SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sister Francisca Ngozi Uti, HHCJ, who founded a center 25 years ago dedicated to the social, legal, and political equality of women in Nigeria, has been chosen as the $1 million 2024 Opus Prize Laureate. The Opus Prize is an annual humanitarian honor for social entrepreneurs who champion faith-filled solutions to persistent problems in their communities.
The selection of Uti, founder of Centre for Women Studies and Intervention (CWSI), was announced at a ceremony at Santa Clara University, which is hosting the prize this year in partnership with the Minnetonka, Minn.-based Opus Prize Foundation. Two other finalists for the honor—Father Zach Presutti, S.J., founder of the Thrive for Live Prison Project, and Bianca and Cǎtǎlin Albu of Jesuit Refugee Service-Romania—each received $100,000 for their organizations.
During her remarks at the Nov. 14 Opus Prize ceremony in Santa Clara University’s Mayer Theatre, Uti recalled how her father chose her name when she was born, which translates to “God’s blessings are greater,” and ensured that she and her two sisters were educated “in a time when the girl child’s education was often dismissed as unworthy.”
“I accept this award on behalf of all the women, girls and men who have partnered with us to bring about positive change in their lives and communities,” Uti said. “I remember especially the women and girls who have endured hardship and are now striving to rebuild their lives.”
Challenging Norms in a Patriarchal Country
Centre for Women Studies and Intervention is an initiative of the Congregation of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus, the order of women religious of which Uti is a part. She and 15 other CWSI workers enter communities in Nigeria that have ingrained norms for often-illegal practices like genital mutilation, underage marriage, or lack of education for girls. They spend extended periods —often years— working with community members and leaders to examine the origins behind traditions; educate them on the negative impact of policies; or conduct training on issues like legal rights or skill-building.
CWSI has helped over 1 million beneficiaries through over 100 projects in four Nigerian states.
“Sr. Ngozi teaches us all the transformative power of relationships, trust, and the fundamental right of every human being to be afforded kindness, dignity, and opportunity,” said Santa Clara University President Julie Sullivan. “She and the two other finalists have brought a powerful model of hope and resilience to our University community, and we have been profoundly touched by the Opus Prize experience.”
Read more about Uti and CWSI here.
During remarks at the ceremony, Daniel McGinty, executive director of the Opus Prize Foundation, likened Opus Prize finalists to “individuals who looked around at problems in their neighborhoods or their communities and said, ‘Someone has to do something about this!’” As they kept looking, McGinty added, each “had an Isaiah moment and said, ‘I guess it is me. Here I am! Send me.’”
“Each of the finalists has shown our community the tremendous ability of individuals to make a meaningful difference through lives of service,” said Molly McDonald, chief of staff in the Office of the President and co-chair of this year’s Opus Prize Oversight Committee. “We congratulate Laureate Sr. Ngozi as well as finalists Bianca and Cǎtǎlin Albu and Fr. Zach Presutti, and thank them for being true models of faith that makes wonders work.”
The Prize process
Each year, the Opus Prize Foundation partners with a different Catholic university for the year-long process of discovery, engagement, and learning involving the entire campus, leading to the awarding of the $1.2 million Opus Prize. This year:
- Thirty-three members of the Santa Clara community served on an Opus Prize Oversight Committee chaired by McDonald and Matthew Carnes, S.J., vice president for mission and ministry at Santa Clara.
- The committee chose “Faith Makes Wonders Work” as this year’s theme, a nod to the innovative spirit that can flow when entrepreneurs are guided by their faith to do transformative work, and underscoring faith as a driving force for positive and creative change in the world.
- More than a dozen prominent Santa Clara alumni and leaders from the realms of business, government, sports, and nonprofits generously agreed to serve as Opus Prize jurors, to narrow the nominations to three finalists.
- Sixteen Santa Clara University students, faculty, and staff were selected to be Opus Prize ambassadors and join due-diligence site visits to the finalists.
About the Opus Prize Foundation
The Opus Prize Foundation is a private and independent nonprofit foundation. Established in 1994 by the founding chairman of earlier Opus Companies, the Opus Prize Foundation is a self-sufficient foundation independent from The Opus Group. The foundation selects universities as partners to organize and execute the Opus Prize selection process and award ceremony. Through these partnerships, students are challenged to think globally and inspired to live lives of service.
About Santa Clara University
Founded in 1851, Santa Clara University sits in the heart of Silicon Valley—the world’s most innovative and entrepreneurial region. The University’s stunningly landscaped 106-acre campus is home to the historic Mission Santa Clara de Asís. Ranked among the top 15 percent of national universities by U.S. News & World Report, SCU has among the best four-year graduation rates in the nation and is rated by PayScale in the top 1 percent of universities with the highest-paid graduates. SCU has produced elite levels of Fulbright Scholars as well as four Rhodes Scholars. With undergraduate programs in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, and graduate programs in six disciplines, the curriculum blends high-tech innovation with social consciousness grounded in the tradition of Jesuit, Catholic education. For more information see www.scu.edu.