Alfa Demmellash CEO/Co-founder
Alfa Melesse Demmellash is the CEO and Co-Founder of Rising Tide Capital, a nonprofit that provides underserved entrepreneurs with resources to launch and grow businesses. Since 2005, its Community Business Academy has trained over 10,000 entrepreneurs in New Jersey and 15 other states through 18 local partners, through the formation of The Rising Tide Network, with more in development. With an 81% five-year survival rate (compared to 50% nationally) and a 5:1 return on investment, RTC expands economic opportunity for underestimated entrepreneurs, over 70% of whom are women and single mothers.
Born and raised in Ethiopia, Alfa graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 2003, majoring in Government with a focus on post-conflict societies. Her studies took her to Rwanda, where she saw firsthand how economic poverty and disparity fuels conflict, leading her to shift her focus to economic empowerment and inclusive entrepreneurship as a strategy for building peaceful societies.
She is also the Co-Founder of Future Tide Partners, equipping cross-sector leaders to shift capital, policy, and culture toward an inclusive, flourishing future economy. A World Economic Forum Young Global Leader (2015), Alfa has been featured in CNN, O Magazine, Essence, Bloomberg, Inc., BusinessWeek, and Entrepreneur . She holds honorary doctorates from Saint Peter’s University and New Jersey City University, has been recognized by President Barack Obama, and received the 25th Heinz Award for Technology, Economy & Employment. Named a CNN Hero and Forbes’ Most Powerful Women Changing the World, she recently served as a Commissioner on New Jersey’s Future of Work Task Force and as a board member of the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund.
Alfa lives with her husband and two children and serves as Board Co-Chair of Hawthorne Valley Association, a 900-acre biodynamic farm, K-12 school, and ecological enterprise hub fostering a regenerative economy.
