About Me

Ifeoluwapo “Ife” is a community engagement practitioner with five years of experience assisting organizations in advancing and achieving their missions and goals across various industries such as education and health in Nigeria and the United States. He is an alumnus of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, United States of America, and Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko, Nigeria.

Work

Community Engagement Specialist, Sherman Park Community Association, Milwaukee, WI 2024 – Present

Refugee Family Education Coordinator, Catholic Charities – Refugee and Immigration Services, Milwaukee, WI 2022 – 2024 

Community Health Intern, Aurora Walker’s Point Community Clinic, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Wisconsin Area Health Education Centers Program, Madison, WI 2023 – 2023

Operations Assistant, Some Good Foundation, Lagos, Nigeria 2021 – 2022

Other Projects

Housing Improvement Project with Sherman Park Community Association (SPCA), Milwaukee, WI, 2023  

Parent Engagement Program, Catholic Charities – Refugees and Immigration Services and Milwaukee Public School, Milwaukee, WI

Evaluation of The Community Newsletter, Milwaukee, WI, 2023

Report Writing on Urban Agricultural Organizations in Milwaukee: An Analysis of Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Community Engagement Strategies. Case Studies of Groundwork Milwaukee and Alice’s Garden, Milwaukee, WI 2023

Research Intern (Virtual), Dataville Research LCC, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria, 2021


Awards/Honors

Fellow, Charles E. Kubly Well-Being Fellowship, Lubar Entrepreneurship Center, UW-Milwaukee, 2024

Graduate Student Award, National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Boot camp, UW-Milwaukee, 2024

Chancellors Student Success Award, Awarded by Dean of Student Affairs, UW-Milwaukee, 2023

Peace Studies Scholarship Funds, Masters of Sustainable Peacebuilding, UW-Milwaukee, 2023

3rd Place MSP Student, Eta Nu Chapter 8th Annual Jacqueline F. Clinton, PH, RN, FAAN Poster Symposium, School of Nursing, UW-Milwaukee, 2022

J.M. Kohler Sustainable Peace Award, UW-Milwaukee, 2022

Institute for Systems Change Peacebuilding Fellowship, UW-Milwaukee, 2022


Publications

Tolorunju, I.A. Mental Health and Trauma Challenges Among Rohingya Refugees in the United States (Under Review)

Tolorunju, I.A and Reuning, C.M Ubuntu Ethics as a Tool for Refugee Integration in the United States (Under Review)

Aborode, A.; Anifowoshe, O.; Tolorunju, I., Rebecca Iretiayo, A.; Oluwafemi David, O. Impact of COVID-19 on Education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Preprints.org 2020, 2020070027. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202007.0027.v1

Ogunrotifa, A. M. and Tolorunju, I.A. 2020. “Religion and Covid-19 in Nigeria: A Real Journey into New Religious Experience and Expression” Religions: Journal of Nigeria Association for the Study of Religions, 30(1), 2020.



Conferences and Bootcamps Presentations

Tolorunju, I. Mental Health and Trauma Challenges Among Rohingya Refugees in the United States, Partners for Health Research Symposium, UW-Milwaukee, 2024

Tolorunju, I. Charles E. Kubly Wellbeing Fellowship project – Mental Health and Refugees Experience, Lubar Entrepreneurship Center, Milwaukee 2024

Tolorunju, I. Ubuntu Ethics and Refugee Integration in Wisconsin, Wisconsin Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies Conference, Madison, Wisconsin 2024.

Tolorunju, I. and Reuning, C. Poster: “Ubuntu Ethics as a Tool for Catholic Charities Milwaukee Refugee Integration in Wisconsin, U.S. Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) Office of Community Engagement 2023.   

Tolorunju, I. 2023. Dialogue Workshop: Program Evaluation: Grants, Research, and Publication, Kent State Dialogue, Kent State University, Ohio 2023.