The Viterbo University Alumni Association presented the Distinguished Alumni Awards during Viterbo Days, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015. The award is presented to alumni who display Viterbo’s mission of faithful service and ethical leadership in their everyday lives. These alumni embody Viterbo’s core values of contemplation, hospitality, integrity, stewardship, and service. Mary Jilek was honored with the Young Alumni Award. She was unable to attend the presentation, but sent this video from her home in Amman, Jordan.
Today, Citrine Agency runs Destiny School, providing many children in the community education and hope for their futures. Jilek continues to support and advise the organization on program and curriculum development, fundraising, and external relations. Jilek serves on the Board of Trustees for Global Community Charter School in Harlem, N.Y., and the Board of Directors for Peace and Resilience through Youth Development and Engagement, a peace education organization based in New York.
According to a nominator, “Jilek exhibits a great concern for the intellectually as well as the economically poor, especially children. She embraces the role of servant, emptying herself of her own needs, wants, and self-importance for the sake of being deprived. Her simple lifestyle is very basic to her supporting beliefs.”