An economist whose career took her through Harvard, the World Bank and the United Nations, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first woman elected head of state in Africa in 2006. Over twelve years she led Liberia's reconstruction after a devastating civil war, secured relief on most of the country's debt and steered the nation through the Ebola epidemic. A Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2011 and winner of the Ibrahim Prize, she founded a presidential center devoted to advancing women's leadership across Africa.
A trailblazer for a generation of African women leaders, she oversaw a peaceful democratic transition and now devotes her international standing to opening doors for the women who follow.
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