Out of the many values instilled at Seattle Prep, the goal of service and leadership stands out as one of the most important.
Kenny Ouedraogo ’25 has worked hard to embrace these ideals and give back to those in need.
Ouedraogo said that he’s always been passionate about serving others. “Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve always been interested in justice and fairness. Politics felt like the way I could take action as a leader.”
From a young age he has found ways to help the people he cares about. “It started with advocating for my classmates and myself in school or on student counsel.”
Ms. Dotsey, his Freshmen Collegio teacher, fondly remembers how naturally he earned his fellow classmate’s trust “It was like they knew he was going to be fair, understanding, empathetic, and kind. His commitment to living his values and building community just radiates out from him.”
Ouedraogo interned at the Seattle Mayor’s Office over the past two summers. “I worked in constituent correspondence, so that means reading and responding to all the letters and e-mails that get sent to the mayor’s office.”
He found this opportunity through the Seattle Youth Employment Program (SYEP), a government program that provides city wide internships to young people aged 16-24 in the Seattle area. The goal of the program is to have participants “apply their knowledge, gain hands-on experience, develop professional connections, and build their resume” (from the SYEP website).
As for what he wants to work on, Ouedraogo said he wants to create policy that has a positive impact on people’s day-to-day life. One way he wants to do this is through education, both at the federal and the local level.
“At a federal level that looks like funding and how that might impact someone’s future as they move towards college. At a more local level, just looking at how schools operate.”
He said that he notices differences between the opportunity’s kids at private schools versus public schools have. “My friends who go to public schools don’t have access to the resources that we do here at Seattle Prep.”
He noted, “A big issue I see is youth violence, and how that his risen in the past couple of years. That’s something we got a lot of letters about while I was at the mayor’s office”
Perhaps Ouedraogo’s work can best be summed up by one of his former teachers, Ms. Dotsey:
“When it comes to justice, to ensuring people are treated in accord with their basic human dignity, to helping people be heard and feel seen, Kenny is just fully into those things. The way he leans into his authenticity makes me feel more at home leaning into mine.”
