Meet Yeama Thompson

Yeama Sarah Thompson is the  first female Managing Director of the Sierra Leone News Agency (SLENA). She is also the Media Lead in the Risk Communications and Social Mobilisation pillar of the National COVID-19 Emergency response (NaCOVERC)  and the Ebola Virus Emergency preparedness plan. Previously, she served as Commissioner of the Right to Access Information Commission where she served as Chairperson of the Open Data Council and contributed to the establishment of Sierra Leone’s first open data portal and facilitated the first ever open data festival to foster a culture of open data and the proactive disclosure of information by government.

Yeama is a media development professional who rose through the ranks from a cub reporter at the Sierra Leone Daily Mail to an Editor of The Chronicle newspaper in war-time Sierra Leone. During the 2011 Liberian General Elections she travelled extensively in Liberia with the Liberia Media Centre (LMC), working with community radio and Monrovia-based journalists to foster a rights-media approach to reporting.

In March 2012-2014 she served as the Country Director of Journalists for Human Rights in Sierra Leone. She conceptualised and implemented a human right reporting strategy during the 2012 elections which contributed to peaceful elections. She has also worked  as Lead Gender Media Trainer with BBC Media Action in Sierra Leone using radio to improve access to Security and Justice for Women and Girls.

She is the founder and Executive Director of the Initiatives for Media Development, a non-governmental organisation working on media research, advocacy and capacity building. IMdev’s Health Accountability Project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) worked with the media to  create a collective platform for education, information and facilitating citizens’ engagement with government towards building strong systems of accountability and transparency in the health sector.   More recently as part of the COVID-19 response with funding from UNICEF Sierra Leone, IMdev successfully produced and broadcasted in collaboration  with 40 community radio stations preventive methods to more in-depth discussions on critical emerging issues. These issues, which are invariable experienced during emergency periods included Gender Based Violence and violence against children and call for the immediate release of children in detention facilities across the country.

Yeama  is an awardee of the prestigious 2018 Fellowship on the Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists: New and Traditional Broadcast Media and a fellow of the Open Data Institute(ODI). She serves on several boards and is the Vice Chair of Media Matters for Women in Sierra Leone

Meet Timothy Sam

Timothy Sam is the Interim Regional Youth Engagement Office for Plan International Western and Central African Hub, serving 14 Countries. He also serves as Programme Support Manager for Youth Engagement, Innovation and Disaster Risk Mitigation for Plan International Sierra Leone

Prior to joining Plan International, Timothy Sam worked for various children and youth organizations and established a groundbreaking Voice of Children Radio Project- a United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone project. He has worked with and managed programs in the capacity of Founder and Secretariat Coordinator for the Youth Climate Change Initiative at the reputable Commonwealth Secretariat in London. His myriad roles included but were not limited to project managing of Youth Climate organizations across all 54 countries in the Commonwealth.

Over the years working with Plan, Mr Sam has developed a unique passion for working with young people and girls and promoting Plan’s Global Girls Get Equal Campaign. During the Ebola outbreak, he worked with our Headquarters Plan international and as Youth Engagement Specialist to introduce the community feedback Mechanism as an innovation accomplishment. The Community Feedback mechanism won Plan International Sierra Leone a Plan West African Regional Office award and Plan International Global Award respectively for 2015. This initiative has now been integrated into donor grants, sponsorship programmes and a model that is implemented in other countries. Timothy Sam holds a BA from USL, BSC (MBA) from the UK and a Masters in International Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid from Spain.

Meet Osman Lahai

“Mr. Osman Lahai joined Sierra Rutile Limited in May 2017, as the Community Relations and Social Development Manager. He has over 20 years of experience in community relations and public affairs, and started his career in the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan, where he worked across various departments including Civil Affairs, Human Rights and Public Information.  Mr. Lahai has also held a range of senior positions including Head of Media Relations and Communications with London Mining Company and as Editor for The Democrat Newspaper in Sierra Leone.”

Meet Kahil Ali bio

Kahil Ali is the Head of the Human Capital Development Incubator, at the Directorate of Science,
Technology and Innovation. Kahil is responsible for managing the complex needs and
expectations of different partners and stakeholders as well as providing leadership and project
management on a variety of technology heavy, innovative solutions and projects. As a senior
leader with over 15 years’ experience in change management, technical program design and
monitoring and evaluation, he has worked in a wide range of countries including the UK, Libya,
Zambia, and Trinidad and Tobago..
Kahil holds a Master’s degree in Policy, Sociology and Economics in addition to a postgraduate degree in teaching Physics, both from the University College London. He also holds a Bachelor
of Engineering, in Aerospace Engineering, from Queen Mary University London.

