Florence Njai-Sesay, our Project Director in Sierra Leone, received the prestigious “2020 Women Forward Award: Mentor of Distinction” from Bpeace (The Business Council for Peace International – www.bpeace.org). The globally attended on-line award ceremony was followed by a surprise celebration event held for Florence in Freetown by the MMW-SL Board Chair Mariama Khai Fournah and many from the MMW-SL team.
Florence Sesay is a media development practitioner specializing in women’s rights in development and is a Founder of MMW in Sierra Leone. She has extensive experience in TV and broadcast media with special expertise in innovative programming targeting women and girls. Florence was selected out of the over one hundred nominees. In accepting the award, Florence spoke in the on-line event of MMW-SL’s strong commitment to address rural women and girls’s unmet information needs in Sierra Leone on issues such as FGM, sexual and reproductive health issues and other socio-cultural issues.
At the Freetown celebration, Mariam Khai Fornah said, “Florence’s excellent leadership at MMW-SL has enabled the organization to efficiently expand its efforts into new geographical areas within Sierra Leone and now many more women and girls can access critical information. Florence is an excellent mentor who has helped many in our organization reach their full potential both personally and professionally. She greatly deserves this award and we are pleased that she is being recognized internationally for her efforts.”
Bpeace (the Business Council for Peace) is an international nonprofit coalition of global business leaders that works for long-term peace in crisis-affected communities through jobs and the economic empowerment of women. Bpeace’s business volunteers provide pro bono business advice on-site and remotely to small-business owners. The Bpeace model unites high-quality business consulting and promising local job creators (“Fast Runners”) to help them break through the barriers to growth. There are currently 400+ individuals from 14 countries working with Bpeace as volunteer business experts. They generously donate their skills and knowledge to help businesses in these countries grow, create jobs, become more profitable and secure a future for their workers and communities.