Marilyn Comrie has been honoured with a prestigious global leadership award for her pioneering institutional capacity building work to enhance the effectiveness of Liberian embassies to act as economic gateways in attracting Foreign Direct Investment and harnessing the resources of the Diaspora to promote rapid economic growth.
Working alongside the World Bank and United Nations, LeaderGen is helping the country to access donor funding and form a strategy to become a wealth-generating economy in its own right. As well as lobbying of donor agencies and the UK government for debt relief, LeaderGen is helping to develop an effective communications strategy to promote Liberia, a country with great natural resources, as a destination of choice for private investors.
The special award ceremony took place at an elaborate dinner organised by INGO Third Sector Resource at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall in London, on November 28.
Marilyn received the Leadership Excellence Award endorsed by the World Bank, IMF African society for her work promoting African Development.
The award which acknowledges, celebrates and rewards the efforts of deserving Africans, was presented under the banner of The Kofi Annan African Achievement Awards. The award seeks to raise awareness of the outstanding achievements of hitherto unknown men and women who have served Africa in the drive towards sustainable development and poverty eradication.
Clearly moved and thrilled at winning the award, Marilyn said “ Earlier this year, I was among 200 of the UK’s most outstanding business women recognised by the Queen at a special reception in Buckingham Palace. That was a memorable day. But being recognised by your own is the greatest honour for which I am deeply thankful. Excellence comes from applying your God given talents in the service of others. We cannot leave it for another people, another time, another government to effect the positive transformation of Africa and return it to the Eden that it once was. We each have a part to play, here and now”.
Marilyn is currently working with the World Bank to organise a global women’s empowerment event on the scale of Bob Geldof’s ‘Live Aid’ which will take place in Africa in Nov 2008.The aim is to showcase the role of women in leadership as a tool for positive transformation of the continent, and inspire and motivate the next generation of young African women to become effective leaders.
Marilyn will be traveling to America & Africa in Dec 2007 to gain the support and participation of high profile leaders like Oprah Winfrey, President Johnson Sirleaf, Hilary Clinton Nogzi Okonjo-Iweala ( MD World Bank), and Melinda Gates and Michelle Obama.
The event will also feature the achievements of less well known women leaders, working at the community, corporate and public sector leaders, who through their activities have demonstrated the role of women as agents for irreversible transformation.
Pictured with other award winners, from far left: Catherine Ampaw, CEO OBE-TV, Dr. Ndi Okereke- Onyiuike, Director General, Nigerian Stock Exchange; Dr. Erica Bennett Head-of-Mission of the Diaspora African Forum and Marilyn Comrie.