Bethel Habte was born in Asmara, Eritrea. She entered the United States at a young age as an asylee, living primarily in Sunnyvale, California. Bethel attended the University of Pittsburgh, where she majored in sociology and minored in Africana studies with a Conceptual Foundations of Medicine certificate. At Pitt, she engaged in a variety of writing-based experiences, serving as the opinions editor of the Pitt News, a Pitt Magazine intern, and a criminal justice research and journalism intern with the ACLU of Pennsylvania. Prior to GHC, she has served as a media, arts, and communications student worker with Pitt's Center for Urban Education and an associate manager at Family House, a nonprofit that provides affordable accommodations for patients and their families.