Selamawi Asgedom

Selamawi Haileab Asgedom (Amharic: ሰላማዊ ሃእለአብ አስገዶም; born in Adi Wahla, Ethiopia on September 29, 1976) or Mawi Asgedom for short, is an author, public speaker, and a refugee of Ethiopian and Eritrean origin. Mawi was born in Ethiopia. For about two years of his childhood, he was separated from his father, Halieab, when he had to flee to Sudan to avoid the war in Ethiopia. Mawi was seven years old when he and his family arrived in the U.S. in 1983, sponsored by World Relief. They had spent the previous three years in a refugee camp in Sudan. He grew up in the Chicago suburb of Wheaton, Illinois. He played on his high school basketball team and ran track. He graduated with top honors from Harvard University, receiving a degree in...