Fitsum is a 2017 Frontier Social Entrepreneur Fellow at the Archimedes Project. She is a Master in City Planning candidate (2018) in the International Development Group at MIT's Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Prior to MIT, Fitsum completed her undergraduate degree in Architectual Studies with a focus on Environmental Design. At Mount Holyoke College, she did her undergraduate thesis on the intersection between water reuse and urban development in her native Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Fitsum is interested in how environmentally conscious design, community led development, and socially cognizant enterprises can benefit the urban population of developing cities, especially in terms of improving access to basic amenities such as water, sanitation services and housing.