Project Directors
Heather Aldersey
Assistant Professor and Queen’s National Scholar – School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen’s University, Canada
Interim Director – International Centre for the Advancement of Community Based Rehabilitation (ICACBR), Queen’s University, Canada
Team Role:
Project Co-Director for the Mastercard Foundation Research and Queen’s Graduate Programs, Queen’s University, Canada
Education:
- BA (International Studies/French); MS (Special Education);
- PhD (Interdisciplinary Studies)
Experience:
Dr. Aldersey’s research program focuses on the social construction of disability across cultures, support for people with disabilities and their families, public policy, family innovation, and family quality of life. Within this program, she has particularly focused on experiences of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families in African contexts.
The ultimate goal of Dr. Aldersey’s scholarship is to draw upon local strengths and capabilities to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities and their families globally.
Dr. Aldersey is the Interim Director of the International Centre for the Advancement of Community Based Rehabilitation (ICACBR) at Queen’s University and, prior to the Ethiopia project, has worked with families and people with disabilities in Bangladesh, Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Tanzania.
Contact information:
Email: hma@queensu.ca
Telephone: 1-613-533-6088
Solomon Mekonnen 
Director, Community-based Rehabilitation, University of Gondar
Co-Director, Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program,University of Gondar, Ethiopia
Team Role:
Project Co-Director for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, University of Gondar, Ethiopia
Education:
- PhD, Public Health Clinical Epidemiology, University of Gondar, Ethiopia
- Master’s Degree, Exercise Physiology, Punjabi University Faculty of Medicine, India
Experience:
Dr. Solomon is an Associate Professor of Nutrition in the Institute of Public Health at University of Gondar, and has also served as the Coordinator of Non-Communicable Diseases Treatment and Research Center at the university. Dr. Solomon has many years of experience at the University of Gondar as Associate Registrar, Dean of Students and Continuing Education Coordinator for the Gondar College of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Contact information:
Email: solomekonnen@yahoo.com | mehanahusat@gmail.com
Telephone: +251 914 735 748
Project Managers
Anushka Joseph
Team Role:
Project Manager for the Mastercard Foundation Research and Queen’s Graduate Programs, Queen’s University, Canada
Education:
- Hons. B Sc. (Life Sciences)
- MSc. (Occupational Therapy)
Experience:
Ms. Joseph is an Occupational Therapist with 10 years of clinical experience working with all age groups in community health settings. She has worked with adults with addiction issues in both inpatient and outpatient settings, and developed a program for individuals with workplace injuries who have chronic pain leading to high opioid use. She also helped develop and implement a program to support Ontario Pharmacy College registrants who require support for mental health and addiction issues.
Prior to her current role with Queen’s University’s International Centre for the Advancement of Community Based Rehabilitation (ICACBR) as the Mastercard Foundation Ethiopia Project Co-Manager, Ms. Joseph has worked to build occupational therapy programs in Ethiopia at the Amanual Hospital through the Toronto Addis Ababa Academic Collaboration.
Contact information:
Email: aj74@queensu.ca
Mikyas Abera
Team Role:
Program Manager, Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, University of Gondar
Education:
- BA, Sociology and Social Administration, Addis Ababa University
- MA, Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University
- PhD, Sociology, Addis Ababa University
Experience:
Dr. Mikyas Abera is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Gondär where he serves under different capacities in teaching, research, community service and leadership. He teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses, supervises senior essays and theses, and has served as the Chair of Department (Sociology; 2007-2009) and School (Sociology and Social Work; 2015-2016). He conducts researches on psychosocial rehabilitation, higher education, urbanization and traditional harmful practices; and, designs and implements projects to promote educational opportunities for disadvantaged youth, improve sexual and reproductive health behaviors, etc.
Since November 2016, Dr Mikyas Abera has served as a Program Manager for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at the University of Gondar, and is responsible for planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the projects, as well as communications, reporting.
Contact information:
Email: mikidar2011@gmail.com
Solomon Fasika Demissie
Team Role:
Project Manager for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, University of Gondar, Ethiopia
Education:
- MSc, Physiotherapy, University of Gondar.
Experience:
Mr. Solomon joined the University of Gondar, College of Medicine and Health Sciences in 2008, first as a lecturer and the Head of the Physiotherapy department and then as the Community Based Rehabilitation Project Manager.
