Yeabsira Bogale, one of the participant from Ethiopia introduces here  her vibrant Global Power Shift team! The group comprises of amazingly talented, passionate individuals with a multitude of experience in fighting to curb the climate crisis and its alarming effects in different sectors. This team along with other 500 participants from around the world are attending GPS Phase 1 starting on June 24 in Istanbul. Read about them below!

Amleset Haile completed her bachelors study at Haramaya University, Ethiopia, and her masters at Klagenfurt University, Austria in areas where she would always like to engage herself and bring change to the lives of people and the nature they are living in and are surrounded by.  She has worked in universities responsible to academic and research activities and at present, she is the assistant national coordinator of a Wageningen University Project working towards the improvement of agricultural productivity and natural resource management, in collaboration with six different universities in Ethiopia. Amleset’s research interest is in contributing to societal efforts to use natural resources efficiently to assist conservation and livelihood improvement activities. To make her dreams a reality in climate issues, she has taken part in various international trainings. Amleset is very glad to join the dedicated team of Global Power Shift and keep the momentum going on the climate movement.

 Mekdes Ijigu completed her bachelors of law at Bahirdar University, Ethiopia in 2007. Mekdes has always been passionate about making a difference in people’s lives therefore she has engaged herself in different development and aid activities as well as volunteered in community services. She has worked with Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs and UNHCR in the refugee camps located at the eastern part of Ethiopia which hosted more than 15,000 Somali refugees. Since 2010, she joined project Gaia; a project which introduced clean cooking ethanol fuel with modern clean cooking stoves for households who have been using fire wood and charcoal to cook.  At present, she is the Project coordinator of project Gaia Ethiopia office. Mekdes has participated in various climate related workshops and trainings including Environmental Leadership program at University of California, Berkeley (2012). Mekdes is honored to be part of an international movement on climate with dedicated young people, and strongly believes her contribution will make a difference.

Mesfin Hailemariam, an ardent lover of nature and life in general, studied agricultural animal and range science in college to later have renounced his profession by regarding it as manipulative to animals as well as the environment. He had founded and is leading among the first ethically and ecologically based vegan movements in Ethiopia, volunteered for long for food sharing campaigns and is also now trying to pursue his dream of doing something significant to the preservation of nature as his all time idol Jane Goodall, by working as the Executive Director with a National Representation of an African Environmental group young volunteers for Environment (YVE ) or JVE in French.

Mihiret Teamir is Degree graduate in Economics and Diploma graduate in Accounting. She has about 7  years of experience as protected area financing specialist working with different environmental protection organizations namely African Parks Conservation Nech Sar & Omo National Park Project and Horn of Africa Regional Environmental Center/Network. Being responsible, mainly for all financial matters of the project but also contributed to all areas where possible. During those periods in the project she has proved to be very capable, efficient and successful in contributing towards the goal of the organization which is environmental protection and addressing climate change issues. Mihiret, is passionate young lady who is very much committed to nature conservation, addressing climate change issues and protection of the environment proving this by not only working with organizations but also by being a member of local environmental group which has done current situation assessment of the Nech sar and Gambella National Park.

Nebiat Assefa is a Journalist working with the national broadcasting media, the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency. She has one year experience in print media and for the last 5 years she has been working as a producer on radio and television programs. The experience that she has acquired while working in different media agencies has enabled her to reach out to different parts of the community and address their problems. Nebiat has always been passionate and concerned regarding climate change and she has proven her devotion by producing different programs and engaging herself in different environmental activities. Nebiat Assefa completed her BA in Addis Ababa University in Theatre Arts and currently she is studying her Masters in Theatre and Development at Addis Ababa University.

Tatek Kebede is a Social Anthropologist in specialization and has a language and literature background.  He is an environmental activist and a cofounder of the Ethiopian Youth Climate Coalition.  He has been active on climate change issues since 2009. He is currently a member of the Ethiopian delegates to the Global Power Shift Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, June 24-30, 2013.  Tatek has been working with 350.org since 2010 and participated in different campaigns, seminars and forums on climate change in and out of Ethiopia. He is married and has a baby daughter.

Yeabsira Bogale. Yeabsira graduated with a BA degree in Economics from Arba Minch University in 2009 and has been engaged in the civil society sector since then. She has had special interest in nature beginning from her early years and has been able to successfully translate that passion into her professional engagements by taking leadership roles and managing different programs on the area, providing training and facilitating a series of Earth debates as part of the Rio+20  Earth summit and serving as a panelist for drafting the Ethiopian position paper on the summit. She has participated in a number of international workshops as a youth delegate and explored an integrated approach of population, health and environment as a way to achieve sustainable development by applying the gender-mainstreaming strategy of Male Involvement. Currently, Yeabsira works as a Master Facilitator in the Active Citizens Programme of the British Council and as Programme Manager at Youth Network for Sustainable Development Ethiopia, while also serving as a Youth Advisory Chair for the MenEngage Africa Youth Network and as President of Young Volunteers for the Environment, YVE- Ethiopia.

The GPS Ethiopia team is excited to meet everyone and get this powerful climate movement underway!