Who We Are

We are an action-taking, life-changing organization.

Over the years, the vision & scope of action of The Echo Foundation, Inc. has evolved. What started out as the E.c.h.o. Ministry (every community helping orphans) in church back in 2008, has grown into an action taking, life changing organization serving children around the world.

Eyerusalem Tesfay

Eyerusalem Tesfay (Jeri) was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Jeri attended primary and secondary school in Addis Ababa and she received her Bachelor’s of Science in Applied Psychology Degree from the University of Gondar.

Since graduation, she has worked in various organizations that worked with vulnerable children. In 2012, she founded the non-profit organization Care for Children’s Life Association. She was the Executive Director and was responsible for the overall management of CCELA projects and maintaining regular liaison relations with donors and the Ethiopian Government. Her education and previous work background that focused on community collaboration, has also led her to hold various leadership roles within her community.

In August of 2016, she made the leap to join The Echo Foundation Inc.’s team as one of the In-Country Co-Directors and to share her non-profit expertise, as well as expand the psychosocial education curriculum she’d developed. Her work ethic and professionalism are outstanding, and her heart and compassion for the children cannot be surpassed. She has been an amazing gift to the foundation and so much of the success is attributed to her organizational skills and know how.

Abadir Seid Fantahun

Abadir arrived to the Kolfe Orphanage in Addis Ababa at the age of 8. He’d lost his biological parents and had been living on the streets naked and neglected by extended family. He spent over a year in a TB hospital and had a very long recovery. As he grew up in the orphanage, he fortunately captured the tender heart of a loving caregiver. He was blessed to have had a consistent encourager throughout his time there. He attended the government’s primary and secondary schools in Addis Ababa. He always focused on the future, despite the pain of his past, and remained positive as best he could. He was always a top student in his classes. After secondary school, he received his Bachelor’s of Art in Sociology from Jimma University and continued his higher education, obtaining a Master’s of Art in Social work from Addis Ababa University. Since his graduation, he worked in various government and non-government organizations, focusing on community development with vulnerable children, and as a social worker. His responsibilities included giving psychosocial support to at-risk, abandoned, and displaced children. He also developed a curriculum to better mentally equip and train the care givers. He also had the pleasure of working as a child reunification expert in the joint project of IOM while he was with UNICEF. His overall responsibility was managing and supervising the child-parent reunification process. As the other In-Country, Co-Director of The Echo Foundation, Inc., his experience in the social and psychological fields has been priceless. That can only be attributed to his personal experience as an orphan that never lost his hope or can-do attitude. Proving that his heart of empathy coupled with his education will always serve the children and organization tremendously.

Amy Braido, Founder

Amy Braido is a proud mother of 5, a graduate of Northern Illinois University, and the Founder and President of The Echo Foundation, Inc. In today’s world, she’s a trailblazer for supporting vulnerable children, orphans, and supporting the development of psychosocial education programs in Ethiopia.

In tandem with her heart of philanthropy, she is also a multi-faceted leader, executive life coach, speaker, podcaster, and soon to be published author.

Adoption and caring for the fatherless has been in her heart since she was eight years old. Though she was fortunate enough to have biological children, she chose to continue to grow her family, adding two more sons through international adoption. Her journey to Ethiopia began. One son was legally adopted, the other had aged out of the system when they met, so she adopted him in her heart, her family financially and emotionally supported him, and he continued on to graduate college and obtain a master’s degree.

Amy wanted to find a way to continue to give back to the world in a bigger way. She had a vision to serve and support the country, culture, and people that raised her sons before she was able to call them her own.

The organization was established in 2008 at her local church, but The Echo Foundation, Inc. began in 2009 as a recognized 501c3 non-profit, to serve orphans and at-risk youth internationally and domestically. Since then, Echo has worn many hats, but since 2016, we have primarily focused on orphans in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In mid 2018, we were able to hire a full-time psychologist and social worker. They both also agreed to manage projects the foundation is working on, as well as tend to the psychological needs of the children. Together, they’ve combined their vision and passion to develop, strategize, and implement an aggressive plan to positively and immediately impact the lives of the children residing at Kebebe Tsehay, Kechene, and Kolfe Orphanages.

Our History

Initially, Echo was formed in order to support some smaller orphan care projects and then we also created a support/fellowship group for the adoption & foster care community within our home church and others in the area. Non-church attendees were also invited and present. It was an amazingly diverse group of people and it served as a great support system for myself and others that shaped their families through adoption, foster care, and biological means.

A generous private donation was also made for the established foundation to grant some adoption scholarships. This was a thrilling experience to help families, but we have since decided to discontinue that program. Rounding out 2009 and 2010, we also partnered with OrphaNetwork with their efforts in Nicaragua. We organized a soccer apparel and shoe collection drive and gathered many kids and adults alike, to hand make Christmas cards for the 200 orphans in their care. Small acts make a large impact and it was a joy to participate.

In 2018, Echo officially hired two full time staff members. We realized we needed people on the ground in order for our efforts to remain effective, facilities to be maintained properly, and remain consistent with the services we offer. Like most things in life, if you are not present and accountable, enthusiasm for change wanes.

Over the years, we have put much of our effort into work in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. With two of my 5 children adopted from Addis, I got to see the great need first hand. My sons were older when they were adopted, (10 and 21) and I found the lack of awareness and development of the older children very unnerving. Developing and nurturing the older children is a necessity that is too often forgotten when we think about caring for orphans or adoption. It’s also unfortunate that once children reach a certain age, they cannot be adopted unless they have younger siblings and they are being adopted together. Currently, it is near impossible to adopt a child from Ethiopia due to some policy and law changes.

So! Let’s make lemons into lemonade! We are still taking action and improving lives from across the globe!