Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Network to Networth Q&A/Mixer – Addis Ababa
Join us for a very unqiue social networking experience. We want to create a platform for young professionals/students to connect with each other as well as to distinguished professionals/entrepreneurs. Our panelists include some of the most estabilished Habeshas in the United States and abroad.
Haile Gebrselassie: Haile is a renowned Ethiopian athlete who set a number of world records throughout his career. He has won major titles at all distances from 1500 meters to the marathon. During his career, he broke 27 world records and is widely considered one of the greatest distance runners of all time. He won two Olympic gold medals, both in the 10,000 meters, and racked up several major marathon victories, including four in a row at the Berlin Marathon. He also has an impressive collection of World Championship medals, both indoor and outdoor. Haile has retired from running and has branched out into the business world. These include a five-star hotel in Awassa, a real estate development company, and thousands of acres of farmland for coffee production.
Gebrselassie owns the Alem Building, one of the tallest buildings in Addis Ababa, named after his wife. He and his wife run a successful property company which has financed seven more buildings in Addis Ababa. His businesses employ 1,600 people with interests ranging from growing coffee and beans to selling cars. He has the sole license to import Hyundai cars into Ethiopia and has a large showroom.
Gebrselassie is also a philanthropist, and built two primary schools in Ethiopia. He’s involved with the Great Ethiopian Run, an annual 10-kilometer running event held in late November in Addis Ababa. “I wake up every morning feeling grateful and still a winner.” – Haile Gebrselassie.
Haddis Tadesse: Director of The Gates Foundation ( @gatesfoundation ) for Ethiopia and the African Union. He leads a team that manages programs and builds diplomatic relations with key partners and stakeholders across the region, including governments, African Union and UN officials, donors, private sector decision-makers, NGOs and members of the press. In addition, his team works across the foundation’s investments in Ethiopia, including agricultural development, health, financial services, water and sanitation, nutrition, and emergency relief.
Haddis joined the foundation in 2007 where he managed African government relations. In 2012, he relocated to Ethiopia to establish the foundation’s office in Addis Ababa. Prior to joining the foundation, Haddis was a senior policy advisor to Greg Nickels, Mayor of Seattle, Washington, where he advised on citywide policies for human services, public health, housing, and civil rights. He also led outreach to immigrants and refugees, and implemented several new initiatives to support these communities.
A United States citizen of Ethiopian origin, Haddis lived and worked in the U.S. for nearly 25 years. He holds a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Washington. He serves on a number of boards and has held several fellowships, including at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the European Union.
Tadiwos Belete: Founder & CEO Boston Partners @kurifturesortspa @bostondayspa @kuriftudiplomat @thevaultaddis @kuriftualbash
Tadiwos is a renowned entrepreneur and hotelier, under his leadership Boston Partners has managed to become a pioneer in East Africa’s hospitality sector. Currently, they operate six upscale resorts/spas, restaurants and a lounge, with several other resorts underway including their highly anticipated resort on Moucha Island, Djibouti.
Tadiwos moved back to Ethiopia after developing a successful luxury spa business in Boston. He has since used his skills to create a thriving Ethiopian hospitality empire which employs over 1,500 people and focuses on using a solely local supply chain.
Beyond personal and financial gains, Tadiwos’s ultimate goal and personal mission is to rebrand Ethiopia as a whole. It is his determination and commitment to produce and promote the finest African brand to the world, on top of exporting high-quality services out of Ethiopia to make it the pride of Africa. “The profitability is here, you can see it, you can feel it, you can touch it. But as well, as a human being you can make a difference here.” – Tadiwos. He has been featured in various papers and magazines including The Washington Post, BBC, FoxNews, Black Enterprise & The African Report.
Lillian Kidane: Lillian Kidane is an executive who has worked in various global organizations. She has held global leadership roles in Fortune 500 technology firms, NGOs and global consulting firms over 15 years.
Lillian is recognized as a healthcare pioneer due to her leadership in leveraging innovation and technology in the evaluation and structuring of disruptive solutions for inclusive growth. She recently advised the Ethiopia Minister of Health and other key stakeholders on an innovative public-private partnership that would bring to the continent it’s first industrial-scale manufacturing for essential technologies around maternal and child health. She continues to strategize with Ministries of Health, Heads of State, and global partners on how to best leverage private sector to support incremental gains in global health.
During her leadership of General Electric’s (GE) $4B endowment – Healthymagination© Africa sub-portoflio, Lillian led a team of researchers tasked to advance the company’s innovation-related investments in Africa for Africa. Co-funded by global commercial partnerships, external relationships and global governments, Healthy magination introduced innovation in (1) process, (2) human resources management, and (3) technology – with the aim of maintaining sustainable disruptive models in the delivery of healthcare for all. In parallel to this role, Lillian expanded GE’s commercial footprint by opening the first office in Ethiopia, representing various businesses – including Healthcare, Aviation, Oil & Gas, Transportation and Energy – to a profitable $116M+ commercial footprint.
Lillian completed her post-graduate fellowship in international healthcare management at Yale University School of Medicine (USA), holds a Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (USA) and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame (USA). She began her career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco with a focus on primary health care. She currently lives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with her husband and 2 sons.
Come network with these inspiring individuals and find your next internship, job, sponsorship, partnership, invester.
Please come prepared & do research on the speakers to get the best networking experience.
6:00 PM – THE WARM UP – Doors open. Passed Hors D’oeuvres
6:30 PM – THE APPETIZER – Reception / Networking
7:30 PM – THE ENTREE – Q&A with our esteemed panelists
8:30 PM – THE SNACKS – Ask all the questions your heart desires, answers will follow
9:15 PM – DESSERT – Take the conversation further. Mingle. Eat & Drink. Meet new folks
It’s not cool to be fashionably late to a Q&A Panel. Early bird gets the worm!
Limited Tickets at the door will be $500 Birr & are not guaranteed. Prices may go up.
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