Our Projects

Leymah Gbowee

Telling a Nobel Prize Winner's Story

A striking peace movement

Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist, known for winning the Nobel Peace Prize and for leading the women’s peace movement in Liberia, referred to as the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, which helped bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. Working across religious and ethnic lines, Gbowee led thousands of Christian and Muslim women to gather in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, for months. These women held daily non-violent demonstrations, sit-ins and protests in defiance of orders from the tyrannical president at that time, Charles Taylor. In a highly risky move (and clad in white T-shirts signifying peace), the women staged a sit-in at the old soccer stadium, located beside Tubman Boulevard, Charles Taylor’s daily route back and forth to the Capitol Hill. Taylor finally agreed to a discussion and to attend Peace Talks.

Sharing Leymah's story

First, we listened. We traveled to New York to meet with Leymah and her team in order to understand who she is as a person, what drives her passion for a better world, and how she brings her cross-cultural and peace-building talent to the forefront of political discourse. How did Leymah drive an end to the harrowing regime of one of Africa’s most brutal dictators? Then, we designed. We looked at key themes around Leymah, her work and her foundation and sought to understand how we could best bring these elements to the forefront. How do we strike a communications bridge between the USA and Liberia? Between feminists and warlords? Between black and white? Bearing our global audience in mind is key: when the aim of the game is inclusion, there’s no room for error.

The Result

Open Dialogue

A conversation that brings peace

Global Bridges

Working to understand

Design by Desire

Using passion to fuel purpose

Partners and Friends

Leymah Gbowee Peace Foundation

Media and partners

The team

Jos Dirkx
Director
Jade Isaks
Designer
Sarah Jewell
Director, Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa-USA