Board of Directors
Paul Beshah
President
Paul is graduate of the National Defense Academy of India. He also studied computer science and engineering, after which he landed his first job as an entry level engineer.At post graduate level, he received a diploma from the US Naval War College. He is Six Sigma Black Belt certified and excels in problem solving. He is an avid student of Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s teachings of System of Profound Knowledge as well as of Peter Drucker’s methods of “Leadership” and “Management”.
AS an inventor, he has been recognized by successive governors of his home state of Minnesota for outstanding inventions. He is schooled in entrepreneurship, intellectual property and taking ideas from inception to design, development, and full life cycle.
Paul has a great passion for cooking. He is an avid volunteer and uses his cooking skills to prepare exquisite meals for families at the Ronald McDonald House. A fitness enthusiast, Paul has run and completed 100 Marathons. He loves creative writing and is an accomplished poet. In 2020, he ran for a seat in the United States Senate to represent his home state of Minnesota.
Shlomo Berihun
Board Member
Shlomo Berihun was born in Winnia, a village in Gondar, Ethiopia. His Family worked on the land and made a meager living. He credits his parents for instilling in him the dream of one day coming to Jerusalem. Shlomo immigrated to Israel in 1984 when Operation Moses was launched to repatriate Ethiopian Jews from the Gondar area. People went to the Sudan on a perilous journey and the lucky ones were airlifted. Twelve-year-old Shlomo set out without his parents, on a long march where they were robbed and thousands perished along the way. They arrived and spent months in a nasty refugee camp. Later, they were flown directly to Israel.
He studied the Hebrew language, attending religious school after which he entered the Yemini Orde high school near and graduated from there. Shlomo joined the IDF to serve his new nation and spent three years. After his initial assignment to a combat unit, he transferred to a unit dealing with new immigrant soldiers to facilitate their adaptation and assimilation being part of the IDF Education Corps. After the IDF, he enrolled at Haifa University and earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology and human services. He was director of empowerment at Shatil and adviser to national leadership and local NGOs in Israel.
At present, Shlomo is President of the David Foundation. His true passion is to find better ways and means to facilitate the integration of young Israeli Ethiopians into the greater society, so they become not only independent and self-supporting but become contributing members of society.
Dr. Eshetu Kebede
Board Member
Dr. Eshetu Kebede earned his PHD in Food and Bio Engineering from Technion University. Prior to that, he received practical training in product development, food processing and quality
control from STAR spa Institute in Italy. He obtained both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, USA.
Currently he serves as the CEO of Leaders of the Future, a non-profit organization that focuses on academic excellence and leadership supporting Israeli Ethiopian youth and young adults to fostering excellence in education for the large group of Ethiopian Immigrants to Israel. He lectured in Food Sciences and Technology at Tel Hai College, Qriat Shimona, Israel. Prior to that, he was head of stability at QC Lab Taro Pharmaceuticals in Haifa, Israel. He also worked as a research scientist at StePac. Dr, Eshetu, in addition to being a Food Technologist, is also steeped in product development, quality control, statistical analysis and multi-million- dollar project management.
He strongly believes that these children of refugees and immigrants deserve much needed help and is deeply committed to this worthwhile endeavor.
Rabbi Menahem
Board Member
Menahem Kebede was born in Gondar, Ethiopia. He immigrated to Israel in 1984 when operation Moses was launched to repatriate Ethiopian Jews from the Gondar area and Menahem came alone without his parents. Along the way on the trek, they were robbed, and thousands perished. They arrived and spent months in a filthy refugee camp. Later, they were flown directly to Israel.
He studied the Hebrew language, attending religious school after which he entered the Kefar Hasidim high school and graduated from there. Then he joined the IDF as an officer candidate and got his commission. He made the IDF his career, rose in rank and now serves in the reserve units. Twenty members of his immediate family serve in the IDF, which shows a great love of the country, freedom, and true patriotism.
He holds a BA degree in Math and religious studies from Oranim College and an MA from Gordon College majoring in Management. He is an ordained rabbi. Menahem is also a trained paramedic and serves as a volunteer in his Haifa area as a first responder. Menahem has been significant member of Leaders of the Future management for the past 12 years.