West Des Moines Athene To Support Refugee And Immigrant Services Through LSI Empower Event

Press release from the West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce:

August 28, 2020

Des Moines, Iowa— Lutheran Services in Iowa (LSI) was recently presented with $5,000 from Athene to serve as a sponsorship for LSI’s Empower event. The annual event raises critical financial resources for LSI’s Refugee and Immigrant Services and celebrates the achievements of Des Moines community members who have participated in LSI’s programming.

Athene will serve as a sponsor for the 2020 Empower event, which will be held virtually at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10. This year’s event will feature keynote speaker John Bul Dau, who will share his story from South Sudanese refugee to prominent human rights advocate and entrepreneur. Empower will also recognize individuals in the Des Moines area who have achieved their goal of U.S. citizenship in the last year.

“We are so thankful for this generous support from Athene,” said Nick Wuertz, Director of LSI’s Refugee and Immigrant Services. “Every year, Empower is a time to celebrate and lift up our community of new Americans, and this important event is only possible thanks to community partnerships like this. Athene’s contribution is making a positive impact on hundreds of our newest neighbors who look forward to this event each year.”

Edward Ngugi, the head of the African American Athene Connection Employee Resource Group, said it best when they decided to sponsor LSI. He stated, “LSI makes it possible for newcomers to feel welcomed, be equipped to join, build, and contribute to the community.”

“We are honored to support the community through our partnership with LSI,” said Kristi Burma, Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Athene. “Our employees have an active role in supporting Athene’s diversity and inclusion efforts. When they bring ideas like this partnership forward, our workforce and community reap the benefits. As a leading employer, we are committed to building a workplace that cultivates differences where everyone feels welcome and engaged and that vision extends to our community,” said Burma.

LSI is one of Iowa’s largest human services agencies and impacts tens of thousands of Iowans annually through child abuse prevention, services for families and youth in crisis, services for people with disabilities, and refugee services. LSI is nationally accredited and proudly serves people of all ages, abilities, religions, sexes, gender identities, national origins, ethnicities, races, and sexual orientations. To learn more, visit LSIowa.org.

This press release was produced by the West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce. The views expressed here are the author’s own.