“A career built across worlds.”
MERBEBNA is Michael’s living professional archive — documenting the work, systems, ideas, accomplishments, and original materials behind a career spanning international development, finance, public service, and technology.
Michael Araya Etbarekh
“Across every chapter of my career, one question has stayed with me: How can people and organizations work better?”
MERBEBNA — a living professional archive
Michael’s career has crossed international development, humanitarian communication, United Nations operations, accounting, financial services, higher education, Minnesota state government, and technology — industries and institutions that, on paper, look unrelated. In practice, they are one continuous story.
Each chapter has asked a version of the same question: how do people, information, money, and organizations actually work — and how can that work be made clearer, more accountable, and more effective? Communicating a country office’s work to the world, reconciling a general ledger, documenting a person-centered care plan, or architecting a software platform are, underneath, the same discipline applied to different material.
MERBEBNA exists to hold that story together in one place, with the original evidence — publications, records, and documents — preserved alongside it.
Michael Araya Etbarekh is an international development, accounting, public administration, and technology professional whose career has crossed institutions and industries while remaining centered on understanding complex systems and making them work better.
Michael served as an Information Associate with the United Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI), assigned to the UNDP Country Office in Eritrea. The work sat at the intersection of humanitarian communication, development communication, media relations, and government liaison — building the country office’s public voice during a period that included active conflict, a fragile peace, and post-conflict recovery.
His responsibilities spanned stakeholder engagement across government ministries, UN agencies, and NGOs; coordination of executive missions; public information and press releases; and support for major publication launches tied to the Human Development Report, the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), and the Millennium Development Goals. He also supported UN observances, journalist field visits, and media briefings as part of the country office’s public-awareness work.
Michael subsequently built a substantial accounting career across three very different environments: Segen Construction Company in Asmara, the University of Minnesota, and Wells Fargo Insurance. Across these roles he worked in financial reporting, general ledger management, bank and account reconciliations, budgeting, cost accounting, internal controls, accounts payable/receivable, payroll, audit preparation, and enterprise financial systems including PeopleSoft and JD Edwards.
Michael spent more than fifteen years in Minnesota state government — with the Department of Human Services / MSOCS — in a highly regulated service environment. The work demanded rigorous documentation, confidentiality, regulatory compliance, crisis response, multidisciplinary coordination, incident reporting, person-centered support, and consistent operational accountability across a large public-sector system.
Today these experiences converge in WEGN. As Founder and Product Owner, Michael directs product strategy, business workflow design, platform architecture, governance, documentation standards, long-term roadmap, and AI-assisted product development for a multi-product SaaS platform serving growing businesses.
Each accomplishment below is described according to the documented historical record — distinguishing what Michael authored from what he edited, produced, or helped disseminate in his UN information role.
During renewed Eritrea–Ethiopia fighting, approximately 1.1 million people were displaced. Michael documented the unfolding humanitarian situation, secured UNDP Country Office approval, and helped transmit the story through UNDPI channels to increase international awareness.
Information role · UNDPIMichael helped produce and edit the UNDP Eritrea Country Office’s quarterly newsletter. Preserved archive issues include November 2002 and February 2003, evidencing his editorial involvement and a bylined feature article.
Edited / producedA bylined feature article by Michael Araya, published in UNDP Now (November 2002), documenting post-war recovery in the Om-Hajer border region — an important piece of original professional writing.
Communications and public-information support for the Human Development Report, the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) launch, and Millennium Development Goals publication launches and public-awareness initiatives.
Information & public-awareness supportSupported information dissemination for senior UN visits and missions, including a peace-agreement statement by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and engagement tied to visits from UNICEF, WFP, FAO, and UNIDO leadership.
Preserved dissemination recordBuilt cross-sector financial-management experience across construction (Segen), higher education (University of Minnesota), and financial services (Wells Fargo Insurance) — from general ledger to enterprise reporting.
Professional experienceMore than fifteen years of Minnesota state-government service requiring regulatory discipline, documentation, confidentiality, operational consistency, and person-centered service delivery.
Professional experienceCreation and ongoing development of the WEGN ecosystem — WEGN Store, WEGN Restaurants, WEGN Appointments, and WEGN Store Academy — as the current technology chapter of Michael’s career.
Current chapterTechnology founder and finance-trained business strategist with over two decades converting complex organizational challenges into working systems — from communications and stakeholder engagement for the United Nations Development Programme in the Horn of Africa, to financial-control functions inside Fortune 500 and public-sector institutions in the United States, to founding and building WEGN, a multi-product SaaS platform. Combines hands-on accounting and enterprise-systems discipline with product strategy, AI-assisted software delivery, and executive-level stakeholder management.
Founded and directs product strategy and platform architecture for a unified SaaS platform giving growing businesses across Ethiopia and Africa practical, connected software for commerce, restaurant operations, and appointment-based services. Owns architecture, security boundaries, pricing, and market positioning, using AI-assisted engineering to move from concept to shipped product at founder speed.
Designed and administered person-centered programs for individuals facing social, economic, and developmental barriers, coordinating across agencies, providers, and families within a large public-sector business-systems environment. Fifteen-plus years of process rigor, compliance discipline, and cross-agency coordination.
Financial reporting and analysis, multi-account bank reconciliations, management reporting, tax-support schedules, audit documentation, and enterprise-systems work.
