US President Barack Obama on Wednesday named Colombian pop diva Shakira a member of his advisory commission on Hispanic education, citing her pioneering work to help children in Latin America. The singer, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, a Grammy award-winning singer, songwriter and producer founded the ‘Barefoot Foundation’ which set up schools and education projects in Colombia, South Africa and Haiti. Last year, the singer of ‘Whenever, Wherever’ and ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ joined the World Bank to set up a program to push education and developmental programs for children in Latin America. Shakira was among four people named to the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, along with Nancy Navarro, a Maryland politician, Adrian Pedroza, an immigration and education campaigner and educational expert Kent Scribner.
