The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes significant achievement in vocation, for outstanding contribution to church and community, and for a life that exemplifies the ideals and mission of Augsburg University.
Tsehai has over 47 years of wide-ranging work experience, in teaching, directing programs, journalism, and social work to name a few. Established in 2004, she is the founder and Executive Director of an International Nonprofit Organization named Resources Enriching African Lives (REAL), which provides support for orphaned and disadvantaged Ethiopian girls to attend school, develop leadership skills and be self-sufficient to overcome poverty and become leaders. In addition to this volunteer work, she was a senior social worker at Hennepin County for 22 years. Also, she is an entrepreneur and started a food production business about a year ago.
She is a recipient of Leadership In Neighborhood Fellowship, an award for her work on domestic violence against African women. She has also received an International Social Justice Award for her work on the education and empowerment of Ethiopian girls and young women. Also, Tsehai is only one among 10 women honored with the Black Women Giving Back recipient in August of 2023. Finally, Tsehai received the Lifetime Oromo Humanitarian Women’s Award.
Her educational background includes a BA in English Literature, from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, and Masters in Social Work from Augsburg University, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Learn more about the award here.