Zerihoun is the Managing Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA). He is an immigrant from Ethiopia, who is committed to fighting racial, economic, and social inequality. He has worked tirelessly to bridge an alliance between diverse immigrant groups and native-born Americans so that immigration reform is brought to the forefront of the American moral agenda. Zerihoun has diverse professional and academic experiences within nonprofit and for-profit sectors in countries such as Ethiopia, Botswana, Namibia, India and the United States.

He currently serves as a Board member of the Californians for Human Immigrant Rights Leadership Action Fund, as the Board Chair for Black Alliance for Just Immigration, and as a Board member of Casa Libre Shelter/Freedom House (CHRCL). Before coming to CHIRLA, Zerihoun worked in the financial services industries in both Los Angeles and in Africa, where he managed small to medium-scale manufacturing plants and service industries.

Zerihoun is a determined change maker and has helped shape several non-profit organizations in Los Angeles; he is the co-founder of the African Communities Public Health Coalition (African Coalition), the co-founder of the Academia Moderna, a longtime member of Black Immigration Network (BIN) and has served as Vice President of the Virgin Mary Ethiopian Orthodox Cathedral in Los Angeles.

Zerihoun earned his master’s degree in accounting and Cost Accounting from Poona University and his Bachelor Degree in Industrial Management from Shivaji University, both in India. As a social change leader, Zerihoun continually refines and expands his management skills through participation in leadership programs. He is a 2015-2016 Cross movement fellow at Rockwood Leadership Institute.