Sioux Falls woman’s inspirational story of hope to headline In Her Shoes Empowerment Breakfast

This paid piece is sponsored by EmBe.

Achut Deng reported to work at 5 a.m. one recent Friday, and her day was far from over approaching 12 hours later.

Next up was a trip to Jefferson High School to watch two of her three sons play basketball, one of four games she’d attend that week.

Deng took the early shift at Smithfield, where she’s a safety coordinator, so she could be courtside to support her boys.

They’re also the reason why she believes she was able to survive a near-deadly case of COVID-19 early in the 2020 pandemic – and why she went on to write a book about her life story, so that her children would understand what shaped her and to help herself on a broader journey of healing.

“My biggest fear is not death at all,” she said. “My biggest fear the night I thought I was going to die when I had COVID was that I had created a safe foundation, a safe world, for my children. And if I died in bed that night, my children would be stuck with the same memories I have of watching someone I love die in front of me.”

Deng holds a lifetime of memories many of us would struggle to fathom. Before coming to the United States at 16, the South Sudan native spent a decade in a Kenyan refugee camp. Warring tribes encircled her with violence and sexual assault and ultimately caused the death of her grandmother, who was killed shielding Deng from harm.

“I went back to that time when I was fighting COVID, and I said: ‘Let me survive this moment and have hope for later. I will get past this.’ And that was it.”

If the power of Deng’s story has captured you alreadt, it did the same for national media that interviewed her at the outbreak of the pandemic. Then, her story caught the attention of a publisher, who led Deng to write “Don’t Look Back.” It did the same for organizers at EmBe, who asked Deng to be the featured speaker at the upcoming In Her Shoes Empowerment Breakfast.

“We read her book and were blown away,” said Rachel Fiegen, the donor engagement and events coordinator at EmBe.

“The story is so impactful, and it resonates with what EmBe is all about – we are a place for everyone at any point in life. Achut speaks about how she had to heavily rely on women in her journey, and that’s what got her through it. We want to be that place where women can come and feel safe and be able to look to the future and what possibilities are there for them.”

The In Her Shoes Empowerment Breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m. March 7 at the Sioux Falls Convention Center and is open to anyone at any age or life stage and is a fundraiser to support EmBe’s women’s programming.

The theme for this year’s event, “At This Table Everyone Is Welcome,” reflects EmBe’s commitment to providing women in both their work and personal lives with empowering content, learning and growth opportunities through its programming.

Emceeing the event will be EmBe women’s programming director, Melissa Hiatt. As a passionate advocate for emotional health, Hiatt brings a wealth of expertise to enrich the lives of individuals, families, teams and organizations.

“We want you to come, meet people, enjoy a breakfast, learn a little more about our programming, but mostly we want you to walk away being uplifted by someone in our own community and by everyone around you at the event,” Fiegen said. “It’s a powerful room to be in, and I love that we can provide that to our community.”

For Deng, “it’s such an honor,” she said. “If I can reach someone out there, if someone can pick up my book as they’re going through their own struggle and see ‘Achut went through it and made a foundation for herself, and I can also make it out.’”

Today, she’s a Sioux Falls homeowner, building her career in human resources and is passionate about spreading a message of hope.

“When you have hope in life, everything else can come through as long as you don’t give up and you focus on the positive,” she said. “My story is about love, strength, forgiveness and in the end finding hope from within.”

Companies interested in sponsoring the event may contact Rachel Fiegen at EmBe at [email protected]. By attending and sponsoring, guests contribute to the ongoing efforts of EmBe in empowering and advancing women in all aspects of life.

To learn more and reserve tickets, click here.