UMOJA

Jean-Claude Munyezamu, originally from Rwanda, is the founder and Executive Director of Umoja Community Mosaic (formerly Soccer Without Boundaries). Umoja fosters community engagement for refugee, immigrant, and low-income families through innovative youth initiatives, including sports, music, after-school programs, summer camps, and community events. The organization also empowers minority groups by offering culturally tailored food hampers, translation services, and system navigation support.

Jean-Claude’s contributions have been widely recognized: he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and named one of "Twenty Compelling Calgarians" in 2018. That same year, he earned the Western Legacy Award for Innovation. In 2022, he was honored with an Immigrants of Distinction Award, and in 2021, he received both the Calgary Black Achievement Award and the Glenbrook Community Association Partnership Award. Additionally, in July 2021, he was recognized with a Community Justice Award in the leadership category. Most recently, in December 2022, Jean-Claude received the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for his advocacy work and dedication as a youth sports ambassador, and in 2025 he was awarded King Charles III Coronation Medal for his work in the community.

He has contributed to cultural and community initiatives as a member of the Premier’s Council on Culture and the Arts and served as the media and public relations representative for Calgary’s Rwandan community. He also played a key role on the organizing committee for the commemoration of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

Jean-Claude’s remarkable journey has been featured in Canadian Geographic Magazine, Reader's Digest, and the travel memoir *Road Trip Rwanda* by Giller Prize-winning author Will Ferguson. He was also highlighted in Canada’s 150th-anniversary anthology, What’s Your Story: A Canada 2017 Yearbook.