Contact information:
Email: sfsolaesta559@gmail.com
Cell Phone: +251 913 706770
Coordinators / Consultants
Dr. Nebiyu Mesfin (MD, PCCM) 
Team Role:
Occupational Therapy Program Coordinator, Mastercard foundation Scholars Program, University of Gondar
Education:
- MD (Doctor of Medicine)
- CSIM (Certificate of Specialty in Internal Medicine)
- PCCM (Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine)
Experience:
Dr. Nebiyu Mesfin is consultant in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at University of Gondar Hospital. He is also associate professor of medicine at the department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine; University of Gondar. He has successfully launched and coordinated a nationally new M.Sc.-level postgraduate program in “Clinical Tropical Infectious Disease and HIV Medicine” which was implemented in collaboration with the Global Health department of University of Washington (I-TECH-Ethiopia).
Dr. Nebiyu is currently responsible for various activities related to Occupational Therapy including: sensitization and awareness creation workshops, facilitating the application and selection process of candidates, planning and implementing need assessment, curriculum development and curriculum revision.
Contact Information:
Email: hakimulig@gmail.com
Cell Phone: +251911743852 OR +251926042997
Website: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nebiyu_Gedlu
Adina Demessie Bogale
Team Role:
Undergraduate Scholars’ Coordinator, The Mastercard Scholars Program, University of Gondar
Education:
- BA, Public Health, University of Gondar
- MA, Public Health in Health Informatics, University of Gondar
Experience:
Mrs, Adina Demessie joined the University of Gondar, College of Medicine and Health Sciences in 2015, first as a lecturer and Head of the Health Informatics department and then as Undergraduate Scholars’ Coordinator for the Mastercard Scholars Program. Previously she worked as a gender officer and Coordinator of the Registrar at Teda Health Science College.
Mrs. Demessie serves as the Undergraduate Scholars’ Coordinator for the Mastercard Scholars Program at the University of Gondar. She is responsible for the management of undergraduate scholar’s issues, including preparing and implementing plans, providing support services and following scholars’ performance.
Contact Information:
Email: adinabogale@gmail.com
Cell Phone: +251 918786962
Adugna Abebe
Team Role:
Faculty Development Coordinator, Mastercard Foundation STREET project, University of Gondar.
Education:
- BA, Psychology, Addis Ababa University
- MA, Social Psychology, Addis Ababa University
- PhD, Social Work and Social Development, Addis Ababa University
Experience:
Dr. Adugna Abebe has served as Coordinator for the Community Service office of the College of Social Sciences and Humanities, as well as Chairperson for department of Psychology at University of Gondar. His areas of expertise include child and youth development, grief and bereavement, and substance abuse.
In his role as Faculty Development Coordinator, Dr. Abebe is responsible for coordinating the PhD Scholarship Program, including preparing, implementing, and following up on scholarship announcements, selection and recruitment, admission and performance. He also manages support services and oversees scholars’ performance.
Contact information:
Email: adugna78@gmail.com
Fana Kinfe
Team Role: 
Experiential Learning Coordinator, Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, University of Gondar
Education:
- BA, Economics, Bahirdar University
- MA, Leadership and Good Governance, Ethiopian Civil Service University
Experience:
Mrs. Fana Kinfe joined university of Gondar as Experiential Learning Coordinator for the Mastercard foundation scholars program. Previously she worked as senior consultant in Ethiopian Management Institute and has served as Trainer, Researcher and Consultant (2014-2018).
Since February 2018, Mrs. Fana serves as Experiential Learning Coordinator for the Mastercard foundation scholars program at University of Gondar. She is responsible for providing coordination and management of the CBR experiential learning for undergraduate scholarship program. Managing the CBR experiential learning and collaborating and communicating with appropriate bodies.
Contact Information:
Email:fanikins@gmail.com
Cell Phone: +251 918719536
Jasmine Montagnese 
Team Role: OT Program Coordinator, Mastercard Foundation Project, Queen’s University, Canada
Her duties include supporting Ethiopia OT students and OT faculty to enable success, supporting the logistics related to all of the Ethiopian OT clinical and community development placements in Africa, and coordinating the OT curriculum development efforts for the University of Gondar Undergraduate program. She will also be collaborating closely with the Ethiopia OT Coordinator, as well as with the OT curriculum development team.
Education:
• Hons. BA. (Psychology & French Studies)
• MSc. (Occupational Therapy)
Experience: Ms. Montagnese is a recent Queen’s University graduate of the Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (MScOT) program, a registered occupational therapist and has employment experience delivering consultative occupational therapy services to children in School Health in the Kingston area. As part of her MScOT, she completed an international fieldwork placement in Southern India at Amar Seva Sangam, contributing to the Village Based Rehabilitation program, outpatient stroke rehabilitation services and inpatient spinal cord injury services. Prior to her MScOT, Ms. Montagnese volunteered in Bali Indonesia teaching English to local kindergarten students and completed a spring semester at the Bader International Study Centre in England. Ms. Montagnese is passionate about cultural competency in the occupational therapy profession and advancing the vision of occupational therapy globally.
