Kimmie Weeks has worked to alleviate poverty and human suffering in Africa and around the world since he was fourteen years old. Kimmie was born in Liberia 1981. When he was nine, Kimmie came face to face with civil war, human suffering, and death. He vividly recalls eating roots and wild leaves when his family did not have access to food, drinking infested water when national water supply was shut off, and nearly being buried alive after epidemics had wrecked his emaciated body.

 

Over the years, Kimmie has formed partnerships and led organizations that have provided education to thousands of students in West Africa, lobbied the disarmament of over 20,000 child soldiers, and provided health care and recreation supplies to children.

 

In 1998, Kimmie Weeks investigated and released a groundbreaking report on the Liberian government’s involvement in the training children as soldiers. As a result, former Liberian President Charles Taylor made several attempts to assassinate him until he fled Liberia and was granted political asylum in the United States. Today Kimmie is working towards building a movement to positively change the face of Africa. His goal and emphasis focus on empowering the people, providing new opportunities, creating strategic development partnerships for Africa, and using technology to link Africa with the rest of the world.

 

Kimmie Weeks currently serves as Executive Director of Youth Action International, a non-profit organization working to support the needs of people in six post war African countries. He is also enrolled in a Masters programme at the University of  Pennsylvania.

 

Kimmie Weeks is the recipient of the 2007 Golden Brick Award which honours young people under 25 years old who are working to change the world. Also in 2007, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf presented Kimmie with Liberia’s highest honour by decorating him Knight Grand Commander in the Humane Order of African Redemption. Kimmie is the youngest recipient of this honour. He is also featured in the new book Peace in Our Lifetime as an international peacemaker, along with Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. In 2008, MTV Canada and Discovery Chanel International profiled Kimmie’s work as part of a new reality series called 4REAL.

 

Kimmie has delivered dozens of speeches to many diverse audiences in the United States and other parts of the world. However, Kimmie’s unique perspective on topics such as civil war, child soldiers, children affected by war, children living in difficult circumstances, poverty, and peace building allow him to instantly connect with young audiences. His unique ability to navigate his speeches from the ravages of war to the potential of young people as activists, to motivate them by showing them the tools to become activists for social change, makes his speeches incredibly motivational and effective.

 

“I remain a strong believer in the power of young people to make change happen,” Kimmie said in a recent interview. “I believe that young people have immense power, more than we realize. Once young people are informed and begin to feel the issues, they will discover their passion for change and will put it to use.”

 

Many of the people in Kimmie Week’s audiences have gone on to initiate projects, fundraise for humanity, or taken up the mission to inform their peers. Kimmie hopes that his speaking tours and his drive will continue to be a mechanism for encouraging future generations to remain informed and excited to use their resources to make a positive difference in the world.