The Team

Mezegebu  Zemene Zerihun, CIPM, ACSW, MSW, EdPM

 Mr.Mezegebu Zemene Zerihun is founder and CEO of KALHERHUB. He is the founder and CEO of Ethiopian Community Center for social and behavioral health services. He is  working as s behavioral health clinician at Alameda County in CA,USA. He is also working as a country director for Global Academy of Finance and Management (GAFM) in Ethiopia, member and fellow of American Academy of project Management(AAPM). Before coming to US, Mezegebu Zemene Zerihun was assistant dean of community work & life center at  Addis Ababa University, Teacher Development Project manager (TDP) and head of administration & finance of the college of education and  administrator of dental health school of the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. Mr. Mezegebu Zemene Zerihun receieved MSW, BA and AA degree from the Addis Ababa University in 2007, 2003 and 1989 respectively.

Dr. Teferi Tsegaye is the National Program Leader for Water Resources at the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Beltsville, MD, overseeing research on water management, erosion control, and watershed management across 29 ARS laboratories. He also leads the ARS Long-term Agroecosystems Research and Conservation Effects Assessment Network projects. Previously, he was Associate Vice President and Dean of Agriculture at Kentucky State University. Dr. Tsegaye holds degrees from Oklahoma State University and the University of Maryland and is an expert in soil physics and water resources. He played a key role in creating the Alabama Mesonet for environmental monitoring. He has mentored over 24 graduate students and serves on several national and international committees. Dr. Tsegaye is a Fellow of multiple professional organizations and completed senior leadership training at American University and Yale School of Management.

 Getnet is a full professor at Addis Ababa University (AAU) and holds honorary and adjunct positions at Jimma and Bahir Dar universities. He has a BA in Sociology from AAU, an MSc in Health Social Science from the University of Newcastle, and a PhD in medical sociology/anthropology from the University of Amsterdam. He is also a member of the Ethiopian parliament and a volunteer advisor for Partners in Education Ethiopia. Getnet has published over 60 journal articles, co-edited two books, and received several prestigious fellowships, including Fulbright and NIH grants. He leads research on stigmatizing skin conditions in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Rwanda. He has received numerous awards for his academic and community contributions, including the Distinguished Research Award from AAU and the Exemplary Community Service Award from P2P USA.

Sahnya Shulterbrandt brings over 30 years of experience helping C-suite executives, organizations and institutions develop and execute transformative business strategies. Specializing in women- and minority-owned businesses, nonprofit and chambers of commerce, and professional organizations Mrs. Shulterbrandt combines a multicultural background with deep business intelligence to provide innovative, data-driven solutions that drive growth and address emerging market trends. With expertise in crafting Go-To-Market strategies, optimizing leadership capabilities through tailored coaching, and identifying strategic partnerships, Mrs. Shulterbrandt empowers leaders to scale their businesses and navigate complex challenges. Known for a hands-on, results-driven approach, she helps organizations make smarter, faster decisions while adapting to global shifts and market dynamics. Having worked across multiple industries and markets, Mrs. Shulterbrandt has a unique ability to help organizations and leaders to communicate effectively with diverse audiences, foster meaningful relationships, and seize new opportunities. Her work as business and political analyst is feature in the Georgetown University Political Database of the Americas, and her articles has been published internationally. She has conducted over 1,500 interviews with business leaders worldwide, offering invaluable insights that shape her consulting and mentoring services.

You can follow Mrs. Shulterbrandt on LinkedIn and as @VirtualSahnya on IG and TikTok. 

Engineer Aynshet D. Gelagay is an Ethiopian American with over 25 years of experience in engineering, entrepreneurship, and humanitarian work. He specializes in engineering quality management and has worked as a Senior Quality Engineer at Hexagon Digital Wave and in various roles at Seagate Technology. Gelagay is the founder and CEO of ADG Global Technology Solutions, a consulting firm supporting small and medium-sized businesses in the U.S. and Ethiopia. He is also a humanitarian and human rights activist, co-founding the Ethiopian Drought Relief Aid of Colorado and helping raise $100,000 for drought relief in Ethiopia. As a co-founder of the Ethiopian American Civic Council, he contributed to the passage of H.Res.128, supporting human rights in Ethiopia. Gelagay holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering Technology, an MBA, and is pursuing a Doctorate in Management at Walden University.

Mr Ben Venktash, FCABE (UK), FRSPH(UK), CHSP, CHCM, 1st U.S.Ambassador, Chartered Association of Building

Engineers, United Kingdom. Mr. Ben Venktash is a building environmental systems consultant specializing in HVAC with expertise in mechanical systems, design reviews, and maintenance management. He has worked as Interim Director of Engineering at Sutter Medical Center and Interim Project Manager at Travis Air Force Base. Venktash is a California EPA Registered Environmental Assessor focusing on indoor air quality and has extensive forensic engineering experience in healthcare and commercial settings. A qualified mechanical engineer and licensed building services engineer in the UK, he has worked on risk assessments, safety evaluations, and system performance, including projects in Fiji. Venktash is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health, Chartered Association of Building Engineers, and The Society of Engineers, Inc., and is a past chairman of the American Board of Forensic Engineering and Technology. 

