Some moments are so personal they feel like a private miracle and so public they become a shared lesson.
That is how it felt when the African Women Leaders Network Liberia Chapter invited me to moderate an intergenerational dialogue with Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. It was an honor, yes, but it was also a reminder that what begins as a quiet dream can become a loud reality and that sometimes your story is not only for you. It is for the people watching you, for the people coming behind you, and for the people who need proof that their own dreams are valid.
If you are reading this as a young woman trying to find your place, as a leader in progress, or simply as someone holding a dream that feels too big for your current circumstances, take this personally. This is for you too.
I come from a dusty community called Banjor. The kind of place where the road dust can tell you to lower your expectations if you let it.
But long before I ever sat in rooms with presidents and policy leaders, I had a dream.
I was not quite 13 when I had it.
In that dream, I had a one on one encounter with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. I will share more about this on a later date. Because not yet.
I woke up and said, “Wow. What a dream.”
And I never doubted it.
Maybe it is because my name is Faith. Maybe it is because dreams sometimes arrive as invitations, not entertainment. They show you what is possible, then they dare you to grow into it.
When the dream met real life
Fast forward to now.
I sat face to face with Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, moderating a fireside chat on leading against the odds, lessons from Liberia’s democratic journey. And let me tell you, my adult self was doing her best to be professional, but my 12 year old self was somewhere inside me screaming, so you really did not forget me.
Intergenerational dialogue matters because it is not just conversation. It is a bridge. It allows experience to meet emerging leadership, wisdom to meet urgency, and yesterday’s lessons to guide tomorrow’s decisions.
We discussed the moments that shaped President Sirleaf’s approach to governance and leadership and reflected on Liberia’s democratic journey, its sacrifices, its progress, its resilience.
During the fireside chat, President Sirleaf said, and I quote her directly, “Those are the things we faced and the things we overcame.”
That sentence is for every person who is tired, for every leader who feels discouraged, for every citizen who wants democracy to deliver more. It is a reminder that progress is possible, even when the process is hard.
Fear is real, but competence is on the other side
One quote from President Sirleaf during the fireside chat stayed with me like a personal instruction. She said, “On the flip side of fear lies competence. Lean towards that.”
If you have ever walked into a room and felt your confidence wobble, you know fear. Fear of being judged. Fear of being too young. Fear of being the only woman. Fear of messing up in public.
But competence is how we respond to fear.
Competence is preparation. Competence is practice. Competence is learning the subject and showing up again even when you are uncomfortable. Competence is refusing to shrink.
So if fear has been sitting on your chest lately, here is your reminder. Lean toward competence. Do the work. Sharpen your tools. And show up anyway.
Women leadership is global, start where you are
During the fireside chat, President Sirleaf also said, “Women leadership is not a Liberia thing, not a national thing, but a global thing, so start where you are and shine in the place you start.”
This is not just encouragement. It is instruction.
Start where you are. Your community. Your campus. Your office. Your organization. Your first assignment. Your first opportunity to choose courage over comfort.
Shine there. Grow there. Build credibility there. Then let your impact travel.
Because Banjor taught me something the world sometimes forgets. Big purpose can come from small places.
Not just participation, but protection and a platform of possibilities
We discussed temporary special measures and women’s political leadership, and one truth became even clearer to me.
Participation is not enough.
Women need protection and possibility. Protection from harassment, intimidation, and political violence. Possibility in the form of real opportunities, mentorship, resources, and pathways to rise.
It is not only about getting women into the room. It is about making sure the room does not harm them once they arrive.
That is what a platform of possibilities truly means. A system that does not just invite women to participate but equips them to thrive.
Fail, but return stronger
Another quote from President Sirleaf during the fireside chat was simple and powerful: “Fail a number of times but come back stronger.”
If you are building anything meaningful, failure will visit you. The question is not whether you will fall. The question is whether you will return.
At the end of the dialogue, I used the platform to bring forward a recommendation I had previously made during the Country Talk inaugural series hosted by the EJS Center, connected to the Amujae program.
I shared the idea of a Junior Amujae, a space for younger women to be nurtured earlier.
Because my generation needs grooming from the bottom. Not all of us will survive this stage and arrive at higher leadership spaces without support. Life is testing our dreams in real time, financially, emotionally, socially, politically. But with an enabling environment, we will thrive.
Mentorship matters. Protection matters. Networks matters. Intentional pathways matter.
To this, President Sirleaf said, and I quote her directly, “We are working on it.”
What this moment means for all of us
This experience reminded me that dreams are not childish. Sometimes they are invitations to what lies ahead.
And it reminded me that women’s leadership is not a one person story. The women before us have been breaking barriers not only for themselves but to widen the road for those coming behind. Our responsibility is to turn those openings into systems.
So wherever you are reading this from, hear me clearly.
Your beginning does not cancel your destiny.
Your dream is not too big, it is just ahead of you.
Fear has a flip side, and it is competence.
Start where you are and shine where you start.
Push for participation, but also protection and possibility.
Fail if you must, but return stronger.
And when you rise, build a ladder for someone else.
Because women’s leadership is not a Liberia story alone. It is a global story. And we are writing it together.
