Ms. Weiling Liu is a professor and head of the Office of Libraries Technology (OLT) at the University of Louisville (UofL). OLT manages systems and provides technical support for UofL libraries.
Professor Liu came to Louisville in 1998, and for over twenty years, Professor Liu has made significant contributions to the University through her leadership and expertise. She oversaw the migration of the library catalog system and the implementation of a Robot Retrieval System. Since she came to Louisville, Professor Liu has actively volunteered to serve the University, the Louisville community, and the library community. She has been a member of state, national and international library professional associations.
In addition, she is a life member of the Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA), a non-profit organization of librarians from worldwide. Professor Liu serves on the Association of Chinese Americans in Kentuckiana (ACAK) board. She was the president for 2018-2021, and through her work at ACAK, she led two fundraising events to help support the Louisville community and five hospitals in Wuhan, China, to fight against COVID19.
Since 2001, Professor Liu has worked to promote Chinese culture to communities across Kentucky. She has participated in or organized performing programs presented at many Chinese New Year events, cultural events, and nursing homes. Professor Liu also leads a dancing group of 11 people that has been learning, practicing, and performing Chinese dances since 2006. The group performed at the Derby Opening Night in Louisville in 2019. Professor Liu’s contributions to both UofL and the greater Louisville community exemplify the spirit of the MOSAIC award!
Jose Neil Donis is an entrepreneur, community activist, and mentor who has made a meaningful impact in Louisville through his leadership at Al Dia en America, the first Spanish Language newspaper in the city. Born in Guatemala City, Mr. Donis moved to Louisville in 2004. He saw a great need for media to serve the rapidly growing Spanish speaking population and immigrant community and began to develop Al Dia.
In 2006, Donis joined the National Association of Hispanic Publications, which helped gain recognition of Louisville as one of the cities with a growing immigrant population. In its first year, Al Dia grew from a 24 to 40-page biweekly publication allowing a platform for many companies and organizations to reach the Hispanic market. Through coverage of local content, Al Dia has been instrumental in helping integrate the Hispanic comminity of Louisville. The newspaper has assisted different initiatives and organizations including WorldFest, Norton Children’s Hospital, Louisville Public Media, La Casita Center, UofL Hispanic Initiatives, UofL Latin American Film Festival, Al Dia en America scholarship, and Louisville City Soccer.
Donis volunteers in different non-profit organizations as a board member of Hispanic Latino Coalition; Colectivo LatinX, Centro Latino (Shelby), Norton Hospital Children’s Foundation, Louisville Public Media, Community Foundation of Louisville, and Foundation for the Arts. Mr. Donis has done so much to strengthen the community through his work, and we’re proud to name him as a 2022 MOSAIC honoree.
Dr. Faten Abdullah is a dedicated health care worker as well as compassionate mentor. After completing her medical degree, Dr. Abdullah operated Reproductive Health and Family, Maternal and Child Health, and Family Planning in Iraq for 16 years.
She came to the United States as a refugee, and utilized community resources to reach her goals of continuing to practice medicine. Dr. Abdullah relied on support from JFCS and other agencies to help her through the recredentialing process. She earned the American Board in Family Medicine and is currently practicing Family Medicine at Baptist Health in Lexingon.
Dr. Abdullah says “I am heavily invested in serving the refugee communities as I was a refugee myself and have appreciated all the help that was given to us by great agencies including JFCS. I mainly assist arriving refugees reach their goals in becoming a licensed physician here in the U.S. I dedicate my time to creating a career plan with them along with donating several resources that aid in the process of recertification. As a practicing family physician, I am constantly accepting them to shadow me and teach them about the medical system here in the states.” Dr. Abdullah is an exemplar of JFCS values, and we’re thrilled to honor her with a 2022 MOSAIC Award.
JFCS proudly announces our 2022 MOSAIC Honorees:
- Faten Abdullah, M.D.
- Jose Neil Donis
- Weiling Liu
- Juan Gustavo Polo, M.D.
- Frank Schwartz
These five individuals have not only made incredible contributions to their own professions, but have given back to the community that supported them along the way. Stay tuned to the JFCS Blog from March 28th – April 1st for profiles on each of these outstanding individuals.
The JFCS MOSAIC Awards will be held on May 26th beginning at 6:00 p.m. The event will take place at the Muhammad Ali Center. This year we are also live-streaming the MOSAIC Awards, so virtual tickets will also be available.
Questions? Contact our Volunteer & Events Manager, Avery Markel: amarkel@jfcslouisville.org.