Gelila is the Head of AI Strategy at Union Square Advisors.

She started her career at BlackRock, partnering with the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, foundations, and endowments. Over the years, she worked as a search fund entrepreneur at Aone Partners and also served as a Director at a high growth software holding company that acquires and scales vertical market SaaS businesses.

She has published studies on technology businesses with Stanford Publishing and Harvard Business Review, covering IPO strategy, venture capital, and M&A. These are taught in Stanford's flagship entrepreneurship courses.

Gelila serves on the Boards of mission-driven organizations, including GGRF, a foundation that has awarded merit scholarships to over 600 student athletes. She is a sponsor in Project Redwood, an organization that has funded 80+ nonprofits in 33 countries and impacted over 1 million lives. She also serves on the Executive Committee and the Regional Leadership Board in Stanford Women’s Circles, one of Stanford's fastest growing alumni programs with 1400+ members worldwide and 170 members in New York.

Gelila earned an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and a BA in Economics and Computer Science from Columbia University, where she was a Kluge Scholar. 

In her spare time, Gelila writes a weekly column with Forbes on AI in private markets. She grew up in Addis Ababa and lives in New York.