Journalist · Linguist · AI Builder
Telling Ethiopia’s stories for 30 years. Now helping AI think in Amharic.
From co-founding Ethiopia’s first private daily newspaper, to the Voice of America, to an AI-powered newsroom for the Amharic language.
Listen — radio profile
Amharic is a language — and more than a language. It is linguistics. It is news reporting. It is poetry. And now, it is artificial intelligence.
The platform
Now building — Amharic Intelligence
Amharic Intelligence is a human-centered professional platform with one mission: to help AI think in Amharic. Machines help, but humans lead.
- Consultancy for AI firms — model evaluation and AI-readiness advisory for global AI companies and organizations.
- Amharic language services — dataset quality assurance, linguistic review, and human-in-the-loop auditing of AI-translated material.
- Research and education — published research on Amharic AI benchmarking, speech recognition, and data collection, plus a growing learning platform for the Amharic script and language.
The literature
Ledesta
Ledesta is my bilingual literary platform at ledesta.com — essays, poetry, and drama, every piece written first in Amharic, in my own hand, then adapted into English. Daily ስንኞች. Audio productions that give the words voice. Delivered on the web, by newsletter, on the podcast, and on social media.
The publication
Zethiopia
I founded Zethiopia in 2002 as the first Ethiopian diaspora newspaper in the United States — a bilingual English–Amharic publication that grew into the D.C. area’s largest Ethiopian newspaper. Today it is being reborn at zethiopia.com as a digital-first, source-linked news intelligence magazine, led by its signature product: the Zethiopia Briefing — curated, fact-verified coverage of Ethiopia’s development, business, technology, health, and culture.
The gatherings
Events & Galas
Journalism is not only about reporting on a community, but about convening it.
Zethiopia’s anniversary galas became signature evenings for Washington’s Ethiopian American community — honoring high-achieving Ethiopians and convening leaders from government to the Crown Council of Ethiopia.
Voice of America · Eletawi Addis · The Reporter · Zethiopia · ESAT · Television · Photography
Work with me
- Amharic instruction — language and culture, taught with a linguist’s depth.
- English–Amharic translation — 30 years of professional practice across news, documents, and media.
- AI consulting & language services — through Amharic Intelligence: model evaluation, AI-readiness advisory, dataset QA, and human-in-the-loop review.
- Event planning & community outreach — signature gatherings, honoree galas, and diaspora engagement, honed over two decades of Zethiopia’s celebrated evenings.
- Speaking — I have presented at the U.S. Capitol, the Library of Congress, George Washington University, and American University.
Let’s talk.
2derejedesta@gmail.com · Washington, D.C. area