Contact information:
Email: jam42@queensu.ca
Ndinda Msiska
Team Role:
Student and Faculty Liaison
Education:
BA (French)
Experience:
Ndinda brings more than a decade of experience in: customer service, program coordination and social service in both corporate and non-profit settings. In her most recent role, she supported youth who were: new immigrants to Canada, first-generation post-secondary students or living with addictions and/or mental health issues in navigating educational, health care, social service and justice systems.
As the Student & Faculty Liaison, Ms Msiska supports students, faculty and the Mastercard Project Leadership team. She assists UoG applicants and enrolled Mastercard Foundation scholarship recipients at Queen’s University in navigating the application process and the Queen’s University academic experience respectively. She also provides support to the Collaborative Research selection process.
Contact information:
Email : nmm2@queensu.ca
Phebe Palmer
Team Role – Financial Coordinator for the MasterCard Foundation Project, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario
Education – Business Administration Diploma, MAFP certificate
Experience – Phebe has been at Queen’s for over 5 years and worked in the Financial Services Department in her previous role.
Her role included working in Financial Reporting, General Accounting and Research Accounting where she gained experience in all aspects of accounting including financial statement and budget preparation & account reconciliations as well as knowledge of the various accounting systems at Queen’s including PeopleSoft, Fast, acQuire and ERS.
Phebe interacted with various departments across campus as well as students and Research PI’s and their assistants.
In her current role she looks forward to working with the University of Gondar team as well as supporting the students at Queen’s and working with the MasterCard Foundation Team.
Contact Information: palmerp@queensu.ca
TEWODROS TAREKEGN
Team Role – Scholars Affairs Officer, MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program, University of Gondar
Education – BA- Economics, University of Gondar
Experience –
Contact Information:
Email: tedihailu@gmail.com
Cell Phone + 251-918-77-46-44
Team Role:
Communication & Learning Coordinator at the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, University of Gondar, Ethiopia
- BA, English Language and Literature, University of Maryland, College Park (USA)
- MSc, Applied Linguistics & Communication, University of Gondar (Ethiopia)
Experience:
Mr. Samuel Malede joined the University of Gondar as a Communications Officer at the Public and International Relations Directorate. Before that he worked as a writer and editor for Lincoln University which is located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As the main International corespondent for the University of Gondar his role is to progress the relationship with outside partners and to create a smooth mode of communication which is healthy for all parties. Being originally from Washington D.C his diverse background allows him to function as a medium and spokesperson for his institution.
His unique idea for modern day communication strategies has allowed him to forge partnerships with international intellectuals and institutions. He currently coordinates the Ambassadors Distinguished Scholars Program at UoG ( which brings world class Professors to the University every year in coordination with the US Embassy and IIE), has created links with Prestigious Universities (University of Cincinnati, Montgomery College etc) and coordinates all International Affairs in the Presidents Office.
Contact information:
Email: szewdu@umd.edu
Cell Phone: +251 929 011647
Yifokir Tefera
Team Role
Project Management Consultant for the MCF Scholars Program at the University of Gondar
Education
- In Environmental Health Science, Jimma University
- In Occupational Health and Safety, Loughborough University, UK
Experience
Yifokire Tefera is an adjunct staff and assistant professor to the University of Gondar. He is one of the founder of the MasterCard Foundation Scholar Program starting from inception, development and program inauguration. He has served as vice dean of the College, dean of students, delegate vice president of Business administration at UoG, president of the National Occupational Health and Safety Professionals Association and president of Gondar Fasiledes Rotary club. He has been participated in different project activities; EFACE (Ethiopian Fighting Against Child Exploitation), E4Y (Engaged, Educated, Empowered, Ethiopian Youth) in collaboration with World Vision Ethiopia, Advanced nursing training program in collaboration to Leicester University funded by Nuffield Foundation’s Africa Program, the Bloomberg Philanthropy Global Road Safety Initiative of Addis Ababa city and ILO resource person for Occupational health and Safety capacity building. He is very passionate to work on health and safety, disability and developmental programs.
Yifokire is a Project Management Consultant to the MCF Scholars program and responsible to support and advice program managers for the successful implementation of project objective.
Contact information
Email: yifoomitu@yahoo.com Tel:+251913754082
