Tsehaye Teferra

President

Dr. Teferra is founder and president of the Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC), Inc. which was established in 1983. His leadership and vision have shaped ECDC from a start-up agency with an initial budget of less than $100,000 to a major community-based organization with an annual budget of over several million. ECDC now offers a wide range of cultural, economic, educational, and social services at the local and national levels through its headquarters operations and through ECDC African Community Center (ACC) branch offices in Denver, Colorado, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Arlington, Virginia.

While meeting the many challenges of running a multifaceted organization, Dr. Teferra is also active in civic, professional, and local community affairs. He frequently lectures locally and nationally on African issues and cross-cultural studies and has testified before Congress. He has served as Chair of the Resettlement Committee of Refugee Council USA and as a member of its Finance Committee; and Vice Chair and Chairman of the Virginia State Refugee Advisory Council. He was appointed by the Arlington County Board to serve as a founding member of the Arlington County, Virginia, Multicultural Commission; as well as a member of the County’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Task Force for Arlington’s Future, and the Diversity Dialogue Task Force . Dr. Teferra currently serves as a member of the Board of InterAction; the Board of the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization in Arlington, Virginia.

A native of Ethiopia, Dr. Tsehaye Teferra received his undergraduate degree from Haile Selassie I University in Addis Ababa. He then earned an M.S. in Applied Linguistics and a Ph.D. in Sociolinguistics from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he also served as a Research Associate in the School of Languages and Linguistics. Dr. Teferra was an instructor at The Catholic University of America and the Foreign Service Institute and was an Assistant Professor in the African Studies and Research Center at Howard University. He served as a cross-cultural instructor in the Peace Corps’ in-country training program and taught at several institutions of higher learning in Ethiopia before coming to the United States as a UNESCO Fellow in 1972.

Recognition and Awards

• Selected as a White House Champion of Change in 2012.
• Received the Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago’s Pioneer Award for Leadership, Advocacy and Networking in October 2009.
• Honored in May 2008 by the Society of Ethiopians Established in Diaspora (SEED) for his many years of public service to Ethiopian and Africans in Diaspora.
• Honored by Bank of America in 2006 with a Local Hero Award of Excellence for contributions as president of ECDC and the Enterprise Development Group through support to low-to-moderate income entrepreneurs.
• Honored by the City Council of the City of Los Angeles in 2005 with an Award of Appreciation for his contributions to improving the lives of refugee and immigrant newcomers to the United States.
• Recognized in 1991by former President George H.W. Bush for outstanding record of community service.
• Recognized in 1991 for outstanding contributions to the country by then Ambassador at Large and U.S. Coordinator for Refugee Affairs Jewel Lafontant-Mankarious.

Allene Wright

Senior Vice President

Allene oversees ECDC's Ethnic and Preferred Communities (PC) Programs. She is also engaged in development activities, human resources, and works with ECDC's branch offices. Ms. Wright recieved a B.A. in German from Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indianna, and did graduate work at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. She has been with ECDC since 1986.

Azeb Tadesse

Director of Finance

Azeb provides management, control and administration of all fiscal operations of ECDC its and its branch offices. Ms. Tadesse has over 12 years of finance experience. She has an MBA from Strayer University in Arlington, Virginia.

Berihun Teferra

Managing Director, ACC Las Vegas

Berihun joined ECDC in 2009 and has been serving as the Managing Director for the ECDC African Community Center (ACC) in Las Vegas since January 2010. He currently provides oversight and management to several refugee resettlement and self-sufficiency programs. He is also an active member of the Area Refugee Providers Coordinating Committee and the Southern Nevada Regional Family Self-Sufficiency Programs Advisory Board. Berihun's prior positions include Quality Assurance Coordinator for Diversified Technological Services of Northern Virginia and Research Assistant for Save the Children U.S. Programs in Washinton, D.C.

Berihun earned his Bachelor's degree in Economics from Addis Ababa University. He served as Investment Officer with the Ministry of External Economic Relations in Ethiopia and was then awarded an Austrian government scholarship to study at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna where he earned a Master's degree in International Relations. Berihun was hired as Program Officer for United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Senegal and Benin. While there, he gained expereince in managing multi-project and multi-component international programs, working with cross-cultural staff and numerous stakeholders and partners.

Soon after arriving in the U.S. in 1999, Berihun enrolled in New York University's Robert Wagner School of Public Service where he earned another Master's in International Administration. While a student there, he worked part-time as Team Leader for a project funded by the United Methodist Committe on Relief (UMCOR). Upon graduation, he earned the Dean's Award for Outstanding Leadership. Berihun is fully proficient in Amharic, English, French, German, and Tigirinya.

Jennifer Gueddiche

Director, ACC Denver

Jennifer joined ECDC in 2001 and is the Director of ECDC’s first African Community Center (ACC) Program office in Denver, Colorado.  She is founding Director of the ACC in Denver and has over 13 years of experience working with refugees.  Jennifer supervises ACC Denver’s programming and reports directly to ECDC’s President. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Purdue University and a Master’s degree in International Development Studies from the University of Denver’s Korbel School of International Studies.

Redda G. Mehari

Managing Director, African Community Center (ACC), D.C. Metro

Redda oversees ECDC's African Community Center (ACC) whose area of service covers Northern Virginia, Southern Maryland, and the District of Columbia. In addition to refugee resettlement, ACC provides various social services such as a youth smoke cessation program, employment, health education, and translation/interpretation.

