Board of Directors - USA

Anteneh Gebreselassie

Pastor Anteneh is a native of Ethiopia. He holds a degree in Theology from the Mekane Yesus Theological Seminary in Ethiopia and Master of Divinity degree from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and is currently a pastor at Advent Lutheran Church in Olathe, Kansas church, where he also served as Pastoral intern years ago. Prior to this Pastor Anteneh also served at Resurrection Evangelical Lutheran Church as Associate Pastor. Pastor Anteneh is married to Sophia Y. Fekade. Together they have three children..

Damtew Kifelew

Vice President

Damtew has been working with the Jesus Film Project based in Orlando, Florida for nearly six years now. He is Director for Africa Field Strategy where he is responsible for overseeing programs in twenty-six countries in Africa. Prior to moving to the US, Damtew served as National Director of the Great Commission Ministry – Ethiopia. Damtew’s background is in History and has also completed his Masters Degree in Leadership. Damtew lives with his wife, Tracie Herman, and their three children in Orlando, Florida.

Solomon Gemeda

Solomon works at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital as Registered Nurse.  He is also licensed real estate agent in Ohio. Prior to moving to the US, Solomon worked with School of Americana as Assistant Principal. He holds BA in Foreign Languages and Literature from Addis Ababa University, Associate Degree in nursing from Cincinnati State College, and Masters in Informatics Nursing from Walden University. Solomon moved to the US thirteen years ago and lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with his wife and has three children.

Mitiku Z. Shifa

Mitiku works as Finance Director for Nascent Solutions Inc.; a US based non-profit implementing projects predominantly in Africa. He brings extensive experience in Finance and Grant management including as CFO, Controller, and Finance Business Partner for Vision Fund. He holds MSc in Professional Accountancy from University of London. He is a certified CPA and a member of a Virginia’s and Greater Washington Area Societies of CPAs. Mitiku is also a Chartered Certified Accountant of the ACCA. Mitiku is married and a father of two residing in Virginia, USA.

Martin Zuch

Martin’s career background was in finance until, in 2005, when he made the decision to invest in Africa. Having witnessed the depth of poverty and lack of basic needs, such as schools, he set up Give Hope to help the community by providing education and other economic and social support. Martin completed an MSc in Community Wellbeing in Disaster and Development at Northumbria University in Newcastle, UK. He, a father of three children, lives in Northumberland, UK, and travels to Zambia regularly.

Tequam Worku

Tequam Worku was born and raised in Ethiopia until she moved to the United States in December of 2007. She is a public health professional currently working as a Senior Analyst for Clinical to Community Connections at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). Tequam holds a Bachelor’s in Biology from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the George Washington University. She is also currently pursuing a Doctor of Public Health degree.  

Tilahun B. Tesfaye

Tilahun is the Founder of Give Hope in Ethiopia and served as Director since its establishment in 2010 to 2017. Tilahun holds Msc in Community Wellbeing in Disaster and Development from University of Northumbria in the UK and MA in TEFL from AAU. His experience ranges from teaching at university to working with development organizations. Tilahun is also co-founder and General Manager of Kab Consulting, which provides support to NGOs and multilateral agencies. Tilahun is married and a father of three children.

Zeray Gezahegn

Zeray is founder and owner of Orbit Information Technology College in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He holds Bsc in Civil Engineering from AAU and MSc in Construction Management from University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, UK. Zeray is Certified International Project Manager from American Academy of Project Management (AAPM). He led high-profile construction companies in Ethiopia including Sur-Construction, which is one of the largest in the country. Zeray has recently moved to the US, where he lives with his wife and four children.