Amber Koonce Named a Luce Scholar

The Henry Luce Foundation, established in 1936 by Henry R. Luce, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Time magazine to honor his parents who were missionary educators in China, recently announced its 2012-13 class of Luce Scholars. Luce scholars spend a year in Asia on a wide variety of projects, with their expenses paid by the foundation.

Amber Koonce, a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, is one of 18 Luce scholars named for 2012-13. She will spend a year in Asia to gain more knowledge of Asian juvenile rights and continue to raise global awareness of children’s needs.

Koonce is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While at UNC, Koonce has advocated for a minority and elderly neighborhood against gentrification, assisted a policy professor with the creation of an electronic welfare system in North Carolina, and spearheaded the creation of a policy proposal to integrate local schools.

Currently, Koonce is the youngest individual appointed by the governor to serve as a board member for the North Carolina Council for Women. She has earned the Girl Scout’s Young Woman of Distinction Award in 2010 and the Pearson Prize for Higher Education in 2011.

Her most rewarding role has been as a mentor for incarcerated youth. For three years, Amber has led a student group to regularly work with incarcerated juveniles in Durham, North Carolina. Her concern for the plight of these youth prompted her to work with international juvenile detention centers located in Ghana and Scotland.

Koonce is also the founder and executive director of BeautyGap, a nonprofit organization that distributes dolls of color to girls of color internationally. (See earlier JBHE post.)

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

Morehouse School of Medicine Launches Free Program to Advance Fertility Care for Black Women

Healthcare professionals who participate in the new FertilityEquity e-learning modules at Morehouse School of Medicine will learn about the unique experiences of Black women seeking fertility care and how to better support them.

New Faculty Positions for Three Black Scholars

The faculty appointments are Lauren Bullock at Temple University in Philadelphia, Margo Brooks Carthon at the University of Pennsylvania, and Munene Mwaniki at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina.

Fort Valley State University Establishes Partnership With an Electric Vehicle Manufacturer

Imola Automative USA, an electric vehicle manufacturer, has signed an agreement with historically Black Fort Valley State University in Georgia to create opportunities for students in the electric vehicle industry.

Monic Ductan Receives Inaugural Tennessee Book Award in Fiction

Monic Ductan was honored for her first book, Daughters of Muscadine: Stories. She currently teaches creative writing and literature at Tennessee Tech University.

Featured Jobs