Where is she now? 2013 ACE Luncheon Speaker, Asni Solomon

ACE scholar, Asni Solomon had an ambitious goal: to change the world. Through her education, philanthropic initiatives and personal goals, she has done just that. Now, as a college graduate and community leader, she has every intention of achieving her dreams.

With all due respect to Geoffrey Canada – who was absolutely masterful as the 2013 ACE Spring Luncheon keynote speaker– it was Asni Solomon, the former ACE scholar, Bishop Machebeuf High School graduate and full ride scholarship student to CU-Boulder, who stole the show.

Asni gave a riveting speech about sacrifice, hard work, and triumph. She graduated from high school that same month with a 4.0 GPA and founded a nonprofit organization called the Circle of Friends Network, to raise money for young orphans in Ethiopia. That summer, she had the opportunity to visit them and see the uniforms and sporting equipment her fundraising had provided to the children.

This May 2017, Asni graduated with a Degree in Integrative Physiology and a certificate in Public Health. In her free time, she volunteers at the D.A.W.N Clinic in Aurora and helps to serve uninsured patients with medical attention. She is preparing to take the GRE this August and will apply to PA school at the Anschutz Medical Campus this spring. Once she completes her education, she would like to continue supporting underserved communities across Colorado.  Every year, she continues to fundraise for the original group of children she supports through the Circle of Friends Network.

“Without ACE – and without all of you who support ACE – today I would not have the opportunity to pay your generosity forward and help others. You invested in me, and I will invest in others. Because I experienced kindness from you all in this room at such a young age, I did not want to wait until I was grown up to extend that same kindness to others who are in need. So, seven years ago I started an organization called the Circle of Friends Network that raises money to support 20 orphans in Ethiopia with basic education, food and school uniforms. There is an Ethiopian proverb: Ye’Temare Yas Temer (“He who learns, teaches.”) For me that means, if you are fortunate enough to learn and receive a great education, you must share in that good fortune and somehow support others so they can get that same chance. That’s the true power of an education. That is the impact that ACE has had on me. Generous people like you making a difference in kids’ lives, just like me.”

Asni is emblematic of the vision, and power, of ACE. And our investment in this young lady, as with our investment in all of our scholarship recipients, has a tangible and lifelong return. Asni is living proof that through education, children are truly capable of changing their life, communities, and the world.

To learn more about Asni’s story, please listen to her keynote speech and click the link below.