New York (TADIAS) – During a ceremony held at the White House on Tuesday awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to several American political and cultural icons including Madeleine Albright (the 64th U.S. Secretary of State and the first woman to hold that position) President Obama related an anecdote from the remarkable and inspiring story of a child refugee from Czechoslovakia who lost her grandparents in the Holocaust, but rose to become America’s top diplomat.
“This is one of my favorite stories,” Obama said. “Once, at a naturalization ceremony, an Ethiopian man came up to her and said, ‘Only in America can a refugee meet the Secretary of State.’ And she replied, ‘Only in America can a refugee become the Secretary of State.'”
Albright currently serves as a Professor of International Relations at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service.
Watch as Secretary Albright talks about her proudest accomplishments in the service of her adopted country:
New York (TADIAS) – Each week, as part of President Obama’s Winning the Future initiative, the White House recognizes champions from various sectors — ranging from educators to entrepreneurs and community leaders — and honors them for the work they are doing to serve and strengthen their communities.
Last week the White House recognized 14 “Champions of Change” who are leaders in American Diaspora communities with roots in the Horn of Africa. In the next few weeks Tadias Magazine will feature an interview series with several of the champions.
We start with Ethiopian-born Solome Lemma, a philanthropist, activist, and organizer. She is currently a grantmaking program advisor at The Global Fund for Children (GFC). Solome is a graduate of Stanford and Harvard Universities.
TADIAS: Solome, please tell our readers about yourself, where you grew up, your passions and top priorities?
Solome Lemma: I was born in Ethiopia and migrated to the US when I was 11. I lived in Marietta, GA for a year and spent the rest of my childhood in Los Angeles, California, until I went off to college. Since then I have lived in New York, DC, Boston, and Ethiopia and traveled to many countries in Africa. My passion is in seeing an Africa that is in charge of its own development and progress. An Africa that tells its own story, drives its own change, and sets its own agenda.
TADIAS: Through your non-profit work with the Global Fund for Children you have worked with grassroots organizations in over 25 countries in Africa. Can you share some of the highlights of that experience?
SL: Wow, so many incredible memories and highlights. I loved organizing a knowledge exchange conference in Senegal for grantee partners in English and French-speaking parts of West Africa. We held the exchange in Toubab Dialow, right on the beach and it was incredible to see people forge connections and lasting relationships despite the linguistic divides. After the conference, I had an opportunity to visit and stay with the great writer Ayi Kwei Armah. I will never forget him cooking dinner. We had a great conversation about Africa, literature, and following one’s authentic purpose. Throughout that Senegal trip, I remember saying to myself I can’t believe this is my life over and over again.
Sierra Leone was such a beautiful surprise. Before I traveled there, all I knew about the country was the long conflict . Once I got there, I found the most breathtaking, stunning place I have ever visited. Rolling hills, lush green trees, gorgeous white sand and Turuquoise water. River number two is a must visit. And While I am on that, Zanzibar still has a piece of my heart.
The most inspiring part of that work was meeting the incredible grassroots leaders who are the backbone of change in their communities. I have met the most driven, resourceful, creative, and impactful organizations in Africa. During my last visit in Mombasa, Kenya, I met with two brothers who were forced into the streets at the ages of 4 and 7. They lived on and off the streets into their teenage years. Today, they run am organization that works with children who live on the streets called Total War Against AIDS Foundation (TWAAYF). These two young men have turned their misfortunes into an incredible organization that uses the creative arts, music, education, and love to prevent other children from experiencing their fate.
Visiting the Joy Center in Ethiopia is always a great source of inspiration. The Joy Center is the first and only school for children with autism. I have visited the organization every two years since 2006 and it’s incredible for me to see the change in the students overtime. One particular young lady couldn’t move, speak, or eat on her own when I visited the first time. When I returned two years later, she was playing basketball and communicating with her teachers. Another two years later, she was talking to me. It’s a place where love and care make miracles.
TADIAS: Describe the project you are currently working on to focus on members of the Diaspora as agents of change.
SL: I am working to establish an organization that will promote philanthropy among the African Diaspora Community. We are the most educated immigrant group in America. The global African Diaspora sends $40 billion in remittances each year. Imagine how much change we can advance if we consolidate our resources to engage in collective philanthropy, supporting the work of African social change organizations. It’s time for us to step outside of the shadows of development and philanthropic organizations and take our rightful place as resources, sources, and agents of change.
—- Watch: Champions of Change in American Diaspora Communities Honored at the White House
New York (TADIAS) — President Obama has honored nine individuals and eight organizations as recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. The mentors received their awards at a White House ceremony on Monday, December 12.
Administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring is awarded by the White House to individuals and organizations in recognition of the crucial role that mentoring plays in the academic and personal development of students studying science and engineering–particularly those who belong to groups that are underrepresented in these fields. By offering their expertise and encouragement, mentors help prepare the next generation of scientists and engineers while ensuring that tomorrow’s innovators reflect and benefit from the diverse talent of the United States.
Colleagues, administrators and students in their home institutions nominate candidates for the award. The mentoring can involve students at any grade level from elementary through graduate school. In addition to being honored at the White House, recipients receive awards of $25,000 from NSF to advance their mentoring efforts.
The mentors and organizations announced yesterday represent the winners for 2010 and 2011.
“Through their commitment to education and innovation, these individuals and organizations are playing a crucial role in the development of our 21st century workforce,” President Obama said when he first announced the awardees. “Our nation owes them a debt of gratitude for helping ensure that America remains the global leader in science and engineering for years to come.”
The individuals and organizations receiving the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring are:
2010
Solomon Bililign, North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, N.C.
Peggy Cebe, Tufts University, Mass.
Roy Clarke, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Mich.
Amelito Enriquez, Cañada College, Calif.
Karen Panetta, Tufts University, Mass.
ACE Mentor Program of America, Conn., represented by Charles Thornton
Ocean Discovery Institute, Calif.
Women’s Health Science Program for High School Girls and Beyond, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Ill., represented by Teresa Woodruff
2011
Winston Anderson, Howard University, Washington, D.C.
Juan E. Gilbert, Clemson University, S.C.
Shaik Jeelani, Tuskegee University, Ala.
Andrew Tsin, University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas
Camp Reach, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Mass. represented by Chrysanthe Demetry
Diversity Programs in Engineering, Cornell University, N.Y. , represented by Sara Hernández
The Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute, Arizona State University, Ariz., represented by Carlos Castillo-Chavez
The Stanford Medical Youth Science Program, Stanford University, Calif., represented by Marilyn Winkleby
University of California San Francisco Science & Health Education Partnership High School Intern Program, Calif., represented by Rebecca Smith
—
Source: NSF
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2011, its budget is about $6.9 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives over 45,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes over 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards over $400 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
WASHINGTON, DC (TADIAS) – When Physicist Solomon Bililign was a young teacher imprisoned in Ethiopia during the “Red Terror” era, he never imagined that he would one day receive a Presidential Award in the United States.
Now a professor at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, Dr. Bililign is one of nine individuals whom President Obama this week named recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. The honorees will receive their awards at a White House ceremony later this year. The award recognizes the role that mentoring plays in the academic and personal development of students studying science and engineering. According to the White House, candidates are nominated by colleagues, administrators, and students at their home institutions.
“Through their commitment to education and innovation, these individuals are playing a crucial role in the development of our 21st century workforce,” President Obama said. “Our nation owes them a debt of gratitude for helping ensure that America remains the global leader in science and engineering for years to come.”
“I am humbled by the honor,” Dr. Bililign said in an interview with Tadias Magazine following the announcement. “I am just one of thousands of mentors who happened to be nominated.” He added: I am sure there a lot more deserving mentors. The recognition would motivate me to do more.”
Dr. Bililign said that success in science, engineering or math is not as glamorous as success in performing arts or sports in the U.S., but the economic competitiveness of the nation, depends on a solid foundation in the sciences. “Young people need to be encouraged, pushed, persuaded to do it,” he said. “Not for the money or fame but for the love of discovery and innovation. I believe every one has a gift, and a mentor’s role is to identify the gift and nurture it.”
Dr. Bililign was born in Dessie, Ethiopia. He left the country in 1987 to pursue a PhD in Physics at the University of Iowa. “Both my parents were teachers,” he said. “They are actually the first graduates of the Debre Berhan Teachers Training program then run by the US Point Four program.” He continued: “Their first assignment was in Mekele, Northern Ethiopia where they started school under a tree by collecting shepherds from the field… that modest start grew into a big elementary school where my father served as a Principal for over 10 years and my mother taught home economics, until they transferred to Dessie. I did all my school grades one through eleven at Atse Yohannes Elementary and Secondary School.”
Dr. Bililign said he followed in his parents footsteps to be trained as a high school teacher and joined the Prince Bede Mariam Laboratory School in grade eleven. “ I graduated as a physics teacher from Addis Ababa University (AAU), but ended up as a graduate assistant at AAU and taught there as a lecturer for several years,” he said.
But Dr. Bililign’s life-journey has not always been easy. He was imprisoned and tortured during the “Red Terror” era. His father died in a car accident on his way to visit his son in prison.
“While no one had to go through [what I went through], I think I have turned that negative and hard experience to my advantage, where I spent most of my time teaching young prisoners during the day and prison guards during the night, trying to give hope in a seemingly hopeless situation, and keeping myself busy and overcoming negative feelings and bitterness,” he said. “The experience also gave me time to reflect on my life and see the bigger picture in life.”
