Oriana Dunker is a graduating senior at Boston Latin School and will be attending Yale University studying Ethics, Politics, and Economics on a Pre-Law track in the fall.
Born and raised in Roxbury, Oriana’s passion for community service began early—coloring with crayons at neighborhood meetings and helping with park cleanups using a kid-sized trash grabber—which has fostered within her a deep passion for serving her community. In Roxbury, Oriana has volunteered as a tutor in English and Spanish for elementary school students at 826 Boston, a youth tutoring and writing non-profit, and works as a book editor and 7-time published author, taking lots of inspiration from the beauty of her neighborhood.
Beyond Roxbury, Oriana has spent four years working at the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH) where she led the organizing team, educating over 600 teens in greater Boston on their youth worker’s rights. With MassCOSH, her advocacy has included leading a student rally at City Hall, hosting a town hall with Mayor Wu and superintendent Skipper, and advocating as a student speaker for the 2024 Boston Teacher’s Union contract renewal. She spends her summers volunteering at the Ron Burton Training Village sleepaway camp in Hubbardston, which uplifts inner-city girls through faith, fitness, and leadership.
Throughout highschool, she has been involved in a variety of extracurriculars including serving as the president of Cru, the Christian student’s club, Treasurer of BLS B.L.A.C.K., Co-Founder of the BLS Anti-Bias Student Committee, a Model UN delegate, cheerleader, Gospel Choir singer, and more. In her free time, she enjoys watching films, practicing guitar, baking, reading, and spending time with family and friends. One of her favorite extracurriculars is Public Declamation, which she has done since her sixie year. She has qualified for Prize Declamation three years in a row, receiving the Francis Gardner Prize for Excellence in Declamation 2nd Place and 1st Place consecutively.
Using the public speaking skills she has learned at BLS to give a voice to those who are too often unheard is one of the most fulfilling things in her life. In the future, she apires to a career in public service, dedicated to justice, kindness, and leaving the world better than she found it.