Liberia Career Pathways - EdSystems NIU

OUR MISSION

Liberia Career Pathways empowers students to make informed career choices, addresses gaps in Liberia’s education, health and workforce systems, and inspires learners to be globally competitive in disciplines critical to Liberia’s economic growth.

ABOUT US

Liberia Career Pathways is a certified 501(c)(3) nonprofit and is an innovative public-private education initiative that is designed to support college and career readiness in targeted Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) clusters. This project parallels the Illinois Pathways initiative that was launched in the State of Illinois in 2012.

Liberia Career Pathways was formed as a Liberian nongovernmental organization on May 31, 2013, and in partnership with the State of Illinois, will provide Liberian youth with opportunities to develop knowledge and skills in key sectors, commencing in agriculture. The State of Illinois views its partnership with the Government of Liberia as a two-way exchange of ideas and benefits – lessons learned from Illinois Pathways will strengthen Liberia’s work, while Illinois’ engagement with Liberia will expose our educators and students to the global context of areas such as agriculture, while connecting Illinois-based businesses with opportunities in Liberia.

OUR PRINCIPLES

Liberia’s economic growth depends on a trained and skilled workforce.

Food security and agricultural development is among the first priority areas.

Education with real-world application improves student persistence and outcomes.

All Liberian citizens must have equal access to opportunities through LCP.

Character development must be a focus in addition to academic development.

OUR HISTORY

The Formation of Liberia Career Pathways and Partnerships with Illinois

In April 2013, a team from Illinois visited Liberia in order to meet with key public and private stakeholders, visit sites for promising practices, and participate in a Strategy Workshop to define objectives and strategies moving forward. Following the visit and workshop, a coalition of Liberian high-level government officials and private stakeholders launched Liberia Career Pathways. This organization was formed as a Liberian nongovernmental organization on May 31, 2013. In June 2013, a team from Liberia visited Illinois to further define the partnership, strategies, and objectives for Liberia Career Pathways. Following this visit, the Liberian team worked to develop the Liberia Career Pathway Concept Paper and gather local support for this education reform effort.

As a culmination of these local efforts, the Illinois Team, with additional members, returned to Liberia in January/February 2014. During this visit, the inauguration of Liberia Career Pathways was hosted by the Vice President of Liberia, the Honorable Joseph N. Bokai. At this meeting, business, education, and government leaders were asked to support the effort to empower and support Liberian learners to progress and transition from high quality education and training experiences into rewarding careers in critical industry sectors for Liberia’s economic growth, commencing with Agriculture.