This week’s guest is Patrice Juah, an accomplished author, award-winning poet, education entrepreneur and former Miss Liberia. She is the founder of the Martha Juah Educational Foundation, based in Liberia, West Africa. The Foundation launched the Sexy-Like-A-Book initiative, designed to inspire young women and girls to improve their perspective on reading, literacy, and education. She is a firm believer in the transformative power of education. Among MANY things, Patrice is a Mandela Washington Fellow for President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative.
Patrice’s desire is to motivate and empower young women by supporting local non-profit organizations to educate women on HIV/AIDs, teenage pregnancy, and education.
So let’s find out more about this incredible woman and her amazing accomplishments and platforms, as we welcome Patrice Juah.
Patrice Juah is a Communications and International Affairs Professional. As founder of the Martha Juah Educational Foundation, she champions girls’ education, leadership, and digital and information literacy through the foundation’s Sexy Like A Book initiative. The initiative takes a social and academic approach to address some of the barriers to girls’ education in Liberia.
Patrice works to improve girls’ perspectives on literacy and education by fostering creative expression and cultural awareness. Through public speaking workshops, mentorship meet-ups, and social excursions, girls not only enhance their capacity to tackle academic rigor but are equipped with the confidence and voice to write and speak about taboo topics in their communities. This approach of embedding Social Emotional Learning into girls’ education empowers girls with the social-emotional skills to think critically and make informed decisions as socially conscious young leaders.
Explore Sexy Like A Book’s Enchanting Voices Anthology (Book One), written by the first cohort of young writers. Proceeds from the book support the provision of scholarships and educational resources to girls in rural Liberia. A second anthology, written by cohort two, will be released later in 2021.
An accomplished author, award-winning poet, former Miss Liberia, and a firm believer in the transformative power of education, Patrice is a Steering Committee Member of Karanga – The Global Alliance for Social-Emotional Learning and Life Skills. She also supports the Liberia Literary Society as a board member and editor. Patrice is a Deutsche Welle Global Media Fellow, a Kistefos Scholar, and a Mandela Washington Fellow for President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative. She holds a master’s degree in International Relations from the IE School of Global and Public Affairs at IE University, in Madrid, Spain. A perpetual knowledge seeker, she has a fascination for languages and enjoys fostering global collaborations.
More on Patrice’s work can be found here: https://linktr.ee/p-atricejuah
Donate to Sexy Like A Book here.
Amazon book: Why I Smile
Enchanting Voices echoes stories of a Liberia that could be but struggles in the now. It echoes stories of hope and dreams; of courage and resilience; of possibilities and a future waiting to bloom.
The collection is a poetic celebration of youth, innocence, joy, and emergence from a place of despair to one of progress and fulfilled dreams, if Liberians stay on the path of development, change their mindsets, and value Liberia for the true treasure that she is
100% of the proceeds from this book will go towards scaling up efforts and providing scholarships and educational resources to Liberian girls, particularly those in rural communities.
Wanna hear from other authors? Check out author, Jill Dalton’s episode, ‘Be Your Authentic Self’.
