Kimmie L. Weeks is a survivor to the Liberia civil war has worked to alleviate poverty and human suffering in Africa and around the world since he was fourteen years old. As a child, Kimmie Weeks dedicated his life to working for humanity after facing several life-threatening situations during the Liberian civil war.
In 1994 at the age of fourteen, Kimmie Weeks started his work to impact the lives of Liberian children and youth. He co-founded the Voice of the Future Inc., and later went to establish the Children’s Bureau of Information. In 1996, Weeks established the Children’s Disarmament Campaign with goal to advocate the disarmament of Liberia’s 20,000 child soldiers.
In 1998, Kimmie Weeks released a groundbreaking report on the Liberian government’s involvement in the training of child soldiers. After several attempts to assassinate him as a result of the report, he was forced into exile in the United States. While in the United States he established an international organization called Youth Action International to support the needs of families living in post war countries. Since its establishment, Youth Action International’s programs have benefited over to 250,000 people in six post war African countries. He also inspires thousands of people around the world through his global motivational speaking tour.
Kimmie Weeks has been honored for his work internationally. His honors and awards include: the World’s Children’s Prize, The Time Warner Goodwill Game Medallion, The Golden Brick Award, The Nuclear Age Foundation Award, The Nelson Mandela Peace Medal, and as a World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leader. He is also recipient of one of Liberia’s highest civilian awards as Knight Grand Commander in the Humane Order of African Redemption. He is the youngest recipient of this honor.
Kimmie Weeks has been featured in many books and publications including Peace in Our Lifetime as an international peace maker, along with Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. He has also the subject of several documentaries on various networks including Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN, CCTV, Discovery Channel International and MTV Canada.
Professionally, he has served in many executive level positions including as Corporate Communications Strategist for Cellcom GSM, Communications Strategist for Orange Liberia, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Liberia Water & Sewer Corporation and Senior Director of Africa for Clinical Research Management and as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council.
Kimmie Weeks received a Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College, a Master of Science from the University of Pennsylvania, and a law degree from the University of Liberia. He also was awarded an honorary Doctorate Degree in May 2011. He currently serves as Executive Director of Youth Action International, Senior Director of Africa for Integrum Scientific and is spearheading various agriculture projects to ensure food security for Liberia.
More information online at: www.kimmieweeks.com
