Kids & Family

Lake County, Chicago Area Women Honored At 34th Annual Dinner

YWCA Lake County to honor four women and one high school student during their annual Women of Achievement Dinner.

YWCA Lake County will honor four women and one female high school student at their 34th Annual Women of Achievement Dinner, Friday, June 8 from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Hilton Northbrook (next to Algauers Restaurant).

The honorees for this year highlight Civic Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Racial Justice and a special high school scholarship recipient.

Judy Armstrong - Civic Leadership: Round Lake Beach Trustee

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Judy Armstrong, resident of Round Lake Beach since 1977, and Village Trustee since 2005. Married to Jim, my husband of 38 years, I am a wife and mother of four grown sons, as well as Director of Business Development for Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc., where I aminvolved in all aspects of the business, from financial planning to editing and managing projects. I currently serve as Chairman of the Economic Development Committee and as a member of the Public Safety Committee. I was recently appointed Co-Chairman of the 75th Anniversary Committee for the Village, and invite anyone interested in helping to plan the celebration in 2012 to contact me at the e-mail or phone number listed below.

I'm also honored to serve 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. I am an active member of The Lake County Municipal League LegislativeCommittee, Character Counts! and Calvary Presbyterian Church.

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Nancy C. Andrade – Entrepreneurship: President and General Counsel of MexifeastFoods, Inc.

Nancy C. Andrade is President and General Counsel of Mexifeast Foods, Inc. Ms. Andrade isa graduate of Loyola University Chicago with a B.A. in Political Science and law degree from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Ms. Andrade began her career in the food industry while practicing law at a large Chicago law firm. Ms. Andrade was one of only four Latino attorneys at that time and happened to be the only attorney of Mexican ancestry. Being the resident Mexican "expert", colleagues and staff would often ask her where one could get authentic Mexican tamales. It so happened that Ms. Andrade's parents operated a part-time catering outfit at the time and was able to refer the tamale inquiries to her parents, who gladly filled tamale orders.

The popularity of her parent’s tamales grew so much at the firm that she decided to establish an ordering system similar to "Market Day" for the Christmas Holidays. Having 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.

Clemantine Wamariya and Claire Mukundente – 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's 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 Obama to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.

Sandra Omorogieva - Dr. Minnie J. Leggette Scholarship Recipient: Zion Benton Township High School

Sandra Omorogieva is a senior at Zion Benton Township High School and has been an active part of the Chicagoland area. Upon moving from Nigeria to the United States, she has taken advantage of her education and has a grade weighted GPA of 4.258 and is in the top 4% ofher 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.

The YWCA Lake County is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. Our programs focus on women, girls and their families to help them achieve economic self-sufficiency. We do this through mission based programs such as: women’s economic advancement, parent services/family management, women and girls health, youth leadership development/after school programs and social justice.

For more information on the 90th Anniversary events, visit the YWCA Lake County website at ywcalakecountyil.org.


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