Our new President's Story! 

We welcome you and look forward to your leadership! Thank you, Rev. Dr. Célestin Musekura.

 

Rev. Dr. Célestin Musekura’s journey to Rotary began with a simple scan of a QR code.

He saw a Rotary sign, took out his phone, scanned the code, and discovered an organization whose commitment to service, leadership, community, and peace closely reflected the work to which he had already devoted much of his life. That simple moment began his Rotary journey and has now led him to begin his service as the 89th President of the Rotary Club of Richardson.

Dr. Musekura is an ordained minister, educator, international leader, husband, father, and leader for peace who has devoted his life to helping communities in Africa build peace. Born and raised in Rwanda, his life and work were profoundly shaped by the 1994 Rwandan genocide, one of the most devastating episodes of mass violence in modern history. During approximately 100 days, nearly one million people were killed.

In response to the genocide, Dr. Musekura founded African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM) while he was a graduate student in Kenya. ALARM was first registered in Kenya, where it established its African headquarters, and later expanded to the United States and eight African countries. Through ALARM, Dr. Musekura has devoted more than three decades to equipping leaders and communities to build peace, resolve conflict, practice forgiveness and reconciliation, develop servant leaders, and strengthen communities affected by violence and injustice.

Central to Dr. Musekura’s work is communal forgiveness—helping communities affected by conflict, violence, and injustice acknowledge the past, pursue forgiveness and reconciliation, and find a way to move forward together.

Dr. Musekura is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and currently serves as a Professor of Practice at the University of Texas at Dallas, where he connects his decades of international experience in leadership, peacebuilding, forgiveness, and reconciliation with the education of future business leaders. Last spring, he led students from the Naveen Jindal School of Management on a study-abroad program to Africa, giving students firsthand opportunities to learn about business, leadership, culture, and communities.

Family is an important part of Dr. Musekura’s life and the foundation that has supported his decades of international leadership and service. He and his wife and longtime companion, Bernadette, have made Richardson their home for 29 years. They are the parents of four adult children and  proud grandparents. Through years of ministry, international travel, education, and service, his family has remained an important source of partnership and strength.

As the 89th President of the Rotary Club of Richardson, Dr. Musekura brings extensive nonprofit leadership experience, an international perspective, a commitment to service, and decades of work building peace and strengthening communities to our club.

Dr. Musekura’s work closely reflects Rotary International’s commitment to peace. Rotary works to create environments where peace can flourish through peace education, scholarships and fellowships, the Rotary Peace Centers, and international service projects that bring people and communities together to address shared needs.

These commitments are also reflected in Dr. Musekura’s Rotary service. For the past two years, he has helped the Rotary Club of Richardson support women through the Brenda School of Tailoring, an international service project that provides women with opportunities to develop practical skills, strengthen their economic independence, and build more secure futures for themselves and their families.

Dr. Musekura’s commitment to peace will be highlighted as a featured leader at the Rotary Club of Wylie’s one-day Peace Summit, an event that brings together Rotary members and community leaders to consider how individuals, families, communities, nations, and peoples can contribute to building a more peaceful world.

On behalf of the Rotary Club of Richardson, we welcome Célestin. Richardson Rotary Club looks forward to serving under his leadership and drawing on his experience, strengths, and commitment to service as we continue to build and grow our club, strengthen our service to the Richardson community, and expand our impact in the greater community.
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