Before ECDC, Redda worked for government, non-profit, and international organizations in various capacities. His experiences overseas include administering a refugee camp in the Sudan, and providing cultural orientation to U.S. -bound Ethiopian refugees. After coming to the United States, he was the director of a refugee resettlement program for Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada. He also administered a state-wide Wilson/Fish program in Nevada.

Redda studied history at the Haile Sellassie I University in Ethiopia and the District of Columbia Teacher's College in Washington, D.C. He opened the African Community Center of ECDC in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was its director from 2002-2006. He rejoined ECDC in 2011 in his current position.

Anam Gnaho

Self-Sufficiency Programs Manager

Anam oversees ECDC’s self-sufficiency programs, including the Matching Grant, Preferred Communities, and Individual Development Accounts. She monitors and evaluates programs, provides technical assistance and training, and assists with proposal writing and research. Prior to ECDC, Anam worked in various capacities for governmental, non-profit and international organizations. Ms. Gnaho received a law degree from the University of Pune in India; a Master’s degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University; and a Master’s degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University.

Benaiah Duku

Program Officer

Benaiah conducts ECDC’s refugee allocations process, including attending weekly allocations meetings, requesting assurances from site offices, reviewing and submitting reports, and following up on inquiries regarding the status of pending cases. In the past, Mr. Duku worked in various capacities for the government of Sudan, the Office of African Studies at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, and the International Organization for Migrations (IOM). He has experience both in governmental and non-governmental organizations and has specialized in cultural orientation.  Mr. Duku received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Social Studies from the University of Khartoum, and holds a Master’s degree in Political Science, Development Option from the American University in Cairo.

Emily Nesheim Bullock

Refugee Resettlement Program Manager

Emily is responsible for the day-to-day operations of ECDC’s refugee resettlement efforts. Before joining ECDC, she was the Immigration Services Coordinator in the Refugee Resettlement Department at the Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota. Emily holds a Master’s degree in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Global Studies and Political Science from the University of Minnesota.

Heran Sereke-Brhan

Research and Development Associate

Heran works on ECDC’s international education projects. She oversees book donation and fund-raising efforts for ECDC’s Axumite Heritage Foundation in Axum, Ethiopia, and is also responsible for coordinating the annual national conference. Heran was most recently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Fredrick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future at Boston University. She earned a doctorate in African History with minors in African Art History and African-American and Caribbean History from Michigan State University. Since then, she has initiated and participated in numerous projects that combine her interests in historical research with her passion for the arts.

Katie Hargis

Program Officer

As part of ECDC’s resettlement program team, Katie provides training and monitoring support to R&P related services and serves as a liaison for several of ECDC’s Refugee Resettlement Program affiliates. She also provides technical assistance and input on refugee health and mental health issues. Prior to joining ECDC, Katie worked as a caseworker with Kentucky Refugee Ministries in Louisville, KY and conducted research on gender-based violence in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Katie holds Bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology and Sociology from the University of Louisville as well as a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Ohio University. .

Kevin Kelly

Enterprise Development Group Managing Director

Kevin is the Managing Director of ECDC’s Enterprise Development Group (EDG).  He oversees teams responsible for small-businesses, car, and office-space loans. Before coming to EDG, Kevin served for over three years with the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, the national association that represents micro-enterprise development organizations. He has over 28-years experience working with community-based organizations in the United States.   Kevin holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from American University and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from California State University at Fullerton.

Selam M. Beyene

IT Associate

Selam provides IT Technical support for ECDC. She assists ECDC staff on IT- related issues, solves software problems, performs hardware repairs, and upgrades different application changes. Selam has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and is completing her MSc. in Computer Engineering from George Washington University.

Senay Gebremedhin

Program Associate

Senay provides support and technical service for ECDC’s Preferred Communities (PC) program. He conducts public education and outreach efforts through dissemination of online news on African refugees and immigrants. He is also part of a team that coordinates ECDC’s annual national conference on African refugees and immigrants. Senay assists with ECDC’s international educational development program in Axum, Ethiopia. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a minor in Africana Studies from James Madison University. 

Tseday Girma

Senior Program Officer

Tseday is the lead contact for PRM’s Reception and Placement program and processing unit at ECDC. She provides training, monitoring and evaluation, and technical assistance to refugee resettlement sites. Tseday’s previous work includes handling refugee travel, assurances, case transfers and payments for affiliate agencies. Prior to joining ECDC, Tseday worked for the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants as an administrative support. Tseday has a Bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Social Science from University of Maryland.

Yeshareg Haileyesus

Program Specialist

Yeshareg is Program Specialist for Processing in the Reception and Placement Program. Her prior positions include Engineering Assistant, Data Entry Supervisor at ABB, Inc. Yeshareg has a diploma in Hotel Management and a Librarianship Certificate from Mendoza Training College and Oxford College, respectively. She lived and worked in London before relocating to the U.S.

Wossenseged Hailu

IT Manager

Wossen is the IT Manager overseeing the information technology system for ECDC headquarters and branch offices. He manages database, messaging, network, security, server, VPN, and ECDC's website. Wossen has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.