Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Before serving as the President of Liberia from 2006 to 2018, Ellen Sirleaf Johnson was an outspoken advocate of Liberian politics.
Sirleaf Johnson has been sent to prison for sedition for criticizing the Doe administration, been sent to in exile in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire and the United States and founded the National Patriotic Front of Liberia – a guerilla group that participated in the First Liberian Civil War.
While in office she signed an Executive Order which instituted free education and compulsory education for elementary-aged children. She also signed into law the “Freedom of Information bill”; first in West Africa.
Her administration was not devoid of criticisms and controversy, however, Sirleaf Johnson has been able to garner titles such as one of the most powerful women in the world, been bestowed with the Nobel Peace Prize and the Ibrahim Prize.