About Me

Jamila Otieno

Presenting at The Bullpen, home to Duke's Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative

Who am I?

Jamila is a second year student and David M. Rubenstein Scholar at Duke University. She plans on pursuing a degree in Computer Science. Outside of her classes, she currently works as a Product Manager/Operations Manager for Duke Applied Machine Learning Group where she works to bring the benefits of machine learning to small businesses and as a design engineer for Duke Motorsports. She is also the alumni relations chair for Duke Catalyst Tech Society and an active member of the National Society of Black Engineers, DukeAfrica, and Google’s Software Product Sprint.

What have I been up to?

This summer, Jamila will be working on a passion project with a group of Duke students. The project, commonly referred to as the Duke University Phoenix Project, is a new tech internship program designed to provide students who lost their jobs due to the pandemic with the opportunity to work on impactful projects in software engineering, machine learning, and data science. Jamila spent the spring semester organizing the program and is a member of the founding group of the Phoenix Project which currently serves over 200 students across 80+ projects.

Touring with the Atlanta Youth Symphony Orchestra as a euphonium player
Competing in javelin, discus, and hammer at New Balance Outdoor Nationals

What am I passionate about?

Jamila is a staunch believer in empowerment through education and actively works to break barriers to knowledge attainment. As a first generation college student, she understands the constant struggle between access and ambition and is committed to developing products that level the playing field for those who need it most. In her spare time, she enjoys throwing javelin, playing euphonium, and designing graphics.

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