Leandra Macauley was born and raised in London, United Kingdom by Ghanaian parents. She completed her secondary and A-level studies in London where she grew a keen interest in the sciences and mathematics. This led her to Edinburgh to study Chemical Engineering at the University of Heriot-Watt in 2012. While she pursued a career in the sciences her love and passion for humanitarian work never dulled and in 2015 Leandra embarked on a trip to Tanzania with the organisation First Aid Africa. During her months stay Leandra and her team were based in a rural area in Arusha where they taught emergency first aid to students and teachers daily. This was a life changing experience and lit a fire in her to do more work for the less fortunate. In 2016 Leandra graduated with an honours degree in Chemical Engineering and moved back to London where she spent 1 year tutoring mathematics and English. In 2017 Leandra was offered an exciting employment opportunity to work for the tech giant Intel as a manufacturing technician. She completed this role diligently and progressed through her training and trained others over a four-year period. In November 2021 Leandra moved yet again but this time it was for love as she joined her husband in Bo, Sierra Leone and is currently an online ESL teacher.

Bockarie Lusenie has three years of experience in development and Youth empowerment. He has skills in counseling especially for youth in helping them to be self-empowered, and he has been more focused on working with the less privileged and vulnerable children and Youth within Sierra Leone. Currently, Bockarie is a volunteer at Movement towards Education and Youth Empowerment-Sierra Leone (MEYE-SL), where he focuses on carrying out administrative duties focusing on data collection, sorting, filling and sending out projects in progress and ensure that all issues related to projects are clarified and completed to avoid interruption during execution of projects. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in Sociology from Njala University, Sierra Leone.

Aminata Fatmata Kandeh Holds Bachelor of Science degree with honors in Agriculture and fisheries management. Aminata has over five years working experience both in the field and the office. Currently, Aminata is Farm Manager at the West African Rice Company, where she focuses on rice cultivation to improve rice productivity, value chain assessments and to improve on standard of living in communities. She also has experience in other areas such as women’s empowerment and child rights. In addition, she has volunteered as a sexual reproductive health peer educator and as a social mobilizer during the Ebola crisis as part of the team that helped to put an end to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone. She is a passionate and committed fish farmer herself, motivated by her appreciation for natural resources and her desire to not see them overexploited. As such Aminata is concerned about improving the nutrition status in Sierra Leone and helping to reduce malnutrition in children and Fellow of Barack Obama Young African Leader Initiative (YALI).

Abu Bakar Amara has over five years of experience in the community development sector, specifically focusing on education and peacebuilding. Presently, Abu Bakar Amara currently serves as the Project Assistant, where he focuses on assisting in the development and implementations of project activities of the organization and oversees the planning, implementation and tracking of short-term and long-term projects. Abu Bakar Amara holds a higher teacher’s certificate with a lot of leadership courses and certificates focusing on education and peacebuilding. Abu Bakar Amara has been driven by his beliefs and commitment of educating, creating awareness, and advocating for the less privileged within society which are the greatest skills towards making society a better place for everyone.

Smart John has over 5 years of experience in community development, advocacy and lobbying skills, specifically focusing on women empowerment. He currently serves as the programme Manager at Movement towards Education and Youth Empowerment – Sierra Leone (MEYE-SL). He previously work as the project officer at Women on Mining and Extractives (WoME-SL) a national Non-Governmental Organization, a non-religious and non-partisan women led/owned organization that works to overcome the economic inequality, social exclusion and vulnerability of women, girls and youths living in mining communities in Sierra Leone. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in Sociology from Njala University, Sierra Leone. His commitment towards youth, women and girls’ rights has helped him in working relentlessly and tirelessly in making the dream of every young person a reality wherein they can identify their potentials and work towards achieving their visions and make life better for themselves.

Ibrahim Alphan Kawa has five years of experience in financial management, entrepreneurship, social mobilizer, research, and Youth empowerment. Ibrahim Kawa currently serves as the Admin/Financial Officer for the organization, where he focuses on control and recording all the financial status of the organization. Ibrahim holds a higher diploma certificate in Business Administration and has further gained so many other leadership certificates related to financial management and entrepreneurship. As an entrepreneur his numerous research work and financial management skills has helped him to unravel many questions, options and solutions related to financial management. For such a reason, he has endeavored in helping to figure out social problems/challenges and to get the society involved in solving their problems and challenges.

Augustine Macarthy is an International development professional. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology with a major in human development and societal transformation from the Njala University, Sierra Leone. Additionally, he received several certificates in management, leadership, development and humanitarian sectors from Bocconi University, West African Course on Human Rights and Drug Policy from University of Ghana, CIVICUS World Alliance, Planetstartup Entrepreneurship Academy, West Africa Civil Society Institute, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration. Augustine has over five years of successful track record in development and poverty reduction, with significant experience in child protection, peace building and sustainable development for young people.

Augustine currently serves as the Founder/Executive Director of Movement towards Education and Youth Empowerment-Sierra Leone (MEYE-SL), through this organization he has been able to lead many youth programmes that help promote peace, educational support, social justice and economic approaches towards youth empowerment and poverty reduction. He has helped to develop and advocate for programmes that foster an environment where future entrepreneurial and community leaders can thrive and create jobs and community projects that wage peace in their communities. The impact of his roles and interventions has helped in seeing a major shift in the dominant method of addressing contemporary issues dealing with youth unemployment, leadership, conflicts, and security issues amongst youth in Sierra Leone.

As youth advocate, he has created more than credentials to be a great leader in recognizing the talents of his fellow youth combined with the humbling ability to acknowledge mistakes and accountability. Above all these attributes, he has worked for and collaborated with some of the finest and brightest youth leaders and organizations within Sierra Leone and around the world. He is a member of Young Africa Leaders Initiative, Royal Commonwealth Society, West African Course on Human Rights and Drug Policy, Yes 4 Humanity, International Youth Parliament, African Union (Youth 4 Peace). Augustine is passionate to support communities to capitalize on their own values and assets. He has been driven by his commitment to a self-reliant society with a good working environment and quality education for the less privileged.