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Arab American Heritage Council 'Ensure the Legacy' Dinner Celebrates Diversity in Honoring Flint-Area Leaders
Arab American Heritage Council’s 17th annual “Ensure the Legacy” dinner and awards banquet will honor community leaders and celebrate diversity in Flint.
The dinner is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 5:30 p.m. at Riverfront Banquet Center, One Riverfront Center West. Tickets are $85 for adults and $55 for students and seniors. The public is welcome to attend.
At the dinner, awards will be given to Lennetta B. Coney for the Heritage Council’s Community Leader of the Year Award; Dr. Nita Kulkarni, Community Contributor of the Year Award; and Dr. Elmahdi Saeed, Physician of the Year Award.
“The main concentration is on these awards,” said Mona Sahouri, executive director of AAHC. “We are celebrating the diversity of our community and making sure we are celebrating each other from different heritages and cultures.”
A Mediterranean-style chicken dinner will be served with vegetarian options available. The dinner is scheduled to be served shortly after 6 p.m., with awards and a trio of musicians playing traditional Arabic instruments thereafter. Organizers anticipate an attendance of 350 people.
Two students selected by the Heritage Council — a Genesee County, nonprofit grassroots organization – will receive scholarships funded through private donations and the organization’s fundraisers throughout the year. The scholarships are open to high school juniors and seniors and college students of Arabic heritage, Sahouri said.
The dinner is the organization’s signature fundraising event, through which the Heritage Council underwrites its programs and operational support, Sahouri said.
The Heritage Council 2013 honorees are:
Lennetta Bradley Coney: Coney is the President of the Foundation for Mott Community College and Executive Director of the Office of College & Community Advancement. Coney has worked as a Mott Community College administrator for the past 26 years. She is responsible for private sector fundraising, special events and multicultural affairs at MCC. Coney has grown the foundation from $194,000 to $6.1 million and has established an Alumni Association for the school. In 1992, Coney was director of public relations for former Flint mayor Woodrow Stanley.
Past awards received include: recipient of the Chamber of Commerce’s Athena Award, YWCA Nina Mills/Women of Achievement Award, Genesee District Library Black History Month Award, the Woman of the Year Award from the National Association of Women in Higher Education, Woman of the Year from Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Career Woman of the Year from the National Association of Career Women, Phenomenal Woman Award from the Bountiful Love Women’s Department, the Golden Apple Employee Award from Mott College as well as the Mott Community College Student Club Advisor of the Year Award in 2011, the Choice Award from the Flint Club of the Negro Business and Professional Women, Community Service Award from the Eta Phi Beta Sorority Inc., and The Martin Luther King Jr. Award.
Dr. Nita Kulkarni: Dr. Kulkarni is an obstetrics and gynecology physician who has been in private practice for 14 years. Kulkarni has served on the Flint Women and Girls Fund Board, the Genesee County Medical Society Board and has participated on the St. John Vianney School Committee and the Growing Up Artfully planning committee. Most recently, Kulkarni was appointed to the Business Advisory Council of the N.E.W. Life Center’s Business Enterprise for employing women in the north end of Flint.
Dr. Elmahdi Saeed: Saeed is an associate professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. He is in a solo practice at Hurley Medical Center, where he holds the title of chief of staff. Saeed continues to teach with the Faculty Resident Program and was the chair for the department of Internal Medicine from 2007 to 2011. He has worked on four continents, including Africa, Europe, North America and Asia.
Those interested in attending are encouraged to contact Mona Sahouri at 810-235-2722, or mona@aahcflint.org.