Board Members

It all started with a fur ball called Nikita, a 9-pound dog, a Maltese, who came into my life in 1999.The strong bond I formed with this little innocent creature and the lessons of unconditional love, loyalty, patience, and commitment I learned from his presence in my life have led me down a path of reverence for all life and an intense commitment to protect and fight for those who, for reasons of health , poverty, age, or belonging to a certain species, class, sex, color, or creed, cannot protect themselves.

My first initiation in to the world of compassion and suffering stared in 2003 when I returned to my motherland, Ethiopia. There, I saw babies dying of diseases that were treatable and preventable. I saw animals being needlessly tortured, as they are elsewhere. I saw homeless little children sleeping on concrete. When I returned to the United States, I realized what my mission was in life, and the idea of the Amsale Gessesse Memorial Foundation was born-to be named in memory of my mother who died in 1961.

I was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. My father being a career diplomat, I traveled extensively with my parents to parts of Africa, Europe, and the U.S. when I was a child.

After graduating from St. Joseph’s High School in Addis Ababa, I attended Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, studied medicine in Romania, and did a residency in emergency medicine in Washington, D.C.

I have been a board certified emergency-room physician since 1995, practicing in Houston, Texas.

My extra-professional activities include promoting a vegetarian/vegan diet by giving lectures on the health benefits of veganism, working with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine by writing articles in medical journals, and participating in Go Vegan Texas!, a radio show in Houston and Galveston, Texas, dedicated to promoting veganism and animal protection. I am also involved in rescuing, sheltering and finding homes for abused and homeless dogs.

I currently live in Houston, Texas, with my dogs Nikita, Lucky, Sasha, and Duke.

Coming from a Third World country, I observed that a high crude death rate is a stark indictment of a community or nation’s state of health. That made me aware of and sensitive to the plight of poor people and their lack of health care and preventive medicine. Infant mortality rates, childhood disease, and the spread of communicable disease are rampant in poor communities as a result of uneven distribution of health services, lack of appropriate technology, and inadequate or inappropriate government programs to finance needed services. My concerns about these crucial matters led me to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in allied health with a minor in psychology and then a Master of Science degree in health-care administration.

As long as I remember, effective leadership has been my dream. I am a true believer that one is never given a dream without also being given the power to make it come true. In 1997-98, I was one of just nine fellows selected for the national Association of Community Health Centers leadership program, based on dedication to community service and migrant & homeless health centers. I love people, and I am most content when I am able to interact with others on a daily basis. Possessing a natural fondness for nonhuman animal and understanding that they suffer, too, and that the mistreatment of nonhuman animals is linked to human suffering. I have been a vegan for about four years, and I strive to ensure the wellbeing of my two adopted dogs at the home we share in New York.

For over 17 years, I have evolved to meet the ever-changing health needs of whatever community I serve. Since 2001, I have served as site and managed-care director of the Morris Heights Health Center in the Bronx. My commitment to the Amsale Gessesse Memorial Foundation is to translate skills and knowledge I’ve gained throughout my career to improve and develop equitable, effective strategies that address complex and interrelated health care issues in Ethiopia by planning and developing programs that are responsive to community needs, particularly for medically underserved population. I look forward to forming partnerships with members of the community who can help identify cause of health problems.

I am pleased to be able to take a practical and respectful approach to the healing of body and mind, spanning every age, race, and religion, through my association with the Foundation. The Foundation gives me the opportunity to make a significant difference in the lives of many Ethiopians, as well as to enhance my own intellect, maximizing my ability to serve others.

From a very early age, I have been interested in social justice movements and other organized efforts to remedy suffering and injustice against the oppressed, including nonhuman animals. Since 1989, I have been a practicing ethical vegan, understanding connections between what we eat and the degree to which human beings and other animals enjoy a good quality of life.

My interests and concerns led me to study many ideas in many fields and professions and also may languages-I am proficient in Spanish, French, Gujarati, Hindi, and Classical Sanskrit, in addition to English: to travel throughout the world: and to support organizations fighting for the most oppressed sentient being: I have been a member of , or served on the Boards of, Societe Pour la Defence des Animaux (Society for the Protection of Animals) in Paris, Animal Rights Hawaii, the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii, the Animal Legal Protection Society, In Solidarity With Animals, and the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

Since 2002, I’ve practiced in several areas of law and have taken special interest in civil rights, immigration, and animal law. While in law school, I received the national Warren J. Ferguson Social Justice Essay Prize. And before law school, I was a degree fellow/scholar in residence at the international East-West Center in Honolulu, where I completed my doctorate in philosophy with a concentration in comparative philosophy, especially Indian versus Western thought.

