Gete Yewondwossen

Ethiopian education pioneer who established schools for marginalized girls in rural areas

Gete Yewondwossen (b.1968) is a visionary educator from Ethiopia who transformed access to education for girls in remote regions. In 1989, she founded the Ethiopian Girls' Educational Initiative after witnessing extreme gender disparities during her teaching career. Her innovative mobile schoolhouse concept used converted buses to bring classrooms directly to nomadic communities, reaching over 15,000 students by 2000.

Yewondwossen pioneered indigenous language instruction methods, developing curricula in Oromo and Amharic that doubled literacy rates in target areas. Her 1995 report Breaking the Chains: Gender Equity in Rural Education became a UNICEF reference document. In 1998, she established the first girls-only boarding school in the Gambela region, which now serves as a model for UNESCO's Rural Education Framework.

Her advocacy led to Ethiopia's 1997 Education Proclamation requiring girls' enrollment parity. Yewondwossen's work has been featured in BBC documentaries and inspired similar programs across East Africa. She remains a vocal advocate for STEM education for girls, recently launching the Tech Futures Initiative in 2022.