Drocella Mugorewera

Southeast Regional Representative – Board of Directors

Delegate – Tennessee

Country of Origin: Rwanda
Arrival in the U.S.: 2009

Drocella Mugorewera is the Refugee Congress Delegate for Tennessee.

Born in Rwanda, Mugorewera was forced to leave as a refugee and came to Tennessee in 2009. She is an enthusiastic and dynamic leader. In Africa, she served in different capacities, including being a parliamentarian; the Secretary of Lands, Environment, Forestry, Water and Mines and a Development Consultant. Today, Mugorewera is the Executive Director of Bridge Refugee Services.

She is a Board Member of East Tennessee Foundation, Tennessee Valley Coalition of Homeless, and Refugee Congress. Mugorewera is also an active member of Knoxville Association of Women Executives (KAWE) and Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC).

Mugorewera graduated from the University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine in 1991. She is an alumna of Leadership Knoxville Class of 2018 and has a certificate from the Consortium for Social Enterprise for Effectiveness program from Haslam College of Business, as well as a certificate from Knox County Action Committee Community Leadership Class of 2014.

In 2016, the Mercury Newspaper listed Mugorewera as one of 10 women making a difference in Knoxville, and the May 2019 West Knoxville Lifestyle Magazine featured her as one of four “Go-Getters & Heavy Hitters You Should Know.” She has received champion for change and peacemaker awards from Church World Service and Oakridge Environmental Peace Alliance and is the 2020 honoree for the Danny Mayfield Champion of Change award by Community Shares.

Mugorewera values building relationships and inspires others by storytelling. She likes mother nature, spending time with family and friends, read books and traveling. She has been married for 27 years and became a grandmother on Christmas day of 2019. Singing and dancing also energize her.