06/07/2026
Students lead on Refugee Week at Wolfson
As part of our Volunteer Profile series, Tasha spoke with Simona Obeng, the Community & Leadership Impact Coordinator, about her motivation to support meaningful, sustainable projects.
What motivated you to volunteer?
My motivation to volunteer grew from witnessing the power of community-led solutions firsthand. While growing up in Mombasa, I saw how resourcefulness and collective action could create meaningful change, even with limited resources. A defining moment was when I started the DEOTA Initiative in the Githogoro informal settlement. Seeing families without reliable access to electricity, yet surrounded by waste, sparked the idea for a circular economy solution.
That experience of working with the community, not just for them, to turn a problem into an opportunity showed me that sustainable impact is built on partnership and shared purpose. It’s this principle that I've carried into every volunteer role since.
Life at Cambridge is busy – why choose to give your free time to volunteering?
University life is indeed a whirlwind of deadlines and supervisions, but for me, volunteering provides a vital sense of grounding and connection. It’s easy for my world to shrink to the size of my College library, so roles like my Welfare Representative position with the African Society are incredibly meaningful. They allow me to build genuine connections with over 150 members, creating a support network that makes Cambridge feel smaller and more human. Prioritising this reminds me why I’m here: to learn not just from books, but from people. Volunteering gives me the opportunity to turn abstract concepts from my MPhil in Development Studies into real, tangible relationships and responsibilities.
What skills or experiences have you gained through volunteering that you think might help you in your future career?
My volunteer experiences have been an incredible training ground for the skills I want to use in my career in development economics. Serving as a Student Representative on the University's Development Committee gives me direct insight into donor engagement and campaign planning from a student perspective – it’s like a practicum in stakeholder relations. This complements the hands-on experience I gained securing grants and managing budgets for the DEOTA Initiative. These roles have solidified my professional goal: to work at the intersection of economics and social impact, ensuring that resource mobilisation is always guided by the genuine needs of the community, a lesson I first learned through volunteering.
From a personal perspective, volunteering has absolutely accelerated my personal growth. As Society Head for Language & Cultural Exchange at Wolfson, I was initially just hoping to organise a few events. But when we saw an increase in attendance through targeted outreach, I realised I had developed a real capacity for engaging people and fostering a welcoming environment. This role, combined with supporting students as a Welfare Rep, has made me a much more patient and perceptive listener. I’ve learned that resilience is not just about pushing through your own challenges, but about showing up consistently for others, which in turn has made me more confident in my ability to contribute positively to any team.
Volunteering is teaching me that leadership isn't about a title, but about enabling others. Whether it was coordinating 35 student organisations as Secretary-General of my previous students' council, or now supporting fellow students as a Welfare Rep, my goal is the same: to create the conditions for others to thrive. I aspire to be a leader defined by empathy and a deep commitment to equity. I want to go beyond simply managing projects and instead build genuine partnerships, ensuring that every initiative, especially in international development, is co-created with and empowers the communities it is designed to serve.
At the same time, I want my leadership to extend beyond empathy alone by pairing understanding with action and driving practical, sustainable solutions that actively involve communities in shaping outcomes that work for them..
Learn more
This article is part of an ongoing series of profiles of Wolfson student volunteers.
To learn more about how you can get involved, visit our Volunteering at Wolfson page.
Pictured (L-R): Tasha, Elishammah Nyaga-Ghany, and Adeline Menard
