Chairman

Negatu Telahun is currently a systems engineer for Customs and Border Protection in Springfield, VA. He has over 30 years of experience in IT in the banking industry. Negatu started his career at the Central Bank of the South after which he worked with First Virginia Bank. Negatu and his wife, Minilshewa, as well as their son Yacob, currently reside in Potomac Falls, Virginia. He is a long serving member of Debre Genet Medhane Alem Ethiopian Orthodox Church where he is past president of the board. A signature achievement, during Negatu's tenure as president, was leading the congregation as it purchased a large property and built the first Ethiopian church in Temple Hills, Maryland. Negatu earned his B.A. in Economics from University of Montevallo in Alabama and has an A.S. in Computer Science from Herzing University in Birmingham, Alabama.

Vice Chair

Elizabeth Wossen is principal and lead consultant for Energy Links Group, LLC. Her small firm earlier provided strategic and political counsel to a small client-base. More recently, Elizabeth has developed investment opportunities, especially between U.S. companies and Middle Eastern counterparts. Her professional career includes a government affairs position with Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, USA Inc. For a number of years Elizabeth was a corporate member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Elizabeth currently serves as volunteer Board of Director/Treasurer for the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations. Elizabeth earned her Master of Arts in Human Resource Development from Bowie State University in Maryland; she attended a graduate certificate program in Sociolinguistics at University of Ottawa in Canada; and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in Anthropology and Sociology from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.

Executive Director

Mr. Henock Kifle is a development economist with a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has served in senior positions in the Ethiopian Government (CADU Executive Director; Head of Planning and Programming and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture) as well as in international development organizations such as the South Commission (Senior Economist), the African Development Bank (Director, African Development Institute, Director, Development Research Department, and first Chief Economist of the Bank) and the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (Chief Development Strategist, Chief of Staff, and Associate Vice President).

Secretary

Mrs. Tekabech Teshome was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She was educated at Greenwich University, London, UK, and earned a BSC in in Computer Science. Tekabech worked as the head of the computer department at Gravesham Itech in Kent, UK, before moving to the US. Subsequently, she worked for over 20 years in the various IT departments of Verizon, Inc. Tekabech served as a board member at St. Gabriel Church in Annandale, Virginia. Currently, she works for Mutual of Omaha as a freelance advisor.

Treasurer

Laly (Debritu) Kassa is a great-granddaughter of His Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie I. Laly has worked in financial services for over 35 years. She is currently a Managing Director at Chevy Chase Trust in Bethesda, Maryland. Laly is a Certified Financial Planner and a member of the Washington D.C. Estate Planning Council and the Financial Planning Association. She is currently a mentor with Generation Hope. Laly earned a B.A. from the University of California at Santa Barbara, a Master of Science from American University and a Master’s from Columbia University.

Finance Director

Teshome Metaferiya is an active Certified Public Accountant (CPA), active Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA) and an active Fellow Chartered Certified Accountant (FCCA). He has more than twenty years of accounting, auditing and tax experience and has worked for companies and accounting firms in the US and overseas. Teshome has varied industry experience, including for-profit, publicly traded and privately held entities as well as not-for-profit and non-governmental agencies. Teshome received his Associates Degree in Accounting from Addis Ababa Commercial College and earned his B.A. in Accounting from Addis Ababa University.