Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha will receive the inaugural "Role Model of the Year" award from the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC), an honor that will recognize individuals who use their public presence to give back to community.
The award will be presented to him Friday, September 14, at the 67th Annual National Conference on Citizenship at the National Constitution Center. The Conference brings together civic leaders, educators, CEOs and representatives from each branch of government to address issues related to our nation's civic health.
"Nnamdi Asomugha is a leader on the field and in the community," said Michael Weiser, NCoC Chairman. "We honor him with NCoC's inaugural 'Role Model of the Year Award' in recognition of his civic leadership in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area where he was raised and went to college, and in Nigeria, the country of his heritage."
Asomugha has used his platform as a professional athlete to elevate his philanthropic missions. Along with his family, he formally founded the Asomugha Foundation in 2005 to support two key programs: Orphans and Widows In Need (OWIN) and Asomugha College Tour for Scholars (ACTS).
OWIN helps women and children in Nigeria, providing food, shelter, medicine, vocational training, literacy efforts, and scholarships to those most in need. OWIN is currently working to expand beyond the two existing centers in Nigeria to other countries throughout Africa.
ACTS is an annual college tour and mentoring program for high-achieving high-school students of color from the Bay Area and Los Angeles. Nnamdi has personally led sixteen ACTS students each year on trips to colleges and universities in Atlanta, Boston, New York, New Orleans, and Washington, DC. Each year, as part of the program, Nnamdi and students from his ACTS program participate in service projects in their communities, most recently working with Habitat for Humanity in the East Bay and Los Angeles.
New research proving that a strong civic foundation is directly linked to strengthening employment and the state of civic engagement in America will be the focus of this year's Conference. It is made possible with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Case Foundation, KPMG LLP, Clearwire, and CSRwire.
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