Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Ellen Johnson Sirleafis the 24th and current President of Liberia, in office since 2006. She served as Minister of Finance under President William Tolbert from 1979 until the 1980 coup d'état, after which she left Liberia and held senior positions at various financial institutions. She placed second in the 1997 presidential election won by Charles Taylor. She won the 2005 presidential election and took office on 16 January 2006, and she was a successful candidate for re-election in 2011. Sirleaf...
ProfessionWorld Leader
Date of Birth29 October 1938
CityMonrovia, Liberia
Ebola is not just a health crisis. Across West Africa, a generation of young people risks being lost to an economic catastrophe,
We all have a stake in the battle against Ebola,
I beg you I no magician. I can't just wave a magic wand.
I've been a victor of circumstance.
There is no easy fix or youth unemployment. Partnership between the public and private sectors can make a big difference.
The people of Liberia know what it means to be deprived of clean water, but we also know what it means to see our children to begin to smile again with a restoration of hope and faith in the future.
If your dreams don't scare you, you aren't dreaming big enough.
Leadership is never given on a silver platter, one has to earn it.
Women work harder. And women are more honest; they have less reasons to be corrupt.
I work hard, I work late, I have nothing on my conscience. When I go to bed, I sleep.
We are here because we share a fundamental belief: that poverty, illiteracy, disease and inequality do not belong in the twenty-first century. We share a common purpose: to eradicate these ills for the benefit of all. And we share a common tool to achieve this: the Millennium Development Goals.
Ethnicity should enrich us; it should make us a unique people in our diversity and not be used to divide us.
To girls and women everywhere, I issue a simple invitation. My sisters, my daughters, my friends; find your voice
If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.