Institutional accounting, financial documentation, reconciliations, and reporting using PeopleSoft financial processes.
Developed and executed the country office’s communications strategy, managing media relations, press releases, and public information. Served as country liaison to UNDPI in New York, organized UN Days and publication launches, and translated official UN materials across English, Arabic, and Tigrinya.
Project accounting, budgeting, general ledger, accounts payable/receivable, payroll, cash management, bank reconciliation, financial reporting, and audit preparation.
Bachelor of Arts, Accounting
University of Asmara, Asmara, Eritrea
Major: Accounting · Minor: Management
1992 – 1997 · U.S. credentials evaluated by Global Credentials Evaluators Inc., 2021
Advanced Excel Spreadsheet Certification
New Horizons Computer Learning Centers, Bloomington, MN — 2008
As an Information Associate with the UN Department of Public Information, assigned to the UNDP Country Office in Eritrea, Michael worked at the intersection of humanitarian communication, development communication, media relations, and government liaison — during a period bounded by renewed conflict, a fragile peace agreement, and years of post-conflict recovery.
The role connected many audiences at once: government ministries and the UN Resident Coordinator’s office; UN sister agencies including UNICEF, WFP, FAO, and UNIDO; international and local NGOs; the press; and the public. He helped produce and disseminate press releases, coordinated publication launches, supported UN observances, and organized logistics and information support for senior missions.
The surviving archive — UNDP Now newsletters, UNDAF launch materials, UNIDO mission coverage, and dissemination records tied to senior UN statements — documents this work directly, in his own UN information role.
Each item below links to the original historical document. Roles are described exactly as the historical record supports — distinguishing authorship from editorial involvement from dissemination through Michael’s UN information role.
The debut issue of the UNDP Eritrea Country Office’s quarterly newsletter, featuring Michael’s bylined feature “Recovery Effort to Ease Despair in Fateful Om-Hajer” on page 7.
Editorial contact & contributing author
The second issue of UNDP Now, covering mine action, rehabilitation project handovers, and a Ministry of Agriculture functional review. Michael is listed on the newsletter’s Editorial Board.
Editorial Board member
Edited / produced
Press release marking the Government of Eritrea and UN System’s launch of the UN Development Assistance Framework (2002–2006). The release lists Michael Araya, Information Assistant, as the UN information contact.
Information Assistant · UN information contact
Information contact
UN press release on Director-General Carlos Magariños’s official visit to Eritrea and UNIDO’s industrial-development cooperation strategy. Michael Araya, Information Assistant, is listed as the information contact.
Information Assistant · UN information contact
Information contact
Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s statement at the peace-agreement signing ceremony in Algiers, preserved as sent from Michael’s UNDP account to the DEHAI news archive. A dissemination record, not a document Michael authored.
Distributed via Michael’s UNDP information role
Preserved dissemination record
A UNDP/ReliefWeb report on post-conflict recovery and reconstruction in Tserona and other affected areas of Eritrea. More than 3,000 houses were rehabilitated or constructed in Debub Region — about 2,000 of them in Tserona — with rehabilitation of 2,400 emergency housing units in Gash Barka also underway. The Netherlands provided US$2.3 million toward the initiative, part of UNDP’s Post War Emergency and Rehabilitation (PoWER) programme, which also supported schools, health facilities, water infrastructure, and other recovery activities.
Michael Araya is identified by the original UNDP/ReliefWeb document as a United Nations Eritrea contact for further information.
Information contactMichael spent more than fifteen years with the Minnesota Department of Human Services / MSOCS — a major career period, not a minor job. The role required designing and administering person-centered programs for individuals facing social, economic, and developmental barriers, and coordinating across agencies, providers, and families within a large, highly regulated public-sector system.
Sustained state-government service of this length demands a particular discipline: rigorous documentation, strict confidentiality, ongoing regulatory compliance, readiness for crisis response, and the ability to coordinate across multiple disciplines while remaining accountable and consistent, year after year.
WEGN is Michael’s current technology chapter. It is one important part of MERBEBNA’s story — not the whole of it.
LivePOS, inventory, purchasing, and staff tools for one or many storefronts — the ecosystem’s founding product.
Explore Platform ↗LiveQR digital menus, table management, kitchen workflow, and order tracking for hospitality businesses.
Explore Platform ↗LiveOnline booking, scheduling, and customer records for appointment-based service businesses.
Explore Platform ↗LiveThe customer-facing entry point — launch into every connected WEGN product from one place.
Explore Platform ↗LiveHands-on learning paths, practice tasks, knowledge checks, and certificates for WEGN Store.
Enter the Academy ↗LiveReferral tracking, commission administration, and territory management for the partner network.
Explore Platform ↗Internal PlatformThe operational control layer behind WEGN — product governance, subscriptions, service access, partner oversight, and auditability.
Live · Maintenance ModeA personal career workspace — profile, timeline, skills, and opportunity tracking. v1.0 shipped; kept private, holds personal data.
Prototype · PausedEvent creation, an organizer dashboard, and QR-based ticket validation. A real build, currently paused.
These are not isolated websites — they form one ecosystem. Earlier experience in international development, finance, systems, documentation, and public service converges directly in how WEGN is built: governed, documented, and shipped.