Student Awarded by U.N. Association of Greater Kansas City
Yara Elkoush, a senior electrical engineering student at Rockhurst University, was recognized with the inaugural Maurice L. Brooks Award for Global Engagement at the United Nations Association of Greater Kansas City’s 55th annual Mayor’s U.N. Day Dinner.
The dinner honored the 81st anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. The award, according to event organizers, was designed with Elkoush in mind and recognizes her commitment to the organization’s guiding principles and goals of global cooperation and peace. Its namesake, Maurice L. Brooks, is a lifetime member and steadfast supporter of the United Nations Association of Kansas City.
“Yara reminds us why this work matters,” said Stacey Carrow, UNA-GKC president, in remarks introducing Elkoush. “Peace and diplomacy are not only built by those with decades of experience; they are built by young people willing to show up, speak up, and lead. When young leaders like Yara take their seat at the table, they shape the world for the next generation who will inherit it.”
Elkoush’s example was noted by Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas, who encouraged her at the dinner table to pursue the highest levels of leadership.
Growing up in Egypt, Elkoush came to the United States on athletic and academic scholarship and is part of the University’s swim and dive team. At Rockhurst, Elkoush is a leader among the University’s international students. She has received both the International Student of the Year and the Rising Leader awards from the University for her efforts on campus.
But she has also faced disappointment, having run and fell short in an effort to serve as president of Student Senate. Mere days later, she had her first opportunity to visit the U.N. in New York. She has since been two more times and has participated in numerous programs with AIESEC, a leadership organization for young people. Through that organization and those experiences, she said she’s learned a lot about how those diplomatic efforts take shape and what global leadership looks like.
Elkoush said she hopes to one day use her expertise in diplomatic efforts at the U.N. to promote clean energy technologies. Reflecting on her leadership journey at the U.N. Association dinner, she thanked her family in Egypt and those in Kansas City who have encouraged and supported her. Though things haven’t always gone the way she envisioned, she said she was happy to embrace all of the opportunities.
“You have to trust in God’s timing, and you have to never give up,” she said.
