Stephen Johnson: A PERSPECTIVE

By: Stephen Johnson

Stephen Johnson is a Youth and Student activist, a Pro-democracy Advocate, a Human Right Campaigner and a Community Organizer. His young career is already a success story for many young folks within Liberia and the world at large. Over the years, he served as Senior Representative for the College of Business and Public Administration at University of Liberia. He was selected as a panelist by the National Democratic Institute, International Republican Institute and the Federation of Liberian Youth to discuss the “Role of Youth in the Democratization Process”. He served as Vice Chairman for the Youth Empowerment Program (YEP). He represented the entire university students’ body at several meetings with the US Ambassador to lobby for funds to reopen the institution. He became one of the youth and students representatives on the Civil Society Movement of Liberia.

He also organized a public speaking class for university students to help enhance their public speaking potential. He became Co-Chairman for the concerned students of the University of Liberia. He represented the university of Liberia students on more than seven (7) occasions with the Chairman of the NTGL to discuss the reopening of the University of Liberia after a protracted closure. He served as the liaison between Creative Associates International Inc. and the university of Liberia authorities during the over US$150, 000 renovation exercise. He served as Chairman for the Committee Organized for the Promotion of Education.
While at the University of Liberia, he was involved with student advocacy, utilizing his God-given potential to help speak out against the ills in society and also bring to book the critical issues that affected his people. In these activities, he sought to rekindle the hopes and aspirations of those who by this time had almost lost total faith not only in themselves but in their own society as a result of the hopeless situation and the irresponsible acts of national government.

He has worked with the United States Agency for International Development’s project in various capacities such as: Grant Database Assistant, Grant Development Officer and Monitoring and Evaluation Officer. His experience in these positions afforded him the opportunity to make tremendous impact in the social development of young people and communities across Liberia. He was very successful at implementing the 3rd phase of the Youth Education for Life skill project and the Youth for Truth-a project which brought together over 50,000 young people from different communities within Liberia, helping to reintegrate them into the society since most of them were active participants in our civil conflict and teaching them about the workings of the TRC respectively.

He has published several articles some of which include: “…And so Liberians, we are celebrating 163 years of existence?”, “Elections 2011, The Liberian story: Blessing or curse?”, “The Quest for Political Power: A need for Change!”, “Liberia at 162: Shifting the paradigm”, “Youths Participation: The Key to Lasting Peace”, and “The Road to National Renewal: A Liberian Scenario”

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree (BSc.) in Economics and a Master Degree (MBA) in Finance and Strategic Human Resource Management. He is also pursuing a dual Master in Public Administration (MPA) and Non-Profit Management(MNM) at Hamline University. He can be reached at johnsonzizou102003@yahoo.com