 Professor Mammo Muchie did his undergraduate degree in Columbia University, New York, USA

and his postgraduate MPhil and DPhil in Science, Technology, and Innovation for Development

(STI&D) from the University of Sussex, UK. He is currently a DST-NRF research chair in Innovation

Studies at the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, Tshwane University of Technology

as a rated research Professor. He is a fellow of the South African Academy of Sciences, the African

Academy of Sciences and the African Science Institute. He is also currently adjunct Professor at

Bahir Dar, Harmaya, and University of Gondar, Ethiopia.​ He is senior research associate fellow at

the TMD Centre of Oxford University and the Africa Centre of Excellence in Data Science at

the University of Rwanda. He has taught at the University of Economics in Prague as visiting

professor, Jawarahal Nehru University in India, Tonji and Shanghai University in China; Honorary

Professor Jiaxing University in China, Assistant Professor Amsterdam University, Visiting Professor

Carleton College in the USA; Principal Lecturer Middlesex University, Professor Aalborg University;

Part–time Lecturer, Cambridge University; Honorary Professor UNISA. Professor Mammo held

various positions globally, including the Director of the Research Programme on Civil Society and

African Integration at the then University of Kwa Zulu-Natal; board member at the North Western

University, Chengdu, China. He is currently the chairman of the advisory board of African Talent

hub of the Community Interest Company (registration no.10461990) to raise funds for making Africa

the talent, innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity and knowledge hub of the world. He has been

appointed as special distinguished advisor to the Africa Union's Student Council and a mentor for the

African Entrepreneurship award. He has initiated the African Unity for Renaissance and Knowledge

Exchange. He is a founding scientific advisor to the African Solar network, founding chairman of the

Network of Ethiopian scholars. He has led the SIDA, Sweden funded research on engineering design

and on transformative innovation for African integrated development and educate on public media to

speed up the creation of innovative and renascent Africa. He is also a co-founding member of the

Nano Technology Institute in TUT leading the innovation side of the research. He is the founder as

Chief Editor of the African Journal on Science, Technology, Innovation and Development that has

been running since 2009.He has been appointed as a scientific and academic advisor to the local e-

Governance research that involved ten African countries on ICT4D. He had been appointed as a

consultant on UNESCO’s higher education, Research and Knowledge forum. He has served as a

postdoctoral mentor in the NRF national postdoctoral forum. Since 1985, he has produced over 450

publications, including books, chapters in books, and articles in internationally accredited journals

and entries in institutional publications. Prof. Muchie has been given a number of awards: long

dedicated and valued service awards, best institutional senior researcher of the year merit, academic

excellence award, and outstanding contribution to Science, Engineering, Technology (SET) and

innovation by NTSF in South Africa. Prof. Muchie took up the mammoth task of producing an

impressive body of research on the innovation systems (in whatever rudimentary forms or degrees of

evolutionary state they exist) in various African countries. He is the founder of the Africana Post-

Graduate Academy 

Benyam has been a Senior Governance, Conflict, and Conflict Sensitivity Technical Specialist and Analyst for FSSP Ethiopia since June 2025. Leveraging his years of experience in conflict sensitivity, he has started providing advice on the nature of conflict and politics in Ethiopia and supports all aspects of conflict management and peacebuilding programming in the country and the Horn of Africa region at large.

   Previous work experiences

Experienced leader with over 23 years of programmatic and academic expertise in conflict mitigation, governance reform, strategic design, and transitional and post-conflict environments. Has a proven track record of managing multi-million-dollar portfolios, leading stakeholder engagement with governments and civil society, and advising senior leadership on democracy, rights, and governance. Highly skilled in political analysis, donor coordination, and compliance across complex operating contexts with a profound understanding of Ethiopia’s political economy, historical context, and institutional dynamics. Significant experience at USAID in Ethiopia, serving as Acting Deputy Mission Director and managing large-scale conflict mitigation programs. Among his accomplishments, he developed training modules on mediation, dialogue, and leadership skills for different CSOs, and project and program proposals on governance, conflict, and other development thematic areas for different donors like USAID, German Embassy,SIDA, Lakermissionen, etc. He is a member of the USAID Washington Foreign Service Nationals Advocacy Council representing 11 countries in East Africa, and the Chair of USAID/US Embassy Foreign Service National Staff Council. 

  Educational background 

M.A. in International Relations from College of Social Sciences, Addis Ababa University, 2005

B.A., Foreign Languages and Literature (English Major), Addis Ababa University, 2002