2 Rwandan survivors among YWCA’s Women of Achievement

YWCA Lake County will hold its 34th Annual Women of Achievement Awards Dinner, hosted by Theresa Gutierrez of ABC 7 News, with keynote speaker Marilyn Miglin, author and world-renowned beauty authority, on Friday, June 8, at the Hilton Northbrook Grand Ballroom.

Honorees will include Claire Mukendente and Clemantine Wamariya, Judy Armstrong, Nancy C. Andrade, Sandra Omorogieva and Walgreens.

Claire Mukendente and Clemantine Wamariya will receive the award for Racial Justice. In April 1994, violence broke out in Rwanda, and during the next 100 days over 800,000 people were murdered, including many from Claire and Clemantine’s family. During that time, Clemantine, 6, and her older sister, Claire, 14, were sent to be with their grandparents in another city in Rwanda, but the fighting followed the girls there. Claire and Clemantine were lucky to escape the massacre. During the next six years, Claire and Clemantine lived in numerous refugee camps in seven different African countries before applying to an American relief organization that brought them to Chicago in 2000.

In 2006, Oprah Winfrey reunited Claire and Clemantine with their parents. Claire continues her relationship with Oprah as she recently escorted her to the first graduating class of Oprah’s school in Africa.

Currently, Clemantine is a junior at Yale University and recently appointed by President Barack Obama to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.

Judy Armstrong, resident of Round Lake Beach since 1977 and village trustee since 2005, will receive the award for Civic Leadership. In addition to being the director of business development for Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers Inc., Armstrong currently serves as chairman of the Economic Development Committee and as a member of the Public Safety Committee. She was recently appointed co-chairman of the 75th Anniversary Committee for the village, and serves as president of Women In/Interested in Government Service in Lake County, chairman of the Mano-a-Mano Gala; on the boards of directors for B.E.S.T., United Way of Lake County, and the Round Lake Area Exchange Club. She is an active member of The Lake County Municipal League Legislative Committee, Character Counts and Calvary Presbyterian Church.

Nancy C. Andrade, president and general counsel of Mexifeast Foods Inc., will receive the award for Entrepreneurship. Andrade began her career in the food industry while practicing law at a large Chicago law firm. Colleagues and staff would often ask her where one could get authentic Mexican tamales, and it so happened that her parents operated a part-time catering outfit at the time and was able to refer the tamale inquiries to her parents. The popularity of her parent’s tamales grew so much that she decided to establish an ordering system for the Christmas Holidays, and sold 200 dozen tamales in a six-week period and 300 dozen tamales the following Christmas season. She knew she was on to something, and that sparked the creation of Mexifeast Foods Inc.

Sandra Omorogieva will be the recipient of the Dr. Minnie J. Leggette Scholarship. Omorogieva is a senior at Zion Benton Township High School. Upon moving from Nigeria to the United States, she has taken advantage of her education and has a weighted GPA of 4.258 and is in the top 4 percent of her senior graduating class. She has participated in activities such as Youth Advisory Board, Student Leadership Network, Mosaics, Educational Talent Search, Key Club, Reading Buddies and volunteer work at the Zion public library. She plans to attend the University of Illinois at Chicago to become a pharmacist and help other young children in Third World countries.

Walgreens will receive the Corporate Champion Award, presented to a company that has demonstrated exemplary service and consistent commitment to the mission of the YWCA Lake County. Walgreens was selected for the this year’s award for providing over 17 years of generous support and partnership in YWCA Lake County’s work with the women, children and families of Lake County.

For more information about YWCA Lake County, email info@ywcalakecountyil.org, call (847) 662-4247 or visit ywcalakecounty.org.