Johnson Surleaf, Helen

After receiving a Master of Public Administration diploma from Harvard University , in 1972, Johnson-Sirleaf was invited to work in the government as an assistant to the Minister of Finance of Liberia in the administration of President William Richard Tolbert , where she was accused of stealing more than $ 3 million. In 1980, she became Minister of Finance and worked in this post until 1985 under the government of Samuel Dow and was sentenced to ten years for criticizing the military regime in Parliament by the President of the Republic . However, she was soon released and expelled from the country to Nairobi ( Kenya ), but she was able to return to Liberia only in 1997 as an economist at the World Bank and Citibank .

Initially supporting Charles Taylor in his fight against Sergeant Samuel Dow , later Helen Johnson-Sirleaf opposed him in the 1997 presidential election. According to the election results, she won only 10% of the vote, while her opponent Charles Taylor - 75%. After a while, Charles Taylor accused her of treason, as Helen launched an active company to discredit the President of the Republic , preparing herself a springboard for the 2005 elections . With the resignation of Charles Taylor on August 11, 2003 , Helen Johnson-Sirleaf regained leadership in the Unity Party .

In the 2005 presidential election, in the first round of voting, Helen Johnson-Sirleaf won 192,326 votes, and with this result she was the second by the number of votes collected, behind the famous football player George Weah . However, in the second round of voting, which took place on November 8 , she was declared the winner. Already on November 11, the state commission recognized the victory for Helen Johnson-Serlif. November 23, 2005 , after counting all the votes, it was found that Helen won by a majority of more than 20% of the vote. No serious comments were made by local and independent foreign observers.

In the presidential election in 2011, she was re-elected, receiving more than 90% of the vote ^{[5] [6]} .

Helen Johnson-Sirleaf has four sons and six grandchildren, some of whom live in Atlanta , Georgia .

• 1972 - 1973 : Assistant Minister of Finance of Liberia.
• 1980 - 1985 : Minister of Finance of Liberia.
• 1982-1985: Vice President, Citibank Africa Regional Office, Nairobi .
• 1986 - 1992 : Vice President and Executive Committee Member of Equator Bank in Washington .
• 1992-1997: Member of the Board of the UN Regional Development Bureau for Africa.
• 1997: Leader of the Unity Party; Presidential candidate.
• 2004 - 2005 : Chairman of the Commission "Order in Power" ( Liberia ).
• 2005: Leader of the Unity Party; Presidential candidate.
• 2006 : President of Liberia.

Johnson-Sirleaf is also now:

• Founder of the " International Institute for Women in Political Management" ( International Institute for Women in Political Leadership ).
• Member of the advisory board of Modern Africa Growth and Investment Company.
• Member of the finance committee of Modern Africa Fund Managers.
• President of Liberian Bank for Development and Investment.
• President of the investment company Kormah Development and Investment Corporation.
• Senior World Bank Loan Representative.
• Vice President of Citibank.

• From Disaster to Development ( 1991 ) ( From Disaster to Development ).
• The Outlook for Commercial Bank Lending to Sub-Saharan Africa ( 1992 ).

• 1988 Roosevelt Award for Freedom of Speech ( 1988 Franklin Delano Roosevelt Freedom of Speech Award ).
• Ralph Bunche International Leadership Award .
• The Commander of the African Star for the Liberation of Liberia ( Grand Commander Star of Africa Redemption of Liberia ).
• Commander of the Order of Togo .
• Nobel Peace Prize (2011).
• Chain of the Order of Merit pro Merito Melitensi (2014, Order of Malta ) ^[7] .

• Accounting. Madison Business School . ( Madison , Wisconsin ) (early 60s).
• Public administration. Harvard University ( 1973 ).