Leymah Roberta Gbowee is a Liberian Nobel Prize winning peace activist, responsible for leading the women’s peace movement, Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, that helped bring an end to the second Liberian civil war in 2003.
Since 2003, Leymah has continued working on behalf of grassroots efforts in her leadership positions. She has served as a member of both the African Feminist Forum and the African Women’s Leadership Network on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, and as a Commissioner-Designate for the Liberia Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Through these positions, Leymah addressed the specific vulnerability of women and children in war-torn societies.
She is a founding member and former coordinator for Women in Peacebuilding/West African Network for Peacebuilding (WIPNET/WANEP). She also co-founded the Women Peace and Security Network Africa (WIPSEN-Africa) to promote cross-national peacebuilding efforts and to transform women’s participation as victims in the crucible of war to mobilized armies for peace.
In her current position as President of Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, Leymah pushes for greater inclusion of women as leaders and agents of change in Africa.
Leymah holds a Master of Arts in Conflict Transformation from Eastern Mennonite University in the United States.