Passport to Prosperity

City of Des Moines Johnny is the epitome of “actions speak louder than words.” Johnny does not take the conventional approach to advocacy: he doesn’t do social justice work in social justice spaces. He doesn’t preach to the choir. Johnny goes beyond the traditional spaces of advocacy, and focuses instead on creating spaces for people […]

DMACC Student Emerging Leader Award Mohamed Sharif has worked with several community non-profits to help groom future technology talent, spending countless hours outside his full-time studies and two part-time positions at DMACC, inspiring middle and high school students. His nominators praised Mohamed’s commitment to helping others, passion to promote education & IT, and service to

Iowa Army National Guard James Suong serves with the Iowa Army National Guard. His nominators call him a standard-bearer for bringing together people of varying cultures. Through his volunteer efforts, he has influenced public policy and programs for refugees and the Asian Pacific Islander community in Iowa. He serves on the Commission of Asian and

EMBARC Abigail Sui is one of the founding staff members of EMBARC, a grassroots nonprofit founded by and for refugees. She helped to conceptualize, launch, and manage the Parent Navigator Program. Under Abigail’s leadership, the program has taught over 400 parents, enrolled over 300 preschoolers and kindergartners, and provided over 1,000 social services in the

John Deere Tijana Kudumovic a long-time John Deere employee, is a founding member of the World and I (Working on Recognizing Leadership, Diversity, and Inclusion) resource group. Tijana is known as a force of change and healing: she has raised funds for research and awareness for Cystic Fibrosis, volunteered with Startup Kids, serves on the

Genesis Youth Foundation Samuel Gabriel is the co-founder and executive director of Genesis Youth Foundation, where he works to empower underserved youth and young adults, engage them in opportunities to become effective leaders, and provide a unified voice for African voices. During the COVID-19 crisis, Sam has been instrumental in making sure families had food,

Center for Worker Justice, Iowa City City Council In November 2017, Mazahir Salih was elected to an at-large seat on the Iowa City council and became the first openly Muslim candidate elected in the city, and the first Sudanese-American person elected to public office in the United States. Mazahir came to the United States in 1997

Advanced Technologies Group Atul Gupta came to Iowa as an international student at Grinnell College in 1984 and has since lived in Iowa. After college he joined Principal Financial Group as the second person on the dedicated Technology Research team. Atul rose to become Director of Information Technologies for Principal International’s IT operations servicing locations