 Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Aberra Moltot, Ethiopia's vice-minister for National Community Development and Tsadale Assamnew, a housewife, Aberra moved to Poultney, Vermont to study commercial art at Green Mountain College when she was 19.Political upheaval in her native Ethiopia forced Amsale to stay in the United States and support herself through her undergraduate years.As financial resources were limited, Amsale began to design and sew her own clothing.