BROOKLYN CENTER, MN – Prominent Human Rights Lawyer Atty. Samuel Koffi Woods and Grand Bassa County Senator Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence are expected to address this year’s National Convention of the Association of Liberian Journalists in the Americas (ALJA) slated to be held in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA, from September 29 – October 2, 2022.
Senator Karnga-Lawrence will address the General Assembly on the morning of Saturday, October 1st, on the “Challenges facing women’s Political Participation, capping a list of prominent Liberian female politicians who are expected to address the convention’s panel discussion earlier on Friday, September 30.
These include former presidential candidate, Macdella Cooper, and former Nimba County Superintendent and Senatorial aspirant, Edith Gongloe Weh. The head of the Monrovia-based election integrity organization, Local Voices Liberia, Alpha Daffae Sekpeni, will address the convention on ways that the media and civil society organizations can help to create an environment for free, fair, and transparent elections.
Also on Friday, the conferees will visit Assumption University, a private Catholic College in Worcester, and tour the Communications and Media Department. There will also be discussions on the future partnership between ALJA and the University.
Mr. Woods, who is the guest speaker, will address the Association’s Annual Benefit Banquet on the evening of Saturday, October 1, on the theme, “Sustaining Liberia’s Democracy Now and in the Future: The Media and the 2023 General Elections.”
Atty. Woods is a legal consultant at the Liberia Law Society and previously served as Minister of Labor and Public Works under the administration of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
According to a Press Release issued by the Association on Monday, September 26, 2022, the ALJA Benefit dinner is an annual event that mobilizes financial and material support for the association’s media advocacy, development, and training programs in Liberia.
The program includes the Joe Teh Memorial Scholarship Program which supports select students at the Department of Communication and Media Studies at the University of Liberia.
Activities for Saturday, October 1st, will include the association’s general assembly which would take stock of the association’s performance during its previous year’s review, and a presentation on Personal Financial Management in the United States by Mr. Alex Cuffy, a Managing Consultant at the American financial institution, Alan Bernard International.
Also on Saturday, there will be a virtual presentation by Katrina Simmons and Mark Olson from the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota, which partners with ALJA.
On Sunday, September 26, a thanking service for the ALJA National Leadership and members of the Association will be held at the Christ Jubilee International Fellowship Church.
Meanwhile, the Association will honor three prominent Liberian Journalists for their work in the media and their pioneering role in the establishment of ALJA. The three, who will be honored at the Benefit dinner, include veteran Journalists Kenneth Best, Isaac Bantu, and Gabriel Williams.
ALJA is a conglomeration of current and retired Liberian journalists residing in the Americas. It is a 501c (3) non-profit organization. The Association was founded in 1998 with the objectives of advancing press freedom through media capacity building, and the fostering of good governance in Liberia through media advocacy
