexpected journey searching for the American Dream, which started as an unemployed and undocumented chemical engineer. Her innovative thinking and desire for change have led to her becoming the founder and CEO of Lion’s Write which gives voices to the voiceless. Additionally, she was named one of 15 Women Changing the World in 2015 by the World Economic Forum and has given speeches at NYU, the World Bank, and the White House as she advocates for equality.

In this episode they discuss how she got interested in words and how it has helped her express herself effectively and how writing can help her keep what is going on in her brain in order (5:30), the value of religion in her life and how it isn’t related to what she was taught as a child (10:00), her sheltered childhood growing up as the youngest of 5 children in Nigeria and how important family is to her (13:30), the excitement and difficulties of moving to the United States at 14 to live with her siblings (24:30), why her curiosity helped her decide that she wanted to become an engineer at 8 and how that curiosity assists immigrants to thrive(29:00), the experience that led to her going to a smaller college than expected and why she embraces the challenge of chemistry rather than eschewing it (37:45), figuring out how to deal with the devastating problem of losing her immigration status and the process of advocating to change the law (48:00), learning what makes leaders in immigration advocacy so special and what she believes the future holds for her (56:00). Finally, she talks about what courage is for different people and what current advocacy discussions she finds important (1:03:00).

Thanks to Tolu Olubunmi for coming on, and make sure to visit her website. You can also follow her on Twitter: @Tolu_Olubunmi

Also, if you liked this episode and others, please support us at Patreon or follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @IntentionalPerformers.

Thanks for listening.

--Brian