The McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University’s Award for Courage and Leadership is presented each year to honor an individual who has stood unwaveringly for fundamental values and has inspired the world through acts of selfless courage. By recognizing this service to humankind, the McCain Institute hopes to nurture the courage in each of us to stand for what we know is right. The recipient is selected based on his or her acts of personal courage on behalf of human rights, humanitarian compassion, justice, freedom, and human dignity.
The McCain Institute at Arizona State University was honored to present presented its 2022 Award for Courage and Leadership to three champions of democracy in the face of Russian aggression: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitchsko and Russian Democracy Leader Vladimir Kara-Murza.
The McCain Institute at Arizona State University presented its 2022 Award for Courage and Leadership to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (accepted on his behalf by Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Makarova), Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko, and Russian journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza (accepted on his behalf by his wife Yevgeniya Kara-Murza).
Each were honored with this award for proving to be champions of democracy in the face of Russian aggression following the Russian invasion into Ukraine in February 2022.
Kayla Mueller was honored posthumously by the McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University with the 2017 Award for Courage and Leadership, which was accepted by her parents Carl and Marsha Mueller. Mueller, a humanitarian worker from Prescott, Ariz., spent her life dedicated to serving those in need; she was captured and held by ISIS until her reported death in 2015.
Kayla Mueller was honored posthumously by the McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University with the 2017 Award for Courage and Leadership, which was accepted by her parents Carl and Marsha Mueller. Mueller, a humanitarian worker from Prescott, Ariz., spent her life dedicated to serving those in need; she was captured and held by ISIS until her reported death in 2015.
Mueller worked first as a volunteer and then ultimately as an employee for various advocacy and humanitarian organizations engaged in relief work in some of the areas of greatest suffering in the world. While working for an NGO in Turkey supporting Syrian refugees in 2012, Mueller accompanied a group of fellow humanitarians to a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo. Upon their return, they were ambushed and taken hostage in August 2013 just days before her 25th birthday. Mueller, the only American, remained in custody and was held hostage by ISIS until her reported death in 2015.
Despite the torture, violence and unimaginable abuse, Mueller remained committed to living a life of courageous compassion. As her fellow hostages would later tell, Mueller stood up to executioner “Jihadi John” to defend her faith and principles with a steadiness and dignity that seemed unimaginable given the terror and torture they all had witnessed and endured.
The McCain Institute was delighted to present the 2016 award to Dikembe Mutombo, a Congolese American humanitarian.
Mutombo came to the United States as an undergraduate student at Georgetown University in Washington. At 7’2”, he was soon chosen to play basketball on the University’s team. Thereafter, Mutombo had an 18-year career in the NBA.
The McCain Institute was delighted to present the 2016 award to Dikembe Mutombo, a Congolese American humanitarian.
Mutombo came to the United States as an undergraduate student at Georgetown University in Washington. At 7’2”, he was soon chosen to play basketball on the University’s team. Thereafter, Mutombo had an 18-year career in the NBA.
Mutombo never gave up his goal to improve the health conditions of the people in the DRC and he decided to build a hospital in Kinshasa, the capital of the country. To that end, he created the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in Atlanta in 1997. The Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital, named after his mother, was inaugurated in July 2007 and it opened its doors to patients in December 2007. Mutombo personally contributed more than $23 million to build and equip the hospital.
The hospital currently has close to 170 beds with an ultimate future capacity of 300 beds. It is a modern facility offering the following services: primary care, internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, OB-GYN, surgical subspecialties such as neurosurgery, orthopedics, urology and ENT. Hospital management espouses the following values: respect for the dignity of the patients, professionalism, continuous quality improvement, transparency, and accountability. Currently, the hospital is the most modern, if not the best in the country, and has treated close to 200,000 patients.