Feelings and Futures: How Ese Mukoro Used Design Research to Amplify Adolescent Voices in Baton Rouge

Ese Mukoro didn't walk into the Gardere Initiative with a clipboard and a hypothesis. She walked in ready to listen. The 2026 Ogden Honors College graduate spent her senior year working alongside adolescent girls in a Gardere, Louisiana community organization where she researched their experiences, advocated for their needs, and collaborated with them to redesign programs that actually fit their lives.

Ese Mukoro graduated in May 2026 with a Bachelor's of Interdisciplinary Studies spanning Sociology, Psychology, and Design, along with a capstone project that pulled all three together in ways that are hard to put in a box.

Her Honors capstone, "Feelings and Futures: Social Design Addressing Identity and Engagement of Adolescent Girls in a Community-Based Organization," centered on the Gardere Initiative, a community organization in Gardere, Louisiana. Ese spent her time there doing something she believes is the foundation of any meaningful design work: listening. She sat with adolescent girls in the program, worked to understand their experiences and identities, and then collaborated with the girls and the organization itself to think through ways the program could better reflect who they are and what they actually need. "I believe that taking time to understand, listen, and know the people you aim to serve enables you to leave the greatest impact," she says.

That philosophy carried her all the way to California. Ese presented her research at two conferences over a single weekend — Stanford's Undergraduate Research Conference and the annual Southern Sociological Society Conference. Stanford's conference was funded in part through Stanford's own application-based funding process; the Southern Sociological Society trip was supported through OHC funding available to students enrolled in LSU's Distinguished Undergraduate Researchers program through the Office of Undergraduate Research. For students who assume cross-country conference travel is out of reach, Ese's experience is worth paying attention to — the funding exists, and it's more accessible than most people realize.

At Stanford, she found herself surrounded by undergraduate researchers from across the country, each bringing a completely different lens to their work. Rather than feeling daunted, she left energized. "No two projects were the same; no one will have the same perspective you have on a problem or a field," she reflects. "Your innovation, creativity, and unique perspective are always the most valuable assets you can bring to the table."

For students still on the fence about pursuing a capstone, Ese is direct: do it. "A capstone research project is an opportunity to show everyone and anyone how you think and what you're passionate about. The process teaches you so much about yourself, shows others how you innovate and create, and empowers you to be the initiator of your own journey."