The Courage is Contagious Award is awarded annually at the Justice For Women Lecture to an outstanding woman leader who:
- Demonstrates a commitment to the mission of the Justice For Women Lecture Series to raise awareness in Maine about the injustices women and girls face globally and locally.
- Has achieved the highest level of professional excellence and is dedicated to empowering women to realize their full leadership potential.
- Has created lasting impact in our community through her work, time, talent, and/or resources.
- Reinforces and models policies, practices, attitudes, and/or actions that are intended to produce equitable outcomes for all.
- Has fostered connections with Maine’s diverse communities to empower their collective voices.
2023 Courage is Contagious Awards
The 2023 Courage is Contagious Award recipients are Claudette Ndayininahaze and Abusana Micky Bondo of the non-profit In Her Presence. The mission of their organization is to bring together immigrant women from across communities and generations to ensure that Maine’s economic agenda includes the aspirations and needs of immigrant women.
Recordings of past JFW Lectures are available to view on Maine Law’s YouTube Channel.
Claudette Ndayininahaze (2023 Recipient)
Claudette has extensive experience as a culture broker in intercultural communication in both for-profit and non-profit sectors. As Executive Director of In Her Presence, she sits on multiple boards in Portland and is deeply connected to community-based initiatives across the city. As a community leader who has herself gone through the immigration process, she has a unique ability to anticipate challenges new Mainers face and utilizes her professional expertise to empower people and communities. A highly proficient negotiator, both intuitive and resourceful, she collaborates with executive leadership in businesses and develops organizational capacity and culture to promote opportunities for new Mainer success.
Abusana Micky Bondo (2023 Recipient)
Micky is serving as the Program Director for In Her Presence. She is also the current Portland Public School District 1 Board member. She was born in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Educated and trained in Belgium with a master’s in Biochemistry, she also holds two Associates Degrees in Business Administration and Education. Bondo arrived in the U.S. in 1996 and later in Portland, in 2009. Since arriving in Portland, Bondo, who is fluent in English, French, and Lingala, has served as a medical interpreter, assisted the City of Portland Schools Multicultural Office, and currently serves as a parent lead for Portland Empowered. In addition, she runs the non-profit, In Her Presence, an organization she co-founded, that focuses on empowering immigrant women. Bondo also serves on the board of Opportunity Alliance and is involved with United Way’s Thrive 2027 effort. Member of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation Speaker Bureau, she travels across the country, offering a variety of perspective workshops from community advocates and parents to lend their voice and leadership in advocating to make learning more student-centered.
Past Recipients
- 2022: Chanbopha Himm, Unified Asian Communities
- 2021: Donna Loring, Wabanaki Windows
- 2020: Blanca Santiago, Presente via Mano en Mano
- 2019: Lucky Hollander, Hopeful Links
- 2018: Dr. Joyce Taylor Gibson, Dean, University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College
- 2017: Janine L. Roberts, Westbrook Chief of Police (pictured above with Zainah Anwar)
- 2016: Catherine Lee, Lee International