My experience has shown me how desperate is the plight of many of my fellow human beings, so I am glad to have the opportunity to serve the Amsale Gessesse Memorial Foundation as it finds new pathways to justice for impoverished people in Ethiopia and nonhuman animals in that country, who are also severely abused and threatened.

I grew up roaming the hills of Kentucky, where I learned to love the outdoors and wild things. Because of my love of nature, I decided to make a living protecting the environment. I obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in political science from the University of Louisville and then attended Tulane Law School.

As chief of the Environmental Section of the Harris County Attorney’s Office, where I have been employed since 1987, I work to protect the health & wellbeing of Houston residents by filing suit against polluters who violate Texas laws. I have long assisted others in pursuit of similar goals by teaching law-school classes, teaching prosecutors how to enforce state environmental laws, serving on the Houston Bar Association’s Lawyers Against Waste Committee, and co-chairing the Houston Bar Association’s Continuing Legal Education Committee.

I also take a keen interest in animal law, thanks to my deceased Doberman, Ninja who single-pawedly re-arranged my priorities by teaching me the value of an animal’s unconditional love for a human.

I am the proud adopter of four rescued animals; two rabbits-Cotton Candy and Floppy-and two budgies-Lemon Drop and Turquoise. I volunteer for the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, where I work with small mammals. I help the homeless people through my work with the Houston Bar Association Clothing Drive for Homeless & Children, which collects clothes, diapers and toys to give to homeless citizens.

Choosing a life of service in medicine came very naturally for me. At the tender age of four, I already knew I would become a pediatrician. From the beginning, I was fascinated by and loved babies and young children. I was nine when my youngest brother was born, and I delighted in being able to participate in his care. I recall vividly every developmental stage he went through.

After attending the English Community School and graduating from Nazareth High School, I immigrated to the United States to attend college at St. Mary’s in Notre Dame, Indiana, on an academic scholarship offered to an international student. Serving as an interpreter for European OB/GYN physicians in Addis Ababa one summer exposed me to the realities and extreme in adequacies of health care in Ethiopia. I witnessed many poor families traveling for days, only to be told their mother, daughter, sister, or wife had a terminal disease. At the same time, I was able to witness the miracle of birth and the pleasures of helping those less fortunate by providing even the most basic medical/surgical care.

Later, by volunteering at a local hospital in South Bend, Indiana, while attending college, I was amazed by the comparison with my earlier experience in Addis Ababa. In 1992, I began my career in pediatrics after graduating from Indiana University School of Medicine in 1989 and completing my residency at the University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. While working in Annapolis, Maryland, I became child medical examiner and child advocate for Anne Arundel County, serving abused children. I also volunteered as a team physician for a local basketball team.

In 2002, after the birth of my eldest child, I realized I needed to make sure my children grow up aware of and grateful for their privileged life. So I began sponsoring a little Ethiopian boy who lives in Quachabira, Ethiopia. My four year old daughter already knows him and is aware that we are helping him.

Living with my husband and our three young children in Bowie, Maryland, I feel blessed by being a mother and by working in a field that I truly enjoy every day. Being able to share my expertise and extend my compassionate nature and respect for life further by working with the Amsale Gessesse Memorial Foundation pleases me immensely.

From the time I studied medicine at the Higher Institute of Medical Science in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, I thought only of dedicating myself to improving medical care in places in dire need of improvements. I obtained my medical degree in 1988, and after four years in general practice in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, I joined the Addis Ababa University medical faculty and graduated in 1996 as an anesthesiologist.

During my residency at Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa, I identified major problems in the emergency care delivery system and presented my findings and recommendations at the annual medical conference in Addis Ababa in June 1995. While working as an anesthesiologist at the Armed Forces General Hospital in Addis Ababa, I worked to develop comprehensive pre-hospitalization care for the people of Addis Ababa and to improve Emergency Department care at Addis Ababa Hospital.

From 1997 to 2004, I organized and conducted several trainings for health care professionals and pre-hospital-care staff in conjunction with Israel, United States emergency care physicians, and the Addis Ababa Health Bureau. In 2003, I was appointed the first national program officer at the World Health Organization’s Ethiopia office to support violence & injury prevention programs throughout the country. In 2004, I became one of the few members of the international staff selected to join the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), which prepares health care and allied health professionals for public practice to assume key epidemiological and administrative roles in communities.

Having written many academic papers and a history book titled Key Annbesa (2000), I currently work in Atlanta, providing support for emergency & disaster medicine development in Ethiopia. Living with my wife and three young children reminds me every day how important it is for every human being to have the chance for a happy and rewarding life. I am glad the Amsale Gessesse Memorial Foundation shares my concern for the people of Ethiopia and understands the plight of people there who lack crucial care necessary for life’s many opportunities to be meaningful, and I look forward to working with the Foundation to make progress in the coming years.