And what is his advise to a new generation of aspiring scientists? “For the young people who are intimidated by the hard work needed in science, math and engineering, I say nothing in life is easy, it is all about deciding to do it with passion. Every thing will give up its secrets if you love it enough,” he said.
We congratulate Professor Solomon Bililign on his accomplishments.
President Barack Obama greets Dr. Solomon Bililign (left) and other recipients of the 2010 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring in the Oval Office, Dec. 12, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Above:Professor Ayele Bekerie and his former students, Yeshi
Abebe and Tsehai Abebe, attend an event on the South Lawn
of the White House on June 29, 2010. —— (Courtesy Photo)
Tadias Magazine
Events News
Updated: Friday, July 2, 2010
New York (Tadias) – Tadias recently received a wonderful note from Professor Ayele Bekerie at Cornell University. Two of his former students had sent him an invitation to attend an event on the South Lawn of the White House honoring appointees who had been involved in the Obama Presidential campaign and now had government jobs.
Below are Professor Bekerie’s synopsis and photos:
In 1999 nine students of Ethiopian background graduated from Cornell University. The majority of them took one or more courses with me while they were undergraduate students. Among these graduates were Yeshimebet Abebe and Tsehai Abebe, who are sisters. Yeshi, Tsehai and their third sister Saba work for the Federal Government. They were actively involved in the campaign to elect President Obama in Iowa where they were born.
On June 29, 2010, the White House invited political appointees (those who work for the Government as a result of Obama’s Presidency) to a summer event on the South Lawn of the White House. The appointees played a critical role in the election of President Obama. Each appointee was also allowed to invite a person of their choice. Yeshi chose me to attend the event. Her act is an expression of a great tradition in which she and her sisters wanted to acknowledge my service to them as a professor as an advisor.
The summer event on the South Lawn was attended by thousands of appointees and their guests. After passing through elaborate security clearance, we arrived at The Lawn, which is vast, memory-laden and beautiful; it was filled up with guests who sat around picnic tables, on the grass, or simply walked around. At service tents, guests can got soft drinks, ice cream, and ice cold water – It was the most sought after drink in the hot and humid Washington summer afternoon. A great live band played a variety of selections drawn from great American music traditions throughout the event.
President Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama joined their guests a little after 5:30 pm. The President spoke briefly and his main message was a message of gratitude. The appointees critical role in his election is publicly acknowledge and appreciated. He also cited some of his administration’s accomplishments in the last eighteen months, such as the largest public projects to improve roads and bridges, free health insurance to all needy children, health insurance that will allow over 30 million Americans to have insurance coverage, financial regulation and new approach to foreign policy.
The President and the First Lady interacted with the guests, shook hands and engaged them in conversation. My cherished moments, of course, was when I shook hands with both President Obama and the First Lady. I also got a chance to take pictures. The Summer Event on the South Lawn ended at 7 pm. The sisters treated me to a dinner before I returned to Ithaca.
Above:President Obama made a statement to the media in
the Rose Garden at the White House on Sunday. (Brendan
Hoffman for The New York Times).
The New York Times
By CARL HULSE and ROBERT PEAR
Published: November 8, 2009
WASHINGTON — President Obama, seeking to build momentum on Capitol Hill after the House passed a $1.1 trillion, 10-year plan to overhaul the nation’s health care system, urged the Senate on Sunday to “take the baton and bring this effort to the finish line.” Speaking in the Rose Garden exactly 24 hours after he appeared there Saturday to call for House passage of the bill, Mr. Obama praised House members for what he called a ‘’courageous vote” that “brought us closer than we have ever been” to extending coverage to millions of uninsured Americans. He said the bill fulfilled his promise to bring sweeping change to the lives of millions of Americans. Read more.
Video: Confident Senate Will Take Reform To The “Finish Line”
Above: Members of the Norwegian committee that gave Barack
Obama the Nobel Peace Prize are strongly defending their choice
against a storm of criticism that the award was premature and a
potential liability for the U.S. president. Read more from AP.
Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize The step-grandmother of the President of
the United States, Sarah Obama, reads
a local Kenyan paper Saturday for news
on the Nobel Peace Prize. (Azim/AP).
Video: Obama’s Statement:
Watch: Obama Brings Honor to America (Rachel Maddow)
Watch: Fareed Zakaria on Obama’s week of war and peace
Related: The Election of Barack Obama HBO series Premieres November 3
By The People: The Election of Barack Obama
While Obama’s meteoric rise to the White House has been well
documented in the press, few have witnessed the behind-the-
scenes story of the passionate campaigners who helped a
young African-American freshman senator attain the nation’s
highest office.
