About Us | RiseUpLijoch

Our Team

Feromi Teressa

Feromi Teressa is a junior at Osbourn Park High School. She is the co-president and founder of Rise Up Lijoch and believes in doing everything in her power to have a positive impact in the lives of Ethiopian children. She wants to help children figure out what they want to be and give them the opportunity to grow their minds. She ensures that our team enables the minds of these young ones and gives them hope for their future.

Melat Beniyam attends Colgan High School as a junior and loves offering service to her community by volunteering regularly and supporting several nonprofit organizations. As co-president, she has the opportunity to lead Rise Up Lijoch’s public involvement, interact with community members to gain support for our cause, and ensure the success of our fundraisers and outreach. In her experience with Rise Up Lijoch, she feels has gained valuable leadership experience along with with a profound understanding of the persistent problem of educational access in developing nations. She plans to continue her dedication to advocating for educational opportunities in Ethiopia for years to come.

Yerosan Teressa

Haran Gashaw is a junior at Osbourn Park High School and Rise Up Lijoch's vice president. Living in America all her life, she was unaware of the educational advantages she has. Only recently did Haran realize how much schools in Ethiopia were struggling. Being on the Rise Up Lijoch team has allowed her to understand and address these disparities. She dreams about making a significant difference in the lives of young learners and guiding them to a future of hope.

Sifen is a senior at Osbourn Park High School and secretary of Rise Up Lijoch. Sifen was born in Ethiopia and immigrated to America with her family at 7 years old in 2014. Because she spent her childhood in Ethiopia, Sifen has a strong connection to the people and traditions of her motherland. Rise Up Lijoch is very important to her because she saw the underprivileged students in Ethiopia firsthand and always wanted to be a part of the solution to inadequate education in Ethiopia. She believes education is a major part of life and feels blessed to be part of a team that will allow her to reach her goal of helping poor children in Ethiopia receive the resources that she has now.

Abigail Butru

Yerosan Teressa attends Osbourn Park High School as a sophomore and is treasurer of Rise Up Lijoch. She immigrated to America from Ethiopia at the age of 6. Yerosan wanted to join this organization because she knows that many children lack quality education in Ethiopia because of few supplies and little financial support. She is excited to work with the Rise Up Lijoch team to help those in need in Ethiopia.

Haran Gashaw

Sifen Wordofa

Abigail Butru, a junior at Osbourn Park High School, is one of Rise Up Lijoch's co-communications managers. Her passion for humanitarian efforts and education is what led her to joining Rise Up Lijoch. Her experiences in Ethiopia opened her eyes to the lack of proper education for children there. She hopes to inspire the dreams of Ethiopian children without the proper resources and help them achieve their goals.

Kaleb is a junior at Woodbridge Senior High School. He immigrated to America at 1 years old and eventually developed a passion for school and math. Kaleb is the fundraising manager of Rise Up Lijoch, and hopes to help Ethiopian children explore their personal interests and give them the same opportunities that he is grateful to have.

Feven Tamiru is a senior at Osbourn Park High School. Although she was not born in Ethiopia, Feven has a strong bond with her people---she was very excited to visit for the first time in the summer of 2022. Feven works alongside Abby as co-communications manager of Rise Up Lijoch, and is proud to be in this organization because she wants to be able to help the students in Ethiopia and provide what they need in order to learn.