Jolie Bul

Ajok "Jolie" Bul is from Boston, Massachusetts, and is majoring in Economics with Financial Applications with a minor in Public Policy and International Affairs through the NexPoint Tower Scholars Program. At SMU, Jolie is a Gerald & Gail Turner Scholar, a member of Alpha Kappa Psi Business Fraternity, Director of Programming for the Association of Black Students, and a member of the SMU African Student Association. She is one of a select group of Tower Scholars chosen to conduct original research alongside Tower Center faculty as part of the Sun & Star Business and Geopolitics Symposium focused on U.S.–Japan economic and trade relations, and studies abroad in Japan in partnership with Kwansei Gakuin University. Outside of SMU, Jolie interns and volunteers with HANDS International in collaboration with UNICEF, serving 50+ girls displaced from conflict regions in the Middle East and contributing to over $150,000 raised for humanitarian programs, and volunteers locally in DFW with Hope Farm. She is also the founder of Nile Glow, a startup skincare initiative focused on ethical sourcing and fair-wage employment for young women in South Sudan. Jolie's passion in public policy centers on international economic development and humanitarian affairs, and she plans to pursue a career at the intersection of global development, business, and international policy.