bout the Aichana Abeid Boilil Awards

A communications executive in Chicago, Illinois, Sean Tenner has served as president of KNI Communication since 2008. He is also involved with multiple nonprofit organizations. As co-founder of the Abolition Institute, Sean Tenner fights modern slavery in Mauritania, West Africa.

Widely known as one of the last strongholds of modern slavery, Mauritania officially criminalized the practice in 2007, but its officials rarely enforce its anti-slavery laws. As part of its effort to end the terrible traditions of enslavement that continue to plague Mauritania, the Abolition Institute honors anti-slavery advocates each year through its Aichana Abeid Boilil Awards.

These awards bear the name of the first woman to escape slavery with the assistance of SOS Esclaves: the partner organization of the Abolition Institute in Mauritania. Timed to coincide with the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, the Aichana Abeid Boilil Awards recognize anti-slavery efforts within president Lincoln’s home state of Illinois.

The 2020 Abeid Boilil Award winners include Forest Parks Mayor Rory Hoskins, Common Sense Foundation founder Antonio Sola, and community organizer LaCreshia Brits. The art/activism initiative Black Remembrance Project also received an award.