We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ahmed Sirleaf a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ahmed thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump into the story of starting your own firm – what should we know?

My firm is a public sector think tank directly focused on Liberia and the Liberian Diaspora, particularly in the United States. Liberia has enormous challenges with public sector governance. For example, the government struggles to provide efficient services to citizens. Having observed the studied these problems for year, I launched the Liberia Governance & Justice Initiative (LGJI) to help alleviate the problem of lack of technical institutional and human capacities. We partner with government and public institutions to address capacity challenges. This is a newly firm. We have not fully launched our direct services. We are a registered entity both in Liberia and in the state of Minnesota in the United States. Some of the early step we are taking involve providing pro bono services to the Liberia National Police training law enforcement leaders in a wide range area. We have also reached out the Liberian Senate to support their institutional development needs to make the Senate accessible to citizens. It is challenging to introduce a public sector think tank to a country that is not used seeing public policy research institutions supporting governance. There are also issues with recruiting technically competent staff with little no seed fund to set up office and furnish our operations in Liberia.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

A seasoned international development, rule of law, and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) professional, with over a combined decade of experience in planning and managing complex donor (international cooperation affairs), transitional justice, and international human rights programs. An experienced public speaker, writer, negotiator, and a self-growth coach. Currently, Until December 2024, I was the program officer for Pathways Home, Greater Twin Cities United Way’s (community foundation in Minnesota, USA) innovation initiative that will transform the Midwest region’s homeless response system and prevent homelessness in two key populations: Youth existing foster care and adults involved with the justice system. Prior to United Way, I worked for Hennepin County (Minnesota’s largest county) and was responsible for county-wide homeless prevention through the Family Homeless Prevention Assistance Program (FHPAP—a state legislated homeless response fund) and federal Covid-19 Emergency Rental Assistance programs.

Until October 2017, I was the Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) Advisor with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Overseas Missions/Liberia. His experience includes project design and management, designing systems for planning, monitoring, evaluation, and learning. He has coordinated donor strategic partnerships, managed complex donor, civil society, and host country government collaboration efforts, and has advised the Government of Liberia on donor aid coordination and public sector governance. He has given workshops and webinar presentations to numerous professional and academic institutions; locally, nationally, and internationally.

Over the years, I have garnered a wide range of skills, which include large group facilitation, legal and policy research, and has excellent communication and strategic planning skills, including having served as a manager of a complex $21 million USAID-funded Liberia Strategic Analysis (LSA) as the contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). He co-designed the activity for improved program coordination for better development outcomes of USAID’s $840+ million portfolios in Liberia.

As an educator, I have taught courses in Global Politics, Defense and Security, Peacebuilding, and Leadership and Governance at the University of Liberia’s Kofi Annan Institute for Conflict Transformation (KAICT). Additionally, he is a frequent guest lecturer at the Gabriel L. Dennis Foreign Service Institute (FSI) under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Liberia. There, he has provided workshops, lectures and practical training to recently appointed ambassadors and other foreign service officers of the Liberian foreign service.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

In Liberia (and in the Liberian communities in the United States) trust is a major issue. We have to first demonstrate that we are able to deliver the types of services our organization promises to deliver. Particularly in efforts to partner with the Government of Liberia. So, to launch the work in Liberia, we have been offering free services, like training and strategic advice, to public entities. We have also approached the Liberian Legislature, particularly the Liberian Senate to have discuss and show our organization.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The Government of Liberian and Liberian Diaspora Community organizations.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.liberiagji.org
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Liberia-GJI/61566021171760/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/liberia-governance-and-justice-initiative_liberiagji-activity-7245451068870950913-Nom_/

Image Credits

Photos courtesy: Ansu K. Sirleaf of KMD Studio, Paynesville, Monrovia.