Members of Trustees

Mr. Theodros Abraham

Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Life Chance. He holds BA in Economics and MA in Development Economics. He comes from a refugee background and has worked in the sector over the last two decades for a wide range of agencies in the public and voluntary sector. He is a founder and Director of Reconnect which is a UK based charity organisation set up to provide one-to-one assessment, guidance, referrals and support on study/career progression for unemployed and underemployed refugees wishing to access further and higher education and employment. Theodros was awarded the Distinguished Sessional Lecturer award ‘in recognition of his outstanding contribution and commitment to teaching and learning’ in the Faculty of Lifelong Learning of Brubeck University of London, where he has been teaching Development Studies since 1986. Theodros brings to Life Chance his rich knowledge, experiences and skills in refugee education, charity governance and insurance of accountability in the sector.

Mrs Mahlet Asrat

Member of Trustees and Treasurer of Life Chances. Mahlet has been working in a position of Management, Supervision and Community Based Personal Needs Assessor for various agencies in the care sector in London.  She has a passion for care and in helping those who find themselves in a vulnerable position due to age, disability and ill-health. Mahlet has an outstanding record in improving and enriching the lives of those vulnerable people she has been supporting. She brings to Life Chance rich experiences and skills in managing care and support for vulnerable people.

Assefa Negash

Member of the Trustees of Life Chances. Lived through refugee experiences Assefa commands a prominent standing among refugees community organisations from the Horn of Africa living in London. He has considerable experiences and skills managing development projects for unaccompanied refugee children in London. He has set up, provided advice, guidance and support for refugee children in West London. Mr Negash is also an entrepreneur with interest and practical skills in developing business enterprises for unemployed refugees.  Assefa brings to Life Chance his particular experiences managing care and support for refugee children.

Founders

Yoseph Ashenafi

Yoseph is one of the founders of life chance. Yoseph has worked as a manager, lecturer and trainer for various companies in the UK. Recently he has been a lecturer and teacher of Python programming, artificial intelligence and machine learning. He also holds a registered manager position for a large social care provider in the UK. He is a qualified teacher, a health and social care practitioner and an IT expert who completed PGCE with an outstanding grade from UCL – Institute of Education and awarded a distinction for his MSC in education and social change and his research work from Birkbeck – University of London. He also holds a BSC in Network information systems and has a Microsoft certification as a database administrator.

Belay Gessesse

Belay Gessesse is a founding member of Life Chance and an Executive Director of the organisation. Belay qualified In Public Health from the Gondar School of Public Health, Ethiopia, Health Sciences from the University of Leeds, and International Community Health with specialisation in Epidemiology from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. He also received various vocational trainings including Management of Refugee Community Organisations and Psychodynamic Counselling from the University of London. Belay has worked at Senior Management and Coordination levels in Public Health and Refugee Services  both in UK and Africa over the last two decades. Belay brings to Life Chance rich knowledge and experiences in the field of public health and refugee sector that have contributed to the inception, development and running of Life Chance.