YESHE Initiative was established by Dr. Sisay Bekele Mersha, DNP, PhD, MBA, ACNP-BC, who immigrated from Ethiopia to the United States more than 25 years ago. He’s an accomplished health system leader and advanced practice provider in cardiovascular disease management as well as a researcher of health behaviors in the immigrant population who saw the need in the immigrant and underserved community, particularly immigrants from East Africa, including Ethiopia and Somalia, to bring awareness on health and healthy life. Subsequently, YESHE became a public charitable nonprofit organization geared towards exploring and addressing Social, Health, and Educational challenges that Ethiopian immigrants face, both here in the United States, back home, and in other parts of the world.

YESHE's goal is to Inspire, Educate and Influence the present and future generations of Ethiopians in Social, Health, and Education opportunities.

YESHE INITIATIVE is a registered nonprofit organization based in Chicago, established under the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Code 501(c)(3) and incorporated under applicable business registration statutes in the State of Illinois.

YESHE's primary goal is to Inspire, Educate, and Influence individuals and Ethiopian communities in the Social, Health, and Education frontiers.

YESHE INITIATIVE works closely with all faith-based organizations to care for their members’ physical, mental, psychological, and social health, besides their primary goal of keeping their members’ spiritual health.

YESHE’s long-term goal is to work with such agencies across the United States, Europe, and Asia, empowering leaders to influence the health of their communities and members positively.