b'SHLOMO BERIHUN Shlomo Berihun was born in 1972 in Winnia, a small village in the Gondar district of Ethiopia. He was one of eleven children, whose parents made a living off the land. As a small child, his parents instilled in him the dream of one day going to Jerusalem. Israel is the place that my parents and ancestors dreamed about, and I was able to make this dream a reality.In 1984, the Israeli government began to organize Operation Moses, evacuating Ethiopian Jews, mainly from the Gondar area, through Sudan and then to Israel. Young Shlomo was 12 years old when he set out without his parents, in the care of his uncle. During the trek, lasting some 25 days, they were robbed and hundreds did not make it, dying along the way. They finally arrived in Sudan, spending months in a dusty and hot refugee camp, and eventually taken to a clandestine landing strip and flown directly to Israel. Arriving in Hofim Youth Village in 1984, Shlomo started his education by learning Hebrew. After spending two years in a religious school near Beer Sheva, he entered the Yemin Orde High School near Haifa, graduating in 1990. Shlomo spent the next three years in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), initially in a combat unit and later dealing with new immigrants in the framework of the IDF Education Corps. Upon finishing his military service, and after studying for a year in a pre-academic preparatory class, Shlomo enrolled at Haifa University and earned his B.A and M.A degrees in Psychology and Human Services. He was on the Deans List annually and was elected to the Student Council. All his work has focused on how best to integrate young Ethiopian immigrants into Israel society, to promote their special interests, and to lobby before local and national governmental bodies. From 2001-2003, Shlomo served as a chairperson of the Tebeca Organization, which advocates on behalf of the Ethiopian community in Israel. He worked from 1998 to 2012 at the Shatil Organization as a Director of the Empowerment Project and adviser to national and local NGOS all over the country. He was also a professional board member.Since 2014 Shlomo has served as the CEO of The David Foundation, whose focus is to support the Ethiopian Israeli community with a special emphasis on youth and young adults. Shlomo is married and the father of three children.'