Yvonne O. Osirim
A.B. ‘01, J.D. 07
An attorney by training, Yvonne Osirim hopes to employ her skills in analytical thinking andconsensus-building to integrate anti-racism into the priorities of the alumni community. “I am incredibly passionate about social justice, an outgrowth of my upbringing and my time as a federal criminal prosecutor, and improving equitable access to economic, political, and social rights,” she writes. Osirim currently works as Executive Director of human health and compliance for Merck.
As HAA Anti-Racism Working Group co-chair, Osirim helped design and facilitate workshops for HAA’s board members. A booster of Clubs and SIGs, she served as Harvard Black Alumni Society (HBAS) president, collaborating with other Shared Interest Groups to launch Unity Weekend–the first conference celebrating Harvard alumni communities of color. HBAS has strongly advocated for race-conscious admissions and is one of the 25 Harvard alumni and student group amici represented by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. In addition, Yvonne believes: “Harvard must commit to the creation of a department for a study of race, ethnicity, and indigeneity. In a time where fear has spurred school boards and state legislatures to ban teachings about racism in classrooms, Ethnic Studies continues to be a critical feature of an anti-racist college curricula.”
