Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Independent Expert
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In a professional life that has spanned over 30 years, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has held a number of prominent positions, including Minister of Finance of Liberia; President of the Liberia Bank for Development and Investment; Vice President of Citicorp, Africa regional office; Vice President of Hong Kong Equator Bank; and Senior Loan Officer of the World Bank. She was one of seven international eminent persons selected by the Organization of African Unity in 1999 to investigate the Rwanda genocide.
Ms. Johnson Sirleaf is currently Chairperson of the Open Society Institute West Africa (OSIWA), part of the Soros Foundation Network. She also consults regularly for the UN Economic Commission for Africa as an External Adviser and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Modern Africa Growth and Investment Company (MAGIC). She is also Senior Adviser and West/Central Africa Representative of Modern Africa Fund Managers (MAFM), which has offices in Washington DC, USA and Johannesburg, South Africa, and the Chair and CEO of Kormah Investment and Development Corporation (KODIC), a financial and management advisory consultancy firm incorporated in Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire. Additionally, she is the founder and key supporter of the community development NGO, Measuagoon, in Liberia.
A presidential candidate in the 1997 Liberia general elections, Ms. Johnson Sirleaf came second in a field of thirteen. Prior to that, she served for five years as Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Africa of UNDP with the rank of Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. She has represented Liberia on the boards of several international and regional financial institutions, including the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
Ms. Johnson Sirleaf has first hand experience of armed conflict. During the 1980 coup d’etat in Liberia she was one of only four government ministers who escaped assasination, while 13 others were shot and killed.
Ms. Johnson Sirleaf holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard University. She has four sons.