Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, born in 1938, is a Liberian politician. After studying at Harvard University, she worked in Liberia’s Ministry of Finance and later held positions with, among others, the World Bank and the United Nations. Following her outspoken criticism of the government, she was charged with treason and subsequently left Liberia. In 2005, in Liberia’s first democratic elections after 14 years of civil war, she prevailed first against 22 opponents and then in a runoff against football star George Weah. She was sworn in as Liberia’s president in 2006. She is the mother of four sons and the grandmother of nine grandchildren.