Dr. Gebre talks with current U.S. Fulbright Students after her keynote address at the 2013 Enrichment Seminar in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Dr. Bogalech Gebre, a Fulbright alumna from Ethiopia, has been awarded the King Baudouin African Development Prize in Belgium for her effort “to improve quality of life and empower local communities to take development into their own hands.” Her work to eradicate female genital mutilation in Ethiopia was celebrated for its focus on social change through women’s empowerment and community movements.

Dr. Gebre is the co-founder and executive director of Kembatti Mentti Gezzimma (KMG) Ethiopia. KMG Ethiopia operates across the country, applying its framework for capacity building through community conversation about issues related to women and marginalized communities, even in remote areas of Ethiopia. She was previously awarded the 2005 North-South Prize and the 2007 Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights.

She participated in the Fulbright Visiting Student program in 1975, studying parasitology at the University of Massachusetts.