2020 Student Award Winners Profiles

Commonwealth Credit Union (CCU) Outstanding Sophomore Student Award:

  • Eli Cooper
    • As the Community Peace Committee Director of the Engage Lead Serve Board, he proposed a program to highlight violence against the LGBTQ+ community.
    • Serve as the student coordinator between ELSB and the LBGT Center for PINK (University of Louisville’s student drag show and fundraiser)
    • Spearheaded the event, Service March Madness - a month-long event seeks to bring together RSOs from all over the campus to compete to see which organization can perform the most service during the month of March, in the spirit of basketball.
  • Ugonna Okorie
    • With the focus to welcome and celebrate students of all backgrounds, Ugonna (Serving as the Engaging Issues Chair on the Student Activities Board and teaming up with the LGBT Center and SAB’s annual Pride Keynote) brought Dominique Jackson (an actress, an immigrant, and a Black transgender woman)to campus to discuss her struggles and transitioning experience.
    • For Black History Month, I had the honor to be a part of the extensive planning to bring Karamo Brown to campus. Karamo Brown, a Black man, was able to discuss the intersectionality of masculinity and as a member of the LGBTQ+ community through his experiences.

CCU Outstanding Junior Student Award:

  • Madelyn Carek
    • Established, promoted and currently serving as the Vice President of ASEZ (Save the Earth from A to Z) club at UofL. Members from ASEZ at UofL were able to present at the global summit held in South Korea this year, which is a large accomplishment.
    • Through ASEZ, efforts have included a park beautification for Ben Washer Park in the downtown Louisville area and a street clean-up, graffiti removal at a playground and crime prevention forum surrounding a local area that consisted of many shootings.
  • Emma Lawson
    • As the Vice President of Recruitment she plans to promote a positive Panhellenic experience for all of the women participating for the duration of their college career
    • Served as a Panhellenic Recruitment Ambassador for the 2019 formal recruitment
    • Held additional leadership roles on campus and in the Louisville community that attest to her qualities within a group/team, most importantly a council setting. Within the McConnell Scholars Program, she currently serves as the Vice Chair to the Scholars and Staff. She has strived to be dependable, responsible, and available throughout my service in these particular roles.
  • Julie Nwosu
    • She’s participated in the annual MLK Day of Service and SOUL events, served on the Student Activities Board Diversity and Club Programming Club committees, a member of the Diversity Student Ambassador for Admissions (DSAA) team and currently a PR Coordinator for the Society of Porter Scholars.
    • She has held membership is various organizations including the African Student Union, Black Student Union, Biology Undergraduate Student Association, and Phi Delta Epsilon.
    • Completed service projects in the Louisville community through various campus student organizations and as an individual with organizations including the Ronald McDonald house. For her dedication to service she received the Woodford R. Porter Community Service award in April 2018 for her commitment during the 2017-2018 academic year.
  • Kayla Payne
    • She was one of sixteen students selected to participate in the Honors International Travel Seminar focused on Humans & Environmental Analysis.
    • As only a junior, she has completed the requirements to graduate with the distinction of University Honors Scholar
    • Has multiple commitments to other initiatives (service and leadership roles particularly) including serving as the the SGA EVP.

CCU Outstanding Senior Student Award:

  • Rita Ackah
    • Vice-president of the SPHIS SGA and has served as the treasurer of the Kentucky Public Health Association Louisville chapter.
    • Additional involvement includes Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP) and Public Health Ghana Project
  • Praneeth Goli
    • As a researcher and social changemaker, Praneeth’s project is related to establishing translational/therapeutic relevance of SerpinB1 for the purpose of expanding insulin cell mass as a potentially curative treatment for diabetes in humans.
    • Praneeth has approached this problem with his own ideas, a collaborative spirit, high-powered problem solving, resilience and diligence to lead an independent project to help prove the potential of this approach for human therapy
    • His dedication and discipline that he possesses alongside the immense talent is why he has been highly successful in his academics, research, and community work.
  • Cheyenne Richardson
    • Served as Technology Chair (which presides over event marketing,) Nominating & Awards Chairman & most recently, Vice-President for Beta Epsilon chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and Vice-Chair of the Engaging Issues Committee and Director of Marketing for Student Activities Board.
    • After being named Director of Marketing for the current academic year, she recruited and successfully brought the most diverse group of students which has been placed on SAB to-date.
    • Earned a summer internship within the Washington, D.C. office of United States Congressman, Tony Cárdenas (D-CA-29).

CCU Outstanding Student Awards for Graduate and Professional Students:

  • Yomna Amer
    • Her social skills and awareness of the feelings of other Ali Scholars helps to provide a bridge to true understanding and empathy for the experience of Muslim Americans and immigrants.
    • Yomna has been a featured speaker at campus and community events about her faith. She is dedicated to helping people develop a fuller understanding about Muslim women, their daily lives, and the challenges they face in the United States and abroad.
  • Jade Montanez Chatman
    • Has two peer-reviewed publications and she has made eight scholarly peer-reviewed presentations at a variety of venues, including regional, university, and local levels
    • Her leadership in university organizations at the University of Louisville include: Research! Louisville 2019 (Poster Judge); School of Nursing Alumni Council, School of Nursing Research & Scholarship Committee; 2018 Minority Pre-Health Symposium: Changing the Face of Health Care (Event Committee), and Health Science Campus Diversity Summit (Event Committee)
    • Her service to the community in underserved populations (e.g., Homeless Outreach, Blessings in a Backpack, Women’s Healing Place) continues to 3 be a testament to her passion for improving health care services among vulnerable populations in addressing healthcare disparities.
  • Shakeyrah Elmore
    • Member of the Multicultural Association of Graduate Students (MAGS), Women for Women and serves as president for the Mindfulness Meditation Club at UofL.
    • Has assisted with leading the evaluation efforts for the Food Literacy Project, a farm-based experiential education and entrepreneurial youth development program.
    • Is currently planning a Black Maternal Health Week in Louisville, KY to address maternal and infant mortality and morbidity disparities in health amongst Black women and children.
  • Joseph Lee Holland
    • A full-time graduate student at the School of Public Health in the Master of Science in Health Administration
    • As a graduate assistant in the Office of Student Involvement, he has been specifically involved in advising Student Activities Board committees and assisting them with planning events for the campus community
    • Oversaw numerous large-scale events including the International Fashion Show and hosting guest speaker, Karamo Brown.
  • Samantha Mackenzie
    • In addition to being a full-time employee at UofL, she serves as the chapter Advisor for the Alpha Omicron Pi Chapter, Co-chair's for the Louisville Metro Out of the Darkness Walk, which raises funds for suicide prevention. is in her third year for the Ph.D. program, Higher Education Administration, volunteers with Make-A-Wish as a wish granter and on the Walk for Wishes planning committee and serves as the Warrior Engagement Chair for the Louisville Jingle Bell Run.
    • Responsible for the creation of the Reframing Autism Initiative at UofL
  • Preston Simmons
    • Member of the Distinction in Global Health track, a 3-year longitudinal curriculum to learn about global health from a social determinants’ perspective.
    • Scholarly work includes learning a whole new skillset to mine an existing database of lung cancer patients in Kentucky and adapting to an ongoing protocol that is survey-based, in Spanish and is asking participants about sensitive subjects such as immigration status and mental health.