ESFNA to go to DC to celebrate its 25th silver Jubiliee,

Message From The President

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate DC area Ethiopians in their winning bid to host our 25th silver anniversary in Washington DC, a city dubbed as “Home away from Home”, by a lot of Ethiopians. Recognizing the magnanimity of our 25th anniversary, ESFNA’s general board members tasked the EC with the duty of making sure our 25th anniversary happened in Washington DC. After ironing out some last minute details, we are proud to announce Washington DC as the host city for our silver jubilee. ESFNA is a non-profit organization that takes its unique role as the provider of a neutral stage where Ethiopians of all walks of life can come together and celebrate our diversity and common heritage. This does not happen by chance. ESFNA makes deliberate decisions to safeguard our neutrality, and makes significant investments to make sure this forum continues to serve the needs of all Ethiopians. When we make such decisions, we count on all Ethiopians from around the globe to understand our role and lend us their support. This year, ESFNA is going to throw a big bash to celebrate our 25th anniversary that has coincided with our millennium celebrations. Our games will be held and the prestigious RFK stadium, former home for the Washington Redskins and current home for DC United. We plan to amaze the nation’s capitol by show casing the best Ethiopians have to offer.
Many dignitaries have been invited for this bash. Come meet them personally and show your Ethiopian pride. The hotel we have reserved is simply astounding. It is a brand new hotel along the National Harbor. ESFNA has negotiated unbelievable rates for such an amazing hotel. After all, it is our 25th anniversary, and nothing but the best will do. Mark your calendars and make the necessary arrangements since this will be a time to remember. We are also compiling various data to commemorate our 25th anniversary. For example, we would like to publish those couples that are married now and met during one of our events. If you would like us to publish your names, please send us your name and where you met to fayami@aol.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
I would also like to announce that ESFNA conducted another one of its peaceful transitions of 5 offices. In true democratic fashion, those EC members whose terms were up this year, Haile Tefera, Kassa Kuma, Tameirat Mamo, Tedla Gessesse and Zecharias Getachew were succeeded by Bisrat Desta, Elias Dimberu, Zewdu Takele, Taye Wogderes and Fassil Abebe. We are proud at the collaboration that is taking place between the incoming and outgoing EC members. The outgoing EC has pledged its support to the incoming EC, and the incoming EC has made it clear to their out going counterparts that they would utilize their experience and plans for 2008 as they think of new ways to take this organization to the next level under their watch.
I would like to thank the outgoing group for their years of service to ESFNA.
Under Haile’s watch, ESFNA’s vendor income has grown in leaps and bounds. All vending business has been conducted in a transparent and professional manner. He has introduced various ideas to increase ESFNA attendance, including partnerships with non-profits and for profit vendors.
Under Kassa’s watch, ESFNA members can rest assured that we are good with the IRS. He has filed our taxes in a timely and professional manner. He has recommended and insisted on better spending trend for ESFNA as a whole. He has audited ESFNA business with no bias and with integrity.
Tame has taken the tournament coordinators job to the next level. Under his watch, I have yet to hear a player complain. He treated everyone equally. Knowing and understanding his integrity, no one even tried to bend the tournament laws and regulations. The discipline committee met very little since he did job great to start with.
Under Tedla’s watch, ESFNA’s finances were in safe hands. As a professional in the field, Tedla made sure he executed his fiduciary duties with the highest degree of professionalism. He kept reminding all of us that we were accountable to the DOJ, and we needed to account for every transaction with proper receipts and contracts. Tedla made the jobs of the finance committee and auditor easy by having available every supporting document for every transaction. He was also in favor of proper board training so that we take advantage of all the benefits afforded to non-profits, as well as the responsibility and accountability of board members that come along with the benefits.
Under Zecharias’s watch, the PR department made tremendous efforts to overhaul our relationship with media outlets. Pretty much all Ethiopian media outlets were a phone call away. He made sure there were timely radio programs, and updates on our website as they were available. He made great strides in making sure ESFNA has the best entertainment during our event. His tireless efforts and energy were exemplary.
I would also like to welcome the new EC members. They are capable individuals and have pledged to work extra hard to make ESFNA 2008 a success given the short amount of time left before our tournament.
Thank you for visiting our site. We look forward to seeing you in Washington DC. If you have any questions or concerns, please drop us a line at info@esfna.org.This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Dawit Agonafer ESFNA, President