Behailu Assefa

ESFNA, president

Bahailu Assefa: Born in Ethiopian and graduated from Saint Joseph High School

Addis Abeba, Ethiopia in 1974. He moved to the USA and graduated from University of Minnesota from School of Engineering in BS in Electrical Engineering in 1983. His professional career is diverse. He worked for Underwriters Laboratories, Cooper Lasersonics, ETL Testing. Worked in these companies as engineer, project engineer, Team Leader and Manager. The job includes testing of electrical equipment, including medical, semi-conductor, etc. At cooper Lasersonics, designed control system for solid state and gas lasers. ASC Engineering Services, he is  the owner and managing engineer of this company, which does testing and certification of electrical systems including medical laser systems, semi conductor processing equipment, information technology equipment, co-generations system and industrial machinery.

Mr. Assefa has a great passion and love for soccer.  He was a player from 1987-1991, president from 1988-1991, and assistant coach 1999 for the San Francisco Wallia SC,a player from 1992 –1996, as a coach from 1996-998 and a secretary and president from 1997-1999. Mr. Asfaw is married and a father of two daughters. His hobby includes soccer, computer, and travel. Currently Mr. Assefa is the president of Ethiopian Sport Federation of North America

Nahom M. Beyene

ESAI, teams coordinator

Nahom Beyene: Born in Dallas, TX and graduated from high school in 1998 at the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science located at the University of North Texas in Denton, TX.  He currently attends the University of Texas at Austin in the College of Engineering as a senior studying Mechanical Engineering with an emphasis in Biomedical Engineering.  He is on course to graduate in the coming spring 2002 semester.  His plans after graduation are to continue in graduate school, in the fall 2002 semester, studying biomechanics to pursue an MS and PhD in Biomedical Engineering.

Nahom is also on a co-op assignment with NASA’s Johnson Space Center.  He is working on his third tour with JSC this summer in the Biomedical Systems Division and will complete the program in December.  The co-op position has introduced Nahom to original design, fabrication, exercise countermeasures, data acquisition, bioinstrumentation, and biomedical engineering design.  He is also a recipient of the Co-op Award for his contributions to the co-op program during his first work tour with NASA in Houston, TX.

Nahom’s involvement with the Ethiopian Students Association International (ESAI) comes from his strong pride in his Ethiopian heritage.  He has made two visits to Ethiopia (1993 & 1999) to meet his relatives and learn about the birth place of his parents.  Nahom has written an essay entitled, “A Vision for the Future” describing his thoughts on the issues facing Ethiopians in America today and has it available as a link on his web site.  His continued support towards ESAI has made him the Texas Representative for ESAI, and he is also working to increase the involvement of Ethiopian students in Texas by developing the Ethiopian Students Association of Texas (ESAT).  Now, Nahom also serves as the Teams Coordinator on the Executive Board of ESAI. 

Bilen Aynu

Youth Chair

Partners Against HIV AIDS in Ethiopia

PAHA

Hiwote Tadesse

Liben Eabisa

Ocopy.com began as a joint concept between two friends who met while at Stanford University, Liben Eabisa and Tseday Alehegn. Liben Eabisa ( Founder & CEO), was born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He moved to the United States at age 16 in 1988. He attended UC Santa Barbara where he studied Political Science and International Relations. Currently he is pursuing a Masters program in Business Administration at Notre Dame Namur University in Belmont, California. Prior to founding Ocopy.Com, he worked at Stanford University in the office of Government Cost & Rate Studies as well as the Office of Research Administration. 

Tseday Alehegn (Founder & CTO) was born in Belgrade, Serbia and was raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She graduated from Stanford University (B.A. '98, M.A. '99) and worked as a Web Developer at MedIT (Stanford Medical School Information Technologies) before working as a clinical database programmer in the Biotech Industry. Her interests in internet technologies and e-commerce led her to co-found Ocopy.Com.

Founder and CEO

Leleda Woldu, Publication Director at Addis Tewlid magazine

Leleda went to Nazareth School from 1st-12th grade and graduated in 1993. Moved to the U.S., California, in 1994. Graduated from UC Berkeley in 1999 with a B.A. in Sociology. Moved to Washington, DC and lived there for one year. Worked at the Washington Post while in DC as an Advertisement Editor and  Reviewer.  Moved back to Pasadena, California, in May 2000 and started working for Hewlett Packard as a Marketing Specialist. Just recently, She started working for her masters in business at Cal State  Dominguez Hills' MBA program in the Los Angeles area. Currently, She is  the Publishing Director at Addis Tewlid Magazine. She is  extremely motivated to make this Magazine as well as any other future plans that Addis Tewlid may implement due to her strong belief in Addis Tewlid's goals and visions.

Ethiopian American Constituency

Wayna Wondwossen

Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1973, Ms. Woyneab Wondwossen moved to the United States at the age of three.  Upon earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Language and Literature and Speech Communication from the University of Maryland at College Park, she began her professional career in the Office of Speechwriting at the Clinton/Gore ’96 Campaign headquarters, where she wrote and edited remarks for surrogate speakers endorsing Clinton/Gore.  She went on to serve as a Researcher in the White House Office of Speechwriting, conducting extensive research for President Clinton’s Second Inaugural Address and 1997 State of the Union speech.  Between 1997 - 2000, Ms. Wondwossen worked in the Office of Presidential Letters and Messages at the White House, where she wrote presidential proclamations, correspondence, and commemorative messages regarding a variety of international and domestic policy issues, including human rights, women’s issues, HIV/AIDS, and global trade.  She is recently engaged and lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

March 2003