About the researcher

Marakie Tesfaye Founded the Jegnit Ethiopia Movement to remove obstacles for women and girls in Ethiopia. The Jegnit movement among other projects created the Birqe dignity Kit, Mechot Toilet Finder App and is currently working on Kebelo, a water transportation tool. 

Marakie believes in collaborating. She also loves working with other powerful women that are in the Women Empowerment space. Birqe is a period dignity kit that is ran collaboratively with the founder of the ICare Movement Mahlet Zeleke. Birqe Dignity kit is a bucket with reuseable pads, soap, underwear and other necessary items for girls placed in a bucket and distributed to schools in an effort to keep girls in school for upto 2 years. Preventing them from dropping out due to lack of menstruation hygiene management products. To date Birqe has been distributed to more than 50,000 girls in Ethiopia. 

Marakie Tesfaye is extremely passionate about Sanitation Hygiene Management and to bring the issues of Sanitation to the forefront, she created and co-hosted the Gwadegna TV Program on Kana TV. This program was broadcasted in Ethiopia in 2020 in the Amharic Language and is currently available on Youtube. 

Marakie Tesfaye is a PhD student in Creative Leadership for Innovation and Change at the University of Virgin Islands. Marakie has completed all of her course work for her PhD and is currently working on completing her Dissertation on the topic of Women's Toileting Experience. 

As part of her PhD coursework, Marakie has also taken courses in Creativity, Applied Imagination, and Applied Creative Thinking, which she actively incorporates into her practice.

Marakie Tesfaye has been working in HIV/AIDS awareness for over 10 years. She has led numerous prevention campaigns, including the UNFPA Condomize Campaign and DKT International’s Timret Le Hiwot Safer Life Wise Up campaign in Ethiopia. She is currently serving as a Medical Social Worker at the Grady Hospital Infectious Disease Program in Atlanta, GA.