Tsigie Haile

Country: Ethiopia

Organization: Organization for Women in Self Employment (WISE)

Tsigie Haile is the founder and director of the Organization for Women in Self-Employment (WISE), a local non-governmental organization operating in Ethiopia. Tsigie had her BBA from Addis Ababa University and MBA from the Netherlands. She worked for over 20 years at Addis Ababa University, both in the administrative and academic wings, before joining the development sector.

After leaving the University, she joined ActionAid Ethiopia and served for four years in the capacity of Human Resource Development Manager. While working at ActionAid, she decided to set up WISE and work with poor women and girls.

The Organization Tsigie leads, established in 1997, has served over 100,000 low-income women in support of their efforts to become empowered and improve the quality of their lives. WISE is currently a leading organization in women’s economic empowerment in Ethiopia.

Tsigie serves in many governing boards and committees of different organizations and has received a number of recognitions for her contribution to poverty reduction and women’s empowerment/gender equality in the country.