Yordanos Eyoel of Keseb on Democracy Entrepreneurship

And, um, uh, I like how on the, uh, the website of your organization you describe yourself as an Ethiopian American democracy entrepreneur, and we're gonna link to the show notes to a great TED Talk, uh, that you gave that, that unpacks this a bit.

But let's, let's, let's do some of that here.

Uh, tell us a bit how the experience of, of, of coming to the United States with your family as an immigrant, uh, from Ethiopia has kind of served to, to form your, your work as a, as a leader in the democracy space today.

It's, it's a great question because I think every story has, uh, an origin story of, uh, something that shapes us, uh, often from our childhood.

And for me, it was what I experienced both in my early childhood, uh, growing up in a post-conflict, uh, Ethiopia.

I was born during the, the longest civil war in Ethiopia, and, um, experienced the Ethiopia's transition into an ethnic federation soon after that.

Um, and subsequently, my, uh, mother was, uh, forced to flee Ethiopia seeking political refuge, which is what brought her to the US.

And then, um, and when I was a teenager, I, I followed her and, and joined my family here in, in the US.

And so all of those early experiences really shaped my worldview in terms of what is required to build a peaceful, cohesive, inclusive society, um, particularly as someone who is multi-ethnic in the Ethiopian context, and try to navigate that even in elementary school, try not to get bullied.

Uh, and, uh, and so even though I didn't have language for it in terms of democracy or civil society or civic space or [laughs] freedom of expression-

Mm-hmm

... all of these things, uh, I knew that it was something that I desired on a personal level, um, even as a child.

And, and so when, once I came to the US and had...

You know, went to college and, and, and grad school, it's what I decided to focus on in terms of my studies, uh, majoring in political science and later in public policy, and that ultimately led me to a career in, um, in social entrepreneurship and, and venture philanthropy, which is how you and I met.

And all of those experiences ultimately, I think, really shaped how I think about, um, this project of democracy and, and civil society's contribution specifically to advancing the type of inclusive, resilient democracy that my organization, Qaseb, hopes to advance.

Excellent.