Sophia was born in 1942, in Addis Ababa, the daughter of Elsabeth Workeneh and Yilma Deressa, a member of the Oromo nobility of Welega province.
She returned to Ethiopia to attend Haile Selassie I University, but dropped out to work for Ethiopian Radio, where she was inspired by other women such as broadcaster Romanework Kassahun.
[1] Following the 1974 coup d'état that overthrew Emperor Haile Selassie I and his government, both her father and husband were arrested by the Derg.
Following this, she worked for eight years as Public Relations Officer for the Integrated Holistic Approach Urban Development Project founded by Jember Tefere.
[1] She ran again for parliament in the 2010 elections, but was defeated in the landslide where the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front took 545 out of 547 seats, and the EDUP none.