Meet Emmanuel B. A. Lansana

Emmanuel is the Director of Technology and Information Management at the National Minerals Agency (NMA) where he leads on the day-to-day management and administration of the Agency’s geoscientific data as asset, information and technology needs. Emmanuel’s recent notable achievement for the Agency has been championing and leading the in-house design and development of an enterprise Geoscientific Information Management System (eGIMS) with funding support of about USD 750,000 from the World Bank. The eGIMS comprises a suite of sophisticated tools for capturing, storing, analysing, mapping, modelling and managing data, information and knowledge as well as a geoscience portal for managing data and information from the country’s first ever prospect level nationwide airborne geophysical survey. Until his appointment as Director of Technology and Information Management, Emmanuel was the Geological Data and Information Manager at NMA. Prior to joining NMA, he worked at the then London Mining Company as Technical Superintendent, the Sierra Leone Roads Authority as GIS Expert and Civil Engineer, the University of Sierra Leone as Lecturer in the Civil Engineering Department, the General Engineering and Architectural Consultants (GENAC) as Project Supervisor and Modern Construction Company (MoDCON), where he started his career as graduate Engineer. Emmanuel holds a Master’s degree in Photogrammetry and Geoinformatics (Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems) from the University of Applied Sciences in Stuttgart, Germany (2011) and a First-Class honours degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Sierra Leone, Fourah Bay College (2005).

Meet Alexandra celestin

Alexandra Celestin is the IFC Resident Representative for Liberia and Country Representative for Sierra Leone. Within IFC, Alexandra has held several positions over the past 15 years, including: Resident Representative for Guinea; Senior Investment Officer with the Financial Institutions Group based in Dakar covering West and Central Africa and Portfolio Lead for West and Central Africa, managing a portfolio of US$1,089 million committed extended to 75 clients in 17 countries.  She has also worked on projects in Brazil, Haiti, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador. Before joining IFC, Alexandra held several senior positions in commercial banking in Haiti, notably with Citibank N.A.

Alexandra holds a master’s degree in finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a graduate degree in accounting from McGill University. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (Economics) from Loyola University in Chicago. 

Meet Mrs Victorial Fumikeh Nicol

Mrs. Victoria Fumikeh Nicol has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, and an MSc Econ in Information and Library studies from the Aberystwyth, University of Wales. Mrs. Nicol, is a professional Librarian, with over 30 years-experience. She has worked for various institutions including the Sierra Leone Library Board, The Independent Media Commission, The Sierra Leone Investment and Export Promotion Agency.

Mrs. Nicol is currently an employee at the Directorate of Technology and Information Management charged with the responsibility of manning the Library and Research Unit at the National Minerals Agency for over 9 years. This Unit provides geological and mining information services to potential investors, mining companies, staff of the Agency, the public and other stakeholders. As head of this Unit she has acquired vast knowledge and experience in the operations of both industrial and Artisanal and small scale mining in Sierra Leone.

In 2016, she served as secretary of the Sierra Leone Kimberley Process Multi-stakeholder Taskforce which was renamed the Kimberley Process / ASM Tripartite Structure in 2019. The Sierra Leone Kimberley Process / ASM Tripartite Structure undertook the second phase of the project titled “Support of the Kimberley Process in the Mano River Union at the Regional and National level, combat smuggling of minerals and enhance the development and livelihood aspect of artisanal mining”. The project was funded by the European Union and German Government, facilitated by GIZ and implemented by the Mano River Union Secretariat. The project has provided her with a vast knowledge on the operations and livelihood of artisanal mining not only in Sierra Leone but across the Mano River Union Countries

Meet Augusta Massah Nuwomah

Place of Birth: Moyamba

Primary and Secondary Education: Saint Joseph Primary School Moyamba – Harford Secondary School for Girls Moyamba.

University Education: the University of Makeni in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. I studied DEVELOPMENT DEMOCRACY AND PEACE.

I have working experience with reputable organizations like CAUSE Canada (Employee), Red Cross (volunteer) Sierra Leone, SRK Consulting (Consultant), OXFAM Sierra Leone (Consultant) Sierra Rutile Limited (Casual Worker) Network Movement for Justice and Development (Platform member)IFC, WHI and NMA (Partnership).

Currently, I am the Founder and Executive Director for Women Initiative Forum for Empowerment in Extractive, District President for Bonthe Women in Governance Network and the Regional Vice President for Southern Women in Governance Network. I am married with one girl child.