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THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of Communications
Press Release - January 27, 2012

White House Highlights Nini Legesse as a “Champion of Change” and Trailblazer in American Diaspora Communities

WASHINGTON, DC – On Monday, January 30th, the White House will honor Nini Legesse as one of fourteen Champions of Change who are leaders in American Diaspora communities with roots in the Horn of Africa. These leaders are helping to build stronger neighborhoods in communities across the country, and are working to mobilize networks across borders to address global challenges.

The Champions of Change program was created as a part of President Obama’s Winning the Future initiative. Each week, a different sector is highlighted and groups of Champions, ranging from educators to entrepreneurs to community leaders, are recognized for the work they are doing to serve and strengthen their communities.

“These men and women are American leaders we want to celebrate,” said Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough. “We commend the innovative practices, achievements and leadership these change makers bring not only to their communities around this country—but also to the development of and diplomacy with their countries of origin.”

To watch this event live, visit www.whitehouse.gov/live at 3:00 pm ET January 30th.

Nini Legesse is the president of a dynamic non-profit organization called Wegene Ethiopian Foundation (WEF) which she founded with the help of her friends and family members in the year 2000. Wegene has supported 28 impoverished families (8 of which are now self-sufficient) and enrolled over 75 homeless children in schools as a result of sales of baked goods, handmade clay figurines, doll designs and Nini’s poetry books. She has also successfully recruited hundreds of members who pay monthly dues which directly support Wegene’s cause. Each year, Nini spends countless hours knocking on neighborhood doors sharing Wegene’s vision and mission while realizing her dream of eliminating poverty through education.

While visiting a remote village in the Jimma area of Ethiopia in 2006, Nini noticed that the only local school had been ruined and abandoned, forcing the area’s children to walk two hours each way to the nearest school. In response, she spearheaded a project to build an elementary school for the area. By organizing various Wegene fund raising activities, Nini helped raise money for materials and construction. After four years of effort and commitment, the school building dream was a reality. On February 26, 2011, the elementary school was inaugurated and presented to the local people to manage and oversee.

In addition to her commitment to Wegene, Nini works full time and is a mother of three school-aged children. She first arrived in the United States as a 17-year-old Ethiopian immigrant and later became a naturalized citizen. Nini received her bachelor’s degree from Berea College and her graduate degree from Ball State University. She has been working as a patent examiner in the U.S. Patent and Trademarks Office since 2001, where she earned the Bronze Medal Award from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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Thank you for your continued support to Wegene for the last many years. The latest news regarding Wegene is that it has registered in the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) for the first time. Please pass this great news to all the Federal government employees you know. Wegene's assigned CFC No. is 16021 (for more information regarding CFC, please review the attachment).

Wegene is currently planning to have" Happy Hour" event and a Zumba family event between now and December. During these events, we will have updates and progress reports of our work and the status of our sponsored families. In the mean time, I would like to briefly share with you some of the activities Wegene had this year. I am very happy to inform you that we have finished building the elementary school we started in Abilty, Jimma. The school was inaugurated on February 26, 2011. In May, Wegene was invited to The Secretary's Global Diaspora Forum in the State Department. Wegene participated in the Education Panel during the forum. Multiple volunteers and Wegene members from the US have delivered new shoes and school supplies to our sponsored families during their vacation visits to Addis Ababa. Regarding some of our sponsored families: Abiye, the student we sponsored in private school who earned his IT Diploma has got his BS in Computer Science this year. Binyiam, the young man we sponsored to become an elementary teacher a couple of years ago, has got his second teacher's diploma this year allowing him to teach in high school. Both Abiye and Binyiam are currently employed in their respective fields. Teddy, has become a 2nd year medical student in Gonder. Betty, has become a 2nd year university student in Arba Minch (it has been a very sad and challenging year for Betty and Wegene since Betty's mom passed away due to a car accident). Abiye, Betty, and Teddy have been expressing how grateful they are for the laptop computers they received from Wegene supporters. Bizunish has become an auto mechanic. New families from our waiting list have been added while 3 families have successfully exited from Wegene's sponsorship cycle since they have become self-sufficient.

