Philanthropy
Sophia Bekele’s leadership extends beyond enterprise and policy into long-term social impact. Her philanthropic and social entrepreneurship initiatives focus on education, women’s empowerment, youth development, and inclusive access to digital opportunity—grounded in the belief that sustainable progress is built by investing in people and systems that endure
…Finally, Social Entrepreneurship has always been important to me personally, since I started my entrepreneurship, therefore, we have successfully launched an education program for youth and girls now, which we recently consolidated under a DCA Academy, to provide digital opportunities and empowerment.” –Sophia Bekele, Keynote Address, May 2015, Berkeley HASS School of Business, USA
Miss.Africa Digital Seed Fund
The Miss.Africa Digital Seed Fund, launched in 2015, supports women- and girl-led initiatives across Africa in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Through competitive calls for applications, the fund provides early-stage capital to projects advancing digital inclusion, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
The inaugural awards in 2016 disbursed USD 7,000 across multiple African initiatives. Since then, the program has scaled to reach beneficiaries in nine African countries. The seed fund has now been able to scale the program to over fifteen African Countries. For the full program and regular updates, please visit the Miss.Africa Digital website here Miss.Africa. Digital
Sophia Bekele Scholarship Fund
The Miss.Africa Digital Program is a gender-focused initiative targeted mainly at female youth audiences in Africa to increase their personal involvement in early technology use and adoption with a view to improving their digital self-awareness and empowerment, and bridging the economic divide through employment and/or entrepreneurship.
It is envisioned as one of the central pillars of DotConnectAfrica Trust’s corporate social responsibility program, to attract a sizable women and girls demographic of Internet users in Africa in complementary gender development initiatives that improve the lives through digital inclusion.
The Generation.Africa represents a youth focused program launched by DCA to empower a new generation of Internet users in Africa using its generation.africa theme.
It is intended to target different youth audiences and encourage them to be involved in ICT related skills development and discussions that define and increase their common stake-holding in the development and evolution of the Internet and how this affects them.
Youth Development & Community Sports
As part of her early social entrepreneurship work, Bekele sponsored and supported community-based youth development initiatives, including the formation and sponsorship of a youth soccer team in Addis Ababa.
Over a six-year period, the program provided structured engagement, mentorship, and opportunity—supporting several participants who later progressed to professional clubs in Ethiopia’s senior league.
Rotary & Civic Service
In recognition of her contributions to community development and international service, Bekele was awarded the Rotary Paul Harris Fellow honor in 2005 by Rotary International.
This distinction recognizes individuals whose work advances education, humanitarian service, and global cooperation.
