From Fleeing Rwandan Genocide to Helping Others: Cedar Falls Woman Will Be Honored Alongside Gabby Douglas' Coach, Others

When Clementine Msengi fled Rwanda and settled in Cedar Falls, she spoke three languages, but English was not one of them. Most of her family had been killed.

Those challenges did not stop her from enrolling at the University of Northern Iowa and eventually starting the Bright Move Network, an organization to help new African immigrants adjust to live in Iowa.

For her work, Msengi will be honored next month at an Immigrant Entrepreneurs Summit in Des Moines. She will be honored with the Immigrant Leadership Award at the summit, the Des Moines Register reported. The event will be held Nov. 10 at Drake University.

Msengi will be honored alongside others including Liang Chow, who earned a reputation as the go-to coach of women’s gymnastics after coaching Olympic champions Shawn Johnson and Gabby Douglas.

A native of China, Chow will be honored with the Immigrant Spirit Award.

The Immigrant Entrepreneurs Summit is an annual event sponsored by Community Tax Clinic, a non-profit organization assisting minority, immigrant and disadvantaged taxpayers facing economic hardships and without the financial resources to deal with them, according to a Facebook page set up for the summit.

According to the Register, other honorees will include:

Tortilleria Sonora Inc. owner Betty Garcia – Outstanding Immigrant Business Award. The Des Moines company makes more than 25,000 tortillas a day using a family recipe.

Lawyer Kim Baer –  Karen Evans Immigrant Champion Award. This award honors a non-immigrant’s contributions to immigrants. Baer, of Des Moines, who represents clients in medical malpractice claims, car accident litigation and wrongful death suits, has helped small- and medium-sized immigrant businesses, summit organizers told the Register.