Regarding the where about and time of the Happy Hour and the Zumba event, I will contact you very soon. I look forward to see you soon in person and share a lot more info.

Have a great day,

Nini

Wegene 2011 CFC Document Click Here

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	10 year anniversary/fundraiser On Nov. 13, 2010 at 7:00 PM Wegene will be celebrating its 10 year anniversary/ fundraiser at Beth El Hebrew Congregation Address: 3830 Seminary Rd, Alexandria, VA Marathon Two of WEF members will be raising money by participating in the the Oct 31, 2010 Marine Corps Marathon Yewebdar Tadesse and Betelhem Shewareged We deeply appreciate your support for this event. Bake Sale Colonnade shopping centre in Centreville Va July 11, 10-2 Cardinal forest shopping centre in Springfield, Va July 18, 10-2 Craft Sale Our team member, Amarech Worku organized a craft sale at the Jewish Community Center (JCC), 8900 Little River Turnpike, Fairfax, VA 22031. Amarech presented beautiful jewelry, T-shirts, flowers, and many other items that were all hand made. The event was a success. There will be more craft shows in the future, and we will keep you posted. Families Update Binyam, whom Wegene has just sponsored through Teachers Training College earns his certificate and is now able to teach grades 1 through 4. Wegene will continue to sponsor Binyam to help him earn his Teacher's Diploma. Abiy, the brilliant boy sponsored by Wegene, who just earned his Diploma in IT is now pushing ahead for his Degree. Around 50 pairs of shoes got distributed to Wegene sponsored families (children) just in time for the start of the new school year. This year the Wegene Ethiopian Foundation (WEF) is sponsoring an amateur team to run the 2007 Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday, October 28, 2007. Abiy, a very bright young man, whom Wegene has been sponsoring through college while he was studying IT graduated with very great distinction from Microlink College. We've put a video of his graduation day here. Serkalem, W/o Etynesh's beloved daughter passed away suddenly. Wegene has been helping W/o Etynesh's family for a while now. Wegene even set up Serkalem in her own Samosa and Soft drink selling business where she was doing so well that she was on the way to ensure her families self-sufficiency. Our condolences goes out to her bereaved family. Wegene makes a second donation to a local orphanage. Wegene was invited to San Hose State University where its president, Nini Legesse made a speach introducing Wegene and its work. A group of US born children in the US, mostly children of Wegene members, organize and raise funds for Wegene by carrying out cake bake sales. Watch the video (3 minutes) here Wegene was invited to Abelti (Jimma), Ethiopia by the local community there after they heard that Wegene helps impoverished families. The community is looking for benevolent donors to help them build a school for the children since there isn't one for grades above fourth. Please watch the video of their warm welcome here Wegene sets up various families with their own micro-businesses and fixes up crumbling homes. A daughter of one family was put through a training to be a hair dresser where as another youngster from another family was trained to be a barber, now hoping and waiting that Wegene will set him up in his own business. "Rebuilding families one child at a time!"

Mission Statement WEF's mission is to improve the everyday lives of less fortunate and disadvantaged children and their families in Ethiopia in a sustainable manner. WEF also aims to foster goodwill and hope in these families, and create and strengthen their ties with the donors that reside outside of Ethiopia.

Goals and Objectives The overall goal of WEF is to enable hardworking destitute families meet their daily needs and send their children to school; and to create opportunities for them to become self-sufficient. WEF plans to achieve these goals through objectives, including Matching up families with caretakers Preparing a home setting for those without homes Enrolling their children in public or private schools Engaging family heads in vocational or skill training activities Providing selected families with grants to start-up small businesses or helping them secure fulltime jobs