Yetnayet Asfaw Demessie

A physician by training, Asfaw has dedicated her professional and personal life to advancing the cause of girls and women for the past 18 years.  As country director for EngenderHealth, her primary foci are encouraging family planning, promoting maternal health and ensuring quality of health care.  She also led the first USAID supported project for …

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Mohamed Ali

Mohamed Ali fled Somalia’s civil war with his family, part of an exodus of refugees escaping a conflict which left the country in tatters. But after years abroad, Ali has returned to Somalia to found the Iftiin Foundation to incubate social ventures and groundbreaking projects that encourage change and innovation among young Somali leaders. “Entrepreneurship …

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Nafi Chinery

Chinery is passionate about promoting women's rights in African countries. In her role at AWDF, she works with women-led organizations to build their leadership and help them advocate for inclusive decision-making processes. Through this work, she has gained stories of successes and failures among grassroots organizations. Chinery began her career with Oxfam GB, where she …

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Kassahun Bilcha

Kassahun Bilcha, MD, is currently a resident physician at Emory University, Atlanta, GA. He served as a Clinical Director of Gondar University Hospital in Gondar, Ethiopia, and was also the department head and associate professor at the Department of Dermatology and Venereolgy. Dr. Bilcha was previously the chief resident at Addis Ababa University, Faculty of …

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Utibe Effiong

Dr. Utibe Effiong is a practicing board-certified Internal Medicine specialist physician and Public Health scientist passionate about health policy, health systems administration, drug addiction management, infectious diseases, the influence of the environment on human health, global health, and development. He is an international public speaker and prolific writer on issues of global health importance. Also …

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