Dr. OJ Oleka, President of the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities (AIKCU), will be the featured guest at Thursday’s Rooster Booster event. At a prior speaking engagement in Owensboro earlier this month, Oleka addressed how he wants to end generational poverty across the country and has begun taking steps to help educate children in the Commonwealth.
The program begins at 7:30 a.m. at the Owensboro Convention Center (501 West Second Street) and is sponsored by Brescia University. Register to attend here or call the Chamber office at 270-926-1860.
The cost to attend Rooster Booster is $15 for Chamber Members with reservations, $20 for Members with no reservations, and $25 for non-members. Reservations include breakfast, which will be served buffet style at the beginning of the event.
Prior to AIKCU, Oleka was the Deputy Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, where he worked on policy that streamlined government, developed financial literacy standards for Kentucky schools, and protected the property rights of Kentuckians.
As a published researcher, Oleka has focused on college affordability, social capital, and workforce development. He is passionate about ending generational poverty through educational opportunity and economic mobility for all Kentuckians.
Oleka’s passion derived from his childhood, saying he learned the importance of financial literacy to make decisions and being able to defy a system that wasn’t exactly set up for everyone to succeed.
In addition to his time as Chief of Staff and Deputy Treasurer, Oleka and a colleague ultimately led to the founding of the coalition of AntiRacism Kentucky in June 2020 following the deaths of Breonna Taylor and other Black people nationwide.
The coalition brought together Kentuckians of different racial, political, economic, and regional backgrounds to discuss ways to work towards being a non-racist state.
