Sophia Bekele Eshete is a widely acknowledged business leader, corporate executive, and international entrepreneur whose wide-ranging experience spans both the public and private sectors. She is a thought leader in global policy, corporate governance, technology, development issues, and an investor and a philanthropist. Bekele is the CEO of DotConnectAfrica (DCA) Group, a pan-Africanorganization that assists companies in their digital transformation. Its highly acclaimed and pioneering womenin-tech social empowerment program has currently impacted 12 African countries. She also serves as Chair of GEDA, a Kenyabased Investment company focusing on the strategic sectors of Africa’s economy currently vested in - Technology, Financial, Media, and Realty. Early in her career as a Corporate Executive, Bekele worked for different Fortune 500 companies, notably Bank of America, Mitsubishi Bank of California, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, in Business and Technology, Systems Security, Risk Management & Enterprise systems. She has continued to draw on this background in her current professional engagements. Bekele is a strong advocate of accountability and transparency in her engagements & holds public authorities and the private sector to such high standards. As an Entrepreneur and CEO, Bekele has founded and run international start-ups and launched early-stage US companies into new markets. In coordination with local companies she sets up, her US-based tech company, CBSegroup, formerly CBS International is known for its impact of technology transfer to Africa, implementing successful large-scale network infrastructure projects for governments, including the African Union and Ethiopian Parliament, and pioneering the domain business in Ethiopia. CBS has been engaged in corporate governance, venture capital, and business modeling activities and had Clients like Intel, Fed Reserve, Genentech, and other Start-ups in Silicon Valley in the U.S. Bekele has served on various national and international senior-level policy advisory & leadership boards, including multiple United Nations bodies, as UNECA, UNITU, UNGAID, and the global internet regulator ICANN, where her work has influenced the formation of key African and Global organizations that made significant impact on the implementation of important public policies on technology and global internet governance. She has also performed high-level public engagements and policy advocacy at US Congress. She has served on Education Boards and public policy think tanks and forums in the US and Europe. Bekele is often invited to speak at international conferences, deliver keynote speeches, and moderate high-level panels. She is a published writer and commentator and uses her social media platforms for inspirational talks on “Conversations that Matter,” affecting the general public. Bekele holds an MBA in Management of Information Systems (MIS) from Golden Gate University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Analysis & Computer Systems (BACS) from San Francisco State University. She holds various professional certifications in IT control compliance, legal and governance of Enterprise Systems: CISA, CCS, and CGEIT. Sophia was dubbed 2021 Women of Influence Honoree, by Silicon Valley Business Journal, which celebrates women for their outstanding achievements in their industry and community. Her Miss.Africa Digital seedfund award program earned her Africa Link’s “Champion of Development” 2018 Solidarity Awards in Switzerland. In 2017 this same program was named a finalist at the United Nations/ITU Equals in Tech Awards. CIO East Africa in2017namedher “Industry Trailblazer” and “Internet Governance Pioneer.” In 2013, she was enumerated as one of the “Two Leading ladies” in Africa’s ICT sector and “African Women to Watch” by Bloomberg TV, recognizing “most fearless, competitive and visionary women of our time, the women working hard to close the gender gap and shaping the continent’s social, political and economic landscape.” That year, UK’s New African Magazine also named her as one of “50 African Trailblazers – a Future Made in Africa” for her various accomplishments, including her wildly acclaimed and successful 6-year Yes2DotAfrica multi- lingual global awareness campaign for the “.africa” Internet domain name, which as a result held a position of top 50 most attractive from among 1930 new global generic top-level domains by industry agency, also earning her a title “brains behind .africa’, by African media. About Sophia Bekele Eshete www. ceotodaymagaine . com CEO Today Af r i ca Award s 2021 - Kenya - SophiaBekele Eshete Founder and CEO of DotConnectAfrica Group www.dotconnectafrica.com “ The downturn has pushed the technology tipping point – digitization is the reset for growth - for the next normal for both business and industry levels.
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