Madam Leymah Gbowee

2011 Nobel Peace Laureate, Leymah Gbowee, is a Liberian peace activist, social worker and women's rights advocate. Leymah Gbowee is best known for leading a nonviolent movement that brought together Christian and Muslim women to play a pivotal role in ending Liberia's devastating, fourteen-year civil war in 2003. This historic achievement paved the way for the election of Africa's first female head of state, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. It also marked the vanguard of a new wave of women emerging worldwide as essential and uniquely effective participants in brokering lasting peace and security.

Madam Gbowee has been a friend to the School for many years, having been featured by the School's World Leaders Forum speaker series in 2014. Since that time, the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa-USA, founded by Madam Gbowee, has hosted School of Diplomacy interns nearly every semester. The Foundation provides educational and leadership development opportunities for women, girls and youth.