Team
Joseph Kaifala, ESQ is the Founder and Principal of the Center for Memory and Reparations. Joseph is a writer and historian who grew up in the Liberian and Sierra Leonean civil wars. He also spent a few years as a refugee in Guinea. He has written several books, including Adamalui: A Survivor's Journey from Civil Wars in Africa to Life in America, Free Slaves, Freetown, and the Sierra Leonean Civil War, Tutu's Rainbow World: Selected Poems, What I Think: Maxims of an African Philosopher, etc. Joseph has won several awards for his work and was listed as one ofBBC World Service Outlook Inspiration Fifteen, which the program described as those "who show us a better side of being human."
Rugiatu J. Kamara is the Communication and Programs Officer at the Center for Memory and Reparations. Rugie is a graduate of Milton Margai College of Education. She is currently pursuing a degree in Tourism and Hospitality at Limkokwing University in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Rugie has operated multiple businesses and volunteered for various organisations and institutions.
Wuya Sao Kallon is a Programs Officer at the Center for Memory and Reparations. She is a graduate of the Institute of Public Administration and Management with a B.Sc in Applied Accounting. Wuya serves as the Finance Officer at Nafisa Magazine- an online magazine and freelance entity specialised in creative writing, content writing, copy writing, branding, etc. She is also the Chief Executive Officer of Delores Ltd- an online shoe shop that sells flats, heels, sandals, slippers and sneakers.
Madonna Ladia Garber is an Administrative and Finance Officer at the Center for Memory and Reparations. She is a graduate of Fourah Bay College with a B.sc. in Social Work. Madonna is a Co-founder and volunteer social worker at Women of Wonders SL - a young women’s development club that facilitates the rehabilitation process of girls who have suffered a crisis situation and are living in deprived communities. She is a feminist and owner of a fashion brand named Pop Queen.
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah Peace Fellow
Aissatou Bah is our inaugural Ahmad Tejan Kabbah Peace Fellow. She is also EMpower’s Director of Adolescent Girls and Gender Initiatives. Aissatou is a champion for girls and has more than a decade of international experience across nonprofit, government and private sectors. She has worked extensively with women and girls in a variety of contexts including grantmaking, programming, and leadership throughout Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Aligned with EMpower’s mission, Aissatou will play a critical role in expanding grantmaking and programming with a strong focus on adolescent girls. Aissatou is also a history and critical legal theory buff and enjoys researching and pondering on how justice is weighed. She is currently researching the Hinga Norman saga between the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
Advisory Board
Nadia Assad is a Chevening Scholar. She graduated from Fourah Bay College with a degree in Mechanical and Maintenance Engineering. Nadia is mostly interested in renewable energy, which is why she joined Easy Solar and also became a member of the Renewable Energy Association of Sierra Leone. She was a Girls and Technology Specialist for Population Council in Sierra Leone, bringing green technology to the most marginalised girls in the poorest communities. Nadia has served as a consultant at Purposeful, an Africa-rooted global hub for girls' activism, where among other things, she was in charge of the Girl Led Cash Award - a new grant-making approach that enables girls to lead the way in creating opportunities for themselves and their peers.
Liat Krawczyk serves as an Assistant Vice President at the NYC Economic Development Corporation, where she leads equitable economic development and emerging tech endeavors such as Cyber NYC, a suite of public-private investment to expand NYC’s Cybersecurity ecosystem. Prior to joining NYCEDC, Liat grew startups, social-enterprise ventures and innovation ecosystems in developed and frontier markets with a focus on emerging technologies such as humanitarian-impact tech and real estate tech/fintech. Liat was a Co-founder of the Sierra Leone Memory Project.She is also the producer and director of several documentary films.
Josephine Kamara is an Advocacy and Communications Manager at Purposeful - a feminist, African-rooted global hub for girls’ activism. She plays lead coordination and advocacy roles, helping shine needed light on issues affecting girls in Sierra Leone. Recently, she led Purposeful and its Coalition for Girls Education to raise public awareness and influence the Government of Sierra Leone to overturn the policy that banned pregnant girls from attending public schools and taking exams. She is currently a member of the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Taskforce that is responsible for drafting the policy of Radical Inclusion in Education in Sierra Leone.