Selamawi Asgedom

Mawi Asgedom is a refugee turned Harvard graduate who has spoken to over one million people and written eight books that have been read in thousands of classrooms. Oprah Winfrey called her interview with Mawi one of her top twenty moments and ESSENCE magazine selected Mawi as one of the 40 most inspiring African-Americans. Mawi is the founder of Mawi Learning, a leading provider of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) training that has partnered with more than one thousand school districts and won many awards for impact and innovation.

Mawi was born in northern Ethiopia, in the province of Tigray. For about two years of his childhood, he was separated from his father and mother, Haileab and Tsege, 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 them 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, the best in his league. He graduated with top honors from Harvard University, receiving a degree in American history and giving the commencement address at his graduation in 1999.[2][3] He is the author of Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy's Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard and The Code: The 5 Secrets of Teen Success.

Mawi started Mawi Learning because he wanted to help kids of all backgrounds go on their own journey of unlimited growth. He founded the company in 1999 from his apartment in Chicago and at first focused mostly on giving speeches and writing books. Starting in 2013, Mawi Learning began developing online courses for middle and high school students in core areas of SEL such as time management and goal-setting. By 2019, more than 100,000 students had taken Mawi Learning's online SEL courses for full high-school credit and Mawi Learning had won many awards for innovation including the CODiE award. In 2019, Mawi Learning was acquired by the global non-profit ACT to support ACT's mission of empowering people for education and workplace success. Today, Mawi continues to speak and write on Social Emotional Learning to education and corporate audiences.

Mawi's autobiography, Of Beetles and Angels was selected by Springfield, Pennsylvania as their community book, and 2,378 people read it there.[4] Day-time television host Oprah Winfrey named her interview of Mr. Asgedom as one of her 20 Unforgettable Moments in October 2005.[5]

Of Beetles and Angels was chosen by the Waukegan High School staff to be read during advisory. Waukegan High School also named their Monday advisory Lesson Plan "Mawi Mondays" and the students do different activities related to Mawi. Of Beetles and Angels was also chosen as the first-ever Evanston, Illinois, citywide reading program with events planned throughout the 2007–2008 school year. Mr. Asgedom visited with middle school readers throughout the year. Mawi's memoir was also read by the city of Philadelphia including Hatboro-Horsham High School as part of the 'One Book, One School' program

Mawi has three children and lives in Illinois.

[3]

• Mawi Learning's Website
• Mawi's Speaking Website
• Bella Stander Book Review 2001
• Mawi Books' Website
• ACT acquires Mawi Learning