Leymah Gbowee
Civil Rights Leader
Liberian activist who received the Nobel Peace Prize for her leadership of Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, an organization that negotiated a peaceful resolution to the Second Liberian Civil War.
She earned a degree in social work from the Mother Patern College of Health Sciences and subsequently counseled former child soldiers.
Liberian women under her leadership participated in numerous peaceful protests, including a highly publicized sex strike.
Early in her adulthood, she escaped domestic abuse and fled to Ghana with her new romantic partner and her children.
She collaborated in her peace efforts with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia's first female president.