Leymah Gbowee was 17 and dreaming of medical school when civil war engulfed Liberia in 1990. She trained as a trauma counsellor to help former child soldiers, and by 2002 had organised the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace — a coalition of Christian and Muslim women who staged sit-ins, fasts and prayer vigils demanding an end to the fighting.
Gbowee's coalition famously barricaded peace negotiators in a room in Ghana until warring factions signed an accord, helping bring the Second Liberian Civil War to an end in 2003.
She then mobilised Liberian women to vote, helping elect Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as Africa's first elected female head of state. In 2011 Gbowee, Sirleaf and Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize.
- Nobel Peace Prize laureate, 2011
- Led the women's coalition credited with ending Liberia's civil war
- Helped elect Africa's first female head of state, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
- Founder, Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa
- A coalition across religious lines can hold where a single voice cannot.. Her movement united Christian and Muslim women around a shared demand for peace.
- Sometimes peace requires physically refusing to let negotiators leave the room.. Her coalition barricaded peace talks in Ghana until an accord was signed.
- Winning peace is only the first step — building leadership must follow.. Her foundation now trains the next generation of women leaders.