Eng. Yalelet Fikrie Kassaw

Professional Summary

Ethiopian Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineer and community development professional with multidisciplinary experience connecting engineering, water management, climate resilience, and community-led development. Yalelet Fikrie Kassaw holds an MSc in Hydraulic Engineering and a BSc in Water Supply and Environmental Engineering. His experience spans irrigation infrastructure, water supply engineering, watershed management, hydrological modelling, GIS, WASH, sustainable agriculture, environmental restoration, youth employment, women's economic empowerment, and participatory project implementation in Ethiopia and Rwanda. Through CorpsAfrica, engineering practice, and community leadership initiatives, he has demonstrated the ability to translate technical knowledge into practical development results. His work includes supporting irrigation infrastructure serving 20 hectares of farmland and 50 farming households, mobilizing more than 180 community members, supporting youth-led enterprises, promoting financial inclusion, coordinating large-scale seedling production and environmental restoration, and building partnerships between communities and government institutions. He represents a new generation of African water professionals who combine engineering competence, field leadership, community trust, and a strong commitment to sustainable and inclusive development.

Key Expertise

Major Projects and Contributions

• Irrigation Canal and Diversion Weir Development Project – Southern Ethiopia
  Coordinated and supported the implementation of a community-based irrigation canal and diversion weir system serving approximately 20 hectares of farmland and 50 farming households. The initiative improved access to irrigation water, agricultural productivity, household livelihoods, efficient water management, soil and water conservation, and climate resilience while strengthening community ownership of irrigation infrastructure.
• Youth-Led Agribusiness, Climate Resilience and Sustainable Livelihood Project – Rwanda
  Designed and implemented a community-led agribusiness and livelihood initiative supporting youth employment, women's economic empowerment, and climate resilience. Mobilized 44 rural youth, including 35 women, supported the production of more than 30,000 avocado and coffee seedlings, promoted horticultural production, and contributed to a commercial cabbage initiative involving 51 youth and producing approximately 215 quintals of cabbage.
• Environmental Restoration and Climate Resilience Project – Rwanda
  Implemented community-based climate-smart agriculture and environmental restoration activities. Supported tree nurseries producing more than 25,000 avocado, coffee, eucalyptus, and passion-fruit seedlings, promoted horticulture and sustainable land management, provided technical and material support to 54 households, and facilitated climate-smart agricultural production and community participation in natural resource management.
• Youth Entrepreneurship and Financial Inclusion Project
  Supported 44 youth entrepreneurs through entrepreneurship training, financial literacy, business planning, record keeping, marketing, customer service, mentoring, and business coaching. Helped implement a revolving fund mechanism and organized 183 community members into three Village Savings and Loan Association groups to strengthen savings, financial inclusion, household resilience, and sustainable enterprise development.
• Community-Led Development and Capacity Building – CorpsAfrica Rwanda
  Coordinated community-led development initiatives using the Asset-Based Community Development approach. Conducted participatory rural appraisals, needs assessments, beneficiary identification and verification, stakeholder consultations, community meetings, workshops, and training. Mobilized more than 180 community members and strengthened collaboration among district authorities, local leaders, youth groups, women's representatives, community committees, and beneficiaries.
• Community Development, Irrigation and Climate-Smart Agriculture – CorpsAfrica Ethiopia
  Led participatory planning and community mobilization for development interventions in southern Ethiopia. Conducted baseline surveys, household assessments and beneficiary targeting; coordinated implementation with woreda offices, kebele administrations, extension workers and community leaders; and facilitated capacity building in irrigation management, climate-smart agriculture, watershed management, environmental conservation and livelihood improvement.
• Water Supply Engineering and Hydraulic Network Analysis
  Completed professional engineering experience with Amhara Design and Supervision Works Enterprise, contributing to rural and urban water supply system design and rehabilitation planning, hydraulic analysis and water distribution modelling using WaterCAD and GIS, engineering drawings, technical reports, feasibility studies, field assessments, quantity estimation and technical documentation.
• Watershed Assessment, GIS and SWAT-Based Hydrological Modelling
  Applied watershed assessment, GIS techniques and SWAT-based hydrological modelling to support sustainable soil and water resources management. The work reflects professional interests in watershed restoration, hydrology, soil and water conservation, climate resilience and evidence-based water resources planning.
• Global Youth Leadership and African Development Engagement
  Selected for international leadership and youth-development opportunities including the Global Youth Ambassador network and the Aspire Leaders Program 2026 Cohort. Participated in leadership, communication and professional development activities and engaged with emerging leaders and international networks working on education, youth participation, community development and sustainable development.
• Regional Community Development and Youth Leadership Exchange
  Participated in the 2025 All-Country Conference on Youth Leadership and Community Development in Africa in Nairobi, engaging with practitioners from 11 countries and strengthening experience in project design, stakeholder engagement, systems thinking and community-led development approaches.