Liberia President’s Young Professionals Program (IBI International)

14 years of civil unrest and infrastructural devastation left Liberia with a significant human resource and service delivery capacity gap. Launched by H.E. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 2009, the President’s Young Professionals Program (PYPP) addressed this capacity gap by recruiting, training, and preparing promising and talented Liberian college graduates for a future in public service. JSI assisted the government of Liberia in establishing this pipeline of young leaders—motivated and able workers—through training and mentoring for future success.

In the short term, President’s Young Professionals (PYPs) provided additional support to government ministries and agencies by performing a variety of critical tasks as needed, helping to rebuild ministerial capacity after the civil conflict. The Program’s long-term goal is to create the next generation of qualified professionals who were able and committed to working for the Government of Liberia (GoL), thereby increasing public sector capacity and contributing to good governance and strong leadership. JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. provided human resource and capacity building support to the Liberian Ministry of Finance through the PYPP.

PYPP has proven that a strong civil service is critical to Liberia's long-term success. The success of the PYPP was made possible by generous support from the Hess Foundation, the Government of Liberia, Scott Family Foundation, McCall MacBain Foundation, Humanity United, Nike Foundation, Open Society Institute, NoVo Foundation, Belinda Stronach Foundation, Daphne Foundation, Mailman Family, Simonds Family, and the U.S. Agency for International Development.