As an experienced development and governance consultant with a deep passion for empowering women and girls, Feben Tamrat sees the immense value of PROJECT-E’s initiatives in Ethiopia.
Feben has spent over three years working with the German development organization, GIZ on a diverse range of issues, from climate change to migration and displacement.
In 2020, she obtained a master’s degree in international relations from Oxford Brookes University in the UK. Upon returning to Ethiopia, she joined the International Foundation for Electoral Systems as a consultant and later, the National Election Board of Ethiopia as a regional field project coordinator.
Throughout her career, she has also worked on a wide range of initiatives empowering youth, particularly young women and girls, to realize their full potential. She states, “I’ve come to be quite affiliated with empowering women.”
Feben joined PROJECT-E as a result of her passion for empowering young women and girls through education initiatives so that they can support themselves and their communities.
While completing her master’s degree in the UK, she had the desire to start an initiative similar to PROJECT-E to help marginalized high school students pursue higher education.
When she first learned about PROJECT-E, she felt an immediate connection. A professional goal of hers is to empower young women and girls through education so they can be “their own providers while also being active citizens – engaged citizens – engaged in the economy and helping everyone around them; their families, friends, and communities.”
The Country Representative’s role was in alignment, as she strives to be a liaison between PROJECT-E’s international team and on-the-ground initiatives in Ethiopia. She is very involved with the Hospitality Institute in Addis Ababa to support women to become their highest selves.
In March, Feben attended the 2022 graduation ceremony and spoke with students about their experiences at the Hospitality Institute, which “called to [her] spirit” because ” PROJECT-E has a good reputation in the industry, so many out of the 17 that graduated, have already been hired.”
She continues, “They will soon begin to earn their own means of living, and seeing that gives me hope that we have been doing good, and then I can also contribute to more than what I’m doing right now to sustain this.”
Feben is extremely ambitious and has many goals for her time as PROJECT-E’s Country Representative. “My short-term goal is to allow PEHI to continue its current course supporting new students.”
She understands the value the project has for the young women as well as Ethiopia as a whole therefore, a long-term goal of hers is to increase the program’s capacity by enrolling more students and broadening the scope of the programs offered at the Institute.
She states, “I want our Institute to enroll deserving young women in greater capacity and add more programs and training besides the hospitality sector, as market demand dictates and what can benefit Ethiopia’s economy in the long run.”
Another long-term goal of hers is to increase the Institute’s number of partners, both within Ethiopia and abroad. “PROJECT-E already has many partners” she says, “but I prefer to also incorporate other partners that are working in hospitality and other sectors, both inside and outside the country, to enhance our students’ and trainers’ potential and knowledge through external exposure.”
Her third and final long-term goal is to incorporate sustainability into Project-E by providing it with access to its own capital in order to expand its reach throughout Ethiopia. She states, “I believe I can take PROJECT-E to the entire population of Ethiopia.”
When asked about a quote she lives by, Feben said, “The best is yet to come.” We, at PROJECT-E are honored to have such a passionate, skillful and inspirational women as our Country Representative and believe that the best truly has yet to come with our initiatives with young women and girls in Ethiopia.
