Ethiopia: A voice for the voiceless

Realising the fact that the digital age has empowered and made ordinary people across the world irrepressible beyond their imagination, Addis Voice aims to serve as a multimedia platform that will spread uncensored news, commentaries and analyses that are unlikely to see daylight in Ethiopia. Since its launch in 2006, the year that saw the closure of 13 newspapers as nearly 20 journalists faced treason charges, we have published thousands of news stories, commentaries, analyses and multimedia content.

In addition to our regular contributors from around the world, Addis Voice has also partnered with Awramba Times, Ze Habesha, Voice Newspaper, Conduit, Apture, Grab Networks and Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia, among others, to deliver reliable and high quality content to our visitors.

Addis Voice Multimedia is an innovative proxy server that circumvents web censorship and a powerhouse of information and multimedia content powered by Conduit.

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Abebe Gellaw: Founding editor of Addis Voice, exiled journalist Abebe was a Knight Journalism Fellow as well as Yahoo International Fellow (2008-09) at Stanford University, California. He was also a visiting scholar at the Hoover Institution (2009-10) and the Centre on Democracy Development and Rule of Law (2010), also at Stanford. He holds BA in Political Science and International Relations from the Addis Ababa University (’95) and studied law at London Metropolitan University ['03]. Earlier this year, he attended executive education programs at Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.

He has worked for various print, radio and online media outlets. He also worked as an ESL lecturer at the College of North East London (UK) from 2000-2008. He has received a few awards and bursaries for his journalistic  including a journalism training bursary at the London-based Reuters Foundation in 1998. He received a Champion for Change Millennium Award (2002) and was subsequently awarded lifetime membership of the Millennium Fellowships in the UK and won a British Telecom Community Connections Award that same year.

Abebe was honored as one of the 2010 Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum and received special commendation at the 2010 Amnesty Media Award in London. His op-eds, stories, articles and interviews appeared in many publications including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Guardian, the Far East Review, Stanford Report and Global Integrity’s “The Corruption Notebooks 2008″, a book focusing on corruption and abuses of power written by leading journalists around the word.

He also created and manages Addis Multimedia Proxy Toolbar that circumvents online censorship and provides multimedia content.

—editor@addisvoice.com —

Dr. Aklog Birara: A seasoned economist and consultant, Dr. Aklog has extensive work experience with international organisations, most notably the World Bank Group, where he held various senior positions for nearly three decades. He was Senior Advisor, Operations Policy and Development Economics Vice Presidential Units, and also served as Senior Advisor on Racial Equality (SARE). Before he immigrated to the US, he served as general manager of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia from 1974-1977. He lectured at Haile Selassie I University (jurisprudence and political economy), the University of the District of Columbia (African history) and Trinity University of Washington DC (Contemporary Africa/Political Economy).

He received his PhD in International affairs and economics (1974) and Masters degree in international law and international economics (1972), both from John Hopkins University. He also attended a few executive programs including courses at Harvard University, MIT and Colombia University.

Dr. Aklog has published numerous articles and authored three books in Amharic and English including the recently published Waves: Endemic Poverty that Globalization Won’t Tackle but Ethiopians Can. —biraraa@yahoo.com—

Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam (Ph.D., J.D.): Teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino. His teaching areas include American constitutional law, civil rights law, judicial process, American and California state governments, and African politics. He has published two volumes on American constitutional law.

He is the Senior Editor of the International Journal of Ethiopian Studies, a leading scholarly journal on Ethiopia. He played a central advocacy role in the passage of H.R. 2003 (Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007) in the House of Representatives in 2007. Prof. Mariam practices in the areas of criminal defense and civil litigation. In 1998, he argued a major case in the California Supreme Court involving the right against self-incrimination in People v. Peevy, 17 Cal. 4th 1184, which helped clarify longstanding Miranda rights issues in criminal procedure in California.

For several years, Prof. Mariam had a weekly public channel public affairs television show in Southern California called “In the Public Interest”. Prof. Mariam writes a weekly blog on Ethiopian and African human rights issues on the Huffington Post and other media outlets. —almariam@gmail.com—

Lulit Mesfin is a political and human rights activist in Portland, OR. She has a B.A. in Political Science from California State University in Los Angeles. Lulit is a very active member of the Ethiopian-American community and believes that the suffering of Ethiopians can only be remedied through fundamental change in the political system that would allow all ethnic groups equal representation in the decision-making process of the country. She served as Secretary of the Ethiopian-American Association of Portland in 2007 where she successfully lobbied the 74th Oregon Legislative Assembly to pass a resolution (SJM 3-A) that urges the President of the United States and Congress to re-examine US foreign policy toward Ethiopia and oppressive regimes.

Lulit served as Senior Editor of Ethiomedia.com from 2006-2008. She also served as treasurer and Board member of the Oregon Ethiopian Community Organization. She, along with other Ethiopians, has successfully lobbied both Congressmen Earl Blumenauer and David Wu (D-OR) to co-sponsor H.R. 2003 the “Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007.” Lulit is dedicated to the promotion of independent media, and support for grassroots community initiatives focusing on pertinent women’s issues. —lulit.mesfin@gmail.com—

Professor Seid Hassen: Editor of the Journal of Business and Public Affairs from 2001 to date, he is professor of Economics at the College of Business and Public Affairs at Murray State University, Kentucky, USA. He worked as a radio news anchorman at the Amharic Section of Egyptian Broadcasting Corporation in Cairo from 1982 to 1984. Professor Seid teaches and researches on wide-ranging subjects including economic development, corruption, global economic issues, international trade, microeconomics as well as budget and trade deficit.

He entered academia as a graduate assistant at Texas Tech University in 1989, where he earned a Masters in economics (‘86). He got his PhD from Texas A&M University (’93). Professor Seid has published in many academic journals and media publications. Widely recognized by Ethiopians across the world for his in-depth research and analyses on corruption and economic crimes in Ethiopia, Professor Seid is passionate about seeking solutions to abject poverty in Ethiopia, which he primary attributes to the misguided policies of tyrannical regimes. —seid.hassan@murraystate.edu—

Yilma Bekele: He is a regular contributor to Addis Voice and other Ethiopian media outlets. He is passionate about issues related to human rights, democracy, justice and freedom of expression. A University of Oregon graduate, he is a building contractor based in Oakland, California, apart from being a prolific writer and passionate pro-democracy campaigner. He is very keen to help the people of Ethiopia make informed decisions and choices through the dissemination of diverse views.

“Agents of darkness have been desperately going over the edges to preserve the status quo and make sure we stay in darkness. With a little nudge from the people, the era of dictatorship and tyranny can surely be over,” he says.

—yilma.bekele@gmail.com—

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Shawel Betru got his PhD in Global Agriculture in 2010 and MSc in Environmental Studies in 2006 from Tokyo University, Japan. He did his undergraduate studies in Forestry Science and taught various courses at colleges. His interests range from watershed management, environmental sustainability to food security. Beside academics, Shawel has special interest in theology and its impact on man’s holistic well-being. He is a strong advocate of freedom of thought and inclusive politics in Ethiopia.