Yohannes Abraham, Special Assistant to President Obama, at the Sonia Shah Organization dinner in Chicago, November 20th 2015. (Photo: The Sonia Shah Organization)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Thursday, December 3rd, 2015
New York (TADIAS) — Last week Yohannes Abraham, special assistant to the President, was in Chicago where he delivered the Keynote address and a message from First Lady Michelle Obama to attendees of a fundraising dinner in support of a girls’ education program run by the Sonia Shah Organization.
The non-profit is named after the late Sonia Shah, the youngest intern in President Obama’s 2012 Campaign.
“Sonia Shah, an exceptionally bright 17 year old young girl, born and raised in the US and Europe, went to build a state-of-the-art girls’ school in order to offer free education to poor girls in the village of Kangra Pakhtoonkwa Pakistan, where only 3 out of 10 girls ever go to school,” according to the Chicago Tribune. “However, when Sonia’s young life was tragically cut short at the age of 18, her mother, Iram Shah, decided to establish and run the Sonia Shah Memorial School.”
Yohannes, who is also Chief of Staff for the Office of Public Engagement and the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, said: “As a star in our campaign, she did a wonderful job.”
“Abraham read out the message of Michelle Obama, the First Lady of the US, who conveyed her greetings to those gathered to celebrate the Sonia Shah Organization and encouraged young people to take charge of their futures through education,” the Chicago Tribune reported.
“With your continued commitment to expanding opportunities for learning, you are truly honoring Sonia’s legacy of compassion and dedication,” added Michelle in her message.
“We were incredibly honored to have Yohannes Abraham, special assistant to the President, as the keynote speaker at our fundraising event last week,” the Sonia Shah Organization said in a Facebook post. “He brought a letter from First Lady Michelle Obama with him lauding Sonia Shah Organization for focusing on one of her passions: girls’ education.”
Yohannes was also the keynote speaker at the Young Ethiopian Professionals (YEP) organization’s 5th anniversary gala last month in Alexandria, Virginia.
Read more at the Chicago Tribune »
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Related:
Video: Yohannes Abraham’s keynote at YEP 5- Year Anniversary Gala — November 7th, 2015
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