Wantoe Teah Wantoe is a Liberian activisT, the co-founder of the Youth Leader for Global Change and the African Diaspora Youth Network.
Since early age, Wantoe has championed the rights of women and children and has been one of Liberia and Africa’s prime faces for global sustainability and youth development. He is a passionate and dedicated young man driven by social causes. His listening and communication skills allow him to influence and mobilize young people, his community and decision makers. Wantoe currently serves as a Steering Member to the United Nations Department of Global Communication Youth Steering Committee.
Wantoe grew up in the slump of Liberia. He experienced first-hand the impacts of inequality, poverty, violence, and the exclusion of youth from the national decision-making process, combined with the devastating systemic violence against women and children which plagues Liberia. Wantoe knew that he needed to make a change and become a transformational leader who addresses the core problems of poverty, human rights, illiteracy, and economic inequality which he has suffered from. Thus, Wantoe has organized and participated in rallies, petitions, awareness campaigns and national policy discourse impacting thousands of Liberians, with his first major responsibility coming in 2013 through his appointment as the youth representative to the Liberia’s Independent National Human Rights Commission. In this role, he established the project to strengthen bystander protection and enhance effective access to human rights investigations and founded the first youth structures of child right institutions across Liberia’s 15 counties. His experiences in this role only increased his eagerness to create societal change with regards to children and women’s rights. In 2014, he took responsibility for documenting the violations of 785 orphaned and neglected children during the Ebola outbreak, earning an invite as the youngest preliminary speaker of the United