On January 16, 2006, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was sworn in as President of Liberia; the first woman to be elected head of an African state. Born and educated in Monrovia, she continued her studies in the U.S. in the 1960s, obtaining her Master’s degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. On Monday, September 18, 2006 President Johnson-Sirleaf discussed her strategy for rebuilding Liberia at the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics. There are several contributors to these questions, recognized accordingly.