Raised in a public housing community in Harlem, New York, Lynnette Omar was motivated by her loving, yet tough upbringing. The daughter of a city transit worker and interior decorator, Lynnette understood the importance of a strong education and excelled academically at a young age. With financial help from A Better Chance—a non-profit organization that provides minority students access to rigorous educational opportunities—she attended The Putney School in Putney, Vermont. Her educational achievements led her to the University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated with a B.A. in philosophy, politics and economics.  With an interest in public health, Lynnette continued her education and obtained an M.A. in public health administration from George Washington University. 

Over a successful 25-year career, Lynnette held several senior positions in public health care management. As director of continuing medical education at the National Medical Association, she lobbied to help minority and underserved communities gain access to health care services. As an executive at Kaiser Permanente, she held several leadership positions overseeing medical operations. In her last role, Lynnette was assistant director of administration for the University of North Carolina Injury Prevention Research Center, where she led a team responsible for managing grants, budgets and strategic planning.

A mother of nine and champion for academic success, Lynnette raised her family to value education. Along with her husband, Alan Omar, she sent all nine of her children to the nation’s best colleges and universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, Morehouse College, Tufts University, The University of North Carolina and Davidson College. When not raising her own children, Lynnette focused on advancing her community. She worked tirelessly with the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City school district to close the racial achievement gap that has persisted for decades. With assistance from other community members, Lynnette provided advice to school board members and worked to provide resources for underrepresented minority students. 

Lynnette’s legacy of achievement and commitment to her family and community continue to inspire others.   

The Lynnette Omar Scholarship rewards and recognizes the academic achievements of minority students at Carrboro High School and supports their matriculation to college. By partnering with the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City community, we aim to ensure all students have equal access to higher education and advance Lynnette Omar’s mission of helping students achieve their academic goals.

Nassar Omar

Nassar oversees the scholarships selection process, contributions, and fundraising initiatives.

A proud product of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School System, he attended Frank Porter Graham Elementary and Culbreth Middle School, before graduating from Carrboro High School in 2011. He continued his education at Morehouse College and graduated cum laude with a B.A. in business administration in 2015. He currently lives in Chicago, Illinois and works as an Investment Associate for PSP Partners, an investment firm founded by Penny Pritzker.

Nassar is the youngest son of Lynnette Omar.

ABDULLAH WRIGHT

Abdullah helps establish the short and long term goals of the scholarship, with a specific focus on fundraising initiatives. 

He currently is the Vice President of Strategy and Planning at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) where he focuses on enterprise level strategy, processes and operations.

Prior to joining the ADA, Abdullah was a manager in Deloitte’s strategy practice leading growth and organizational strategy projects across public sector, private sector and not-for-profit clients. Much of his work has centered on growth strategy, marketing strategy and organizational strategy, specifically aligning organizations behind broad-scale change, and developing implementable strategies around these efforts.

Abdullah began his career as a trader at UBS Investment Bank trading corporate bonds, credit derivatives, and leveraged loans.

He received his MBA from the Tuck School of business at Dartmouth in 2012 and graduated from Wesleyan in 2004 as a double major in Economics and African-American Studies.

He is Lynette Omar’s youngest nephew.

Tom Wolf

Tom is chief editor of the scholarships website content.

He is a free-lance writer who lives and works in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  He is married to Patricia Bryan, a law professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law, and the father of three sons.

Wolf was born, raised, and educated in the Midwest.  After graduating from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, in 1969, he served two years as a VISTA volunteer on Long Island.  He earned an MFA in Fiction Writing from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 1975.

He is the co-author (with Patricia Bryan) of MIDNIGHT ASSASSIN: A MURDER IN AMERICA’S HEARTLAND, a nonfiction book about a century-old murder case.  He has also published short stories and articles on baseball history.

Wolf has lived in Chapel Hill since 1985.

Nassar Omar

Nassar oversees the scholarships selection process, contributions, and fundraising initiatives.

A proud product of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School System, he attended Frank Porter Graham Elementary and Culbreth Middle School, before graduating from Carrboro High School in 2011. He continued his education at Morehouse College and graduated cum laude with a B.A. in business administration in 2015. He is currently pursuing a career in finance as a research analyst.

Nassar is the youngest son of Lynnette Omar.

Mary Gratch 

Mary Gratch has over 30 years of experience in education and school counseling. She played a critical role in student development at Carrboro High School, where she served as one of the school’s first guidance counselors. Prior to this role, Mary was a guidance counselor at Chapel Hill High School for 15 years. A beloved member of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City community, Mary has helped numerous students navigate the college application process. Currently, she works as an educational consultant and assists students locally and nationally. She holds a B.S. in Child Development and Teaching from Michigan State University and an M.Ed. in School Counseling from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Christoph Stutts

Christoph Stutts is an experienced high-school social studies teacher and doctoral student and has worked in public schools for 14 years as a department head, curriculum leader, assistant football coach and mentor to teachers. He is a National Board Certified Teacher, a proponent of public education as a vehicle for social justice and has worked tirelessly to bring a rigorous and accessible curriculum to standard, honors and AP level coursework. As a Ph.D. student in UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Education, he connects his classroom experience to education research and teacher education, focusing specifically on teacher wellbeing and self care. Christoph has a B.A. in history from Bates College and an M.A. in secondary education and teaching from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.