Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu is Founder and Managing Director of soleRebels, the world's fastest-growing African footwear brand and first to emerge from a developing nation; it is also the first WFTO Fair Trade-certified footwear company. Through soleRebels, Tihahun Alemu has created hundreds of well-paid jobs in Ethiopia that have not only empowered her community and country, but has presented a dynamic face of African creativity to the global market. She continues to shift the discourse on African development from one of poverty alleviation to one about prosperity creation driven by local Africans maximizing their talents and resources. Tilahun Alemu was the first female African entrepreneur to address the Clinton Global Initiative and was named Outstanding African Business Woman by African Business Awards in 2011. She was listed on Forbes magazine's 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa in 2011 and named one of Africa's Most Successful Women in 2012.