Meghan is a cultural anthropologist who holds a teaching degree. A former social studies teacher in Madison, WI area high schools for over a decade, her experiences in the classroom emphasized social and racial justice, anthropology, and the diverse and rich cultural practices of our world. Meghan is a strong advocate for social justice and has been instrumental in pioneering high school curriculum focused on identifying and dismantling prejudices and engaging student curiosity about cultures around the globe.

Meghan’s work in social justice now focuses her energy on Roots Ethiopia. Meghan sees herself as a “connector” who works well on the grassroots level, bringing people’s compassionate care for global issues into action.

Meghan lives in Madison with her husband, Mark, who is a physician with a non-profit cooperative. She has three grown children who are avid travelers and adventurers. The ‘biggies’ are adoring brother and sisters to Mark and Meghan’s 2 young sons.

Meghan can be reached at meghan@rootsethiopia.org

Jeanne Marie is an independent consultant with 30+ years of experience in the fields of human factors, learning and cognition, user experience/participatory design, instructional methodologies, organizational strategy, and knowledge management. She has an MSEd from Northwestern University, with a concentration in Organizational Development & Learning.

Prior to building her own consulting practice, she led the Chicago User Research Lab for the eConsultancy, Scient. She helped to establish the knowledge management practice at Hewitt and was a charter member of Hewitt’s Center of Expertise for Global Learning and Development. She was a faculty advisor for Design for America and taught part-time at Northwestern University for ten years in design and organizational change. Jeannie spent the first fourteen years of her career applying collaborative mixed-methods research towards solving problems within publicly and privately held companies. She is passionate about urban education and community-based problem-solving and has been a volunteer and consultant for a number of not-for-profit organizations.

Jeanne can be reached at Jeanne@rootsethiopia.org

Wendy is a Senior Financial Analyst with over 15 years experience in the Non-Profit sector. She earned a BS in Financial Management from Clemson University and an MBA from Wake Forest University.

Wendy has a passion for other cultures and travel. She credits this passion to her experience as an exchange student in high school where she had the opportunity to live as a member of the community. It is Root Ethiopia’s commitment to partner with the local community that appeals most to Wendy.

Wendy can be reached at Wendy@rootsethiopia.org

Born in Addis Ababa, Kongit is an educator with over 17 years of experience working in an urban setting with students and families from diverse cultural backgrounds. Kongit has served as a tutor, teacher, mentor, and for the past decade has coordinated support services for refugee and newcomer students at the District level in the Chicago Public Schools, the third largest school district in the United States.

Her own experiences of acculturation fuel her passion for driving positive social change through advocacy and supportive partners to address inequities in schools; including professional development and family outreach.  Kongit has classroom experience starting in her native country as a kindergarten teacher; as a French and Math teacher in Chicago; and is fluent in French and Amharic.

Before joining Chicago Public Schools, Kongit was Children and Family Program Specialist for the Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago where she developed standards for its program and executed compliance to private and state-funded programming. She also strengthened the program with key partnerships.

Kongit obtained her Bachelor degree in French from the University of Illinois in Chicago including participating in a yearlong study abroad program at the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris. She holds a Master of Arts in Teaching from National Louis University in Chicago and an Illinois Professional Educator License.

Che is serving the Roots Ethiopia team with a special focus on education with cultural expertise. Che grew up in Shinshicho, Southern Ethiopia.  He has a degree from the United States in physics and math. Che has spent many years supporting community work in Ethiopia, both here in the US and during his years as a student in Ethiopia.

He is one of the founders of the Ethiopian Students Organization at Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) and served as a president of Golden Key International Honor’s Society MSUM chapter. Che is passionate about improving the quality of education and creating economic opportunities in Ethiopia.

Che can be reached at Aschalew@rootsethiopia.org

Cami Blumenthal has spent her career in the Human Resources field focused on enabling employee success. She is currently the VP of People at 98point6, a healthcare tech company, where she supports a team that drives talent strategies that help to advance people, organizational, cultural and business objectives. She is passionate about working with leaders and organizations to foster a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion within which employees can grow and thrive. Cami earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley.

In her hometown, Cami started a grassroots Equity & Inclusion Community Group whose mission is to bring impactful change by addressing inequities and building cultural competencies. She also serves on the 100 Women Who Care Committee supporting local non-profits. Cami is unapologetically anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-exploitive. Her passion for meaningful and sustained social justice cuts across all facets of her life.

Cami lives with her husband and four kids near Seattle, Washington. They love to travel and learn about other cultures believing that “travel opens your heart, broadens your mind and fills your life with stories to tell.” – Paula Bendfeldt

Wendi Ailor is the Executive Director for the West Lafayette Schools Education Foundation in Indiana. Before that, Wendi worked in higher education philanthropy for 22 years in a variety of positions at Manchester University and Purdue University. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Elizabethtown College and a Master of Arts in Theology from Bethany Theological Seminary. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Seminary.

Wendi’s husband, Mark, teaches at Purdue University School of Nursing. They have two sons who were born in Ethiopia. As a family, they are active in their local schools, share a love of soccer, and enjoy cheering on the Purdue Boilermakers.

It was Wendi’s eldest son’s desire to support education in Ethiopia that led them to Roots Ethiopia. As a family, they held a fundraiser for Wanja Primary School and a few years later, visited the school on a trip to Ethiopia. The mission of Roots Ethiopia aligns with their family’s goals of supporting education and helping to meet basic human needs. Wendi is excited to support the work of Roots Ethiopia in a more official way.

Mohammed Jemal has 18 years of experience in multi-faceted community development and humanitarian programs, specifically supporting women, youth, and children. Previous organizations where he has served Ethiopian communities include ChildFund International, OXFAM International, and Save the Children International.

Ato Jemal has a Master of Arts in Regional and Local Development and a BA in Sociology and Social Administration from Addis Ababa University.

Desta Boke joined Roots Ethiopia in 2017 as a Program Manager in Addis Ababa after managing monitoring and evaluation activities for the Addis Ababa Bureau of Education.

Desta also has direct experience as a teacher and teacher mentor in secondary schools, and as the Board Secretary for the Misrak Dil Public School Board. He worked with the Kaizen Institute, preparing and conducting professional training in continuous process improvement.

Biruk has a Masters of Arts (MA) degree in Development Management from Hawassa University and a BA degree in Sociology and Social Work. Biruk has previously worked for different international community-based NGOs such as Farm Africa, Inter Aide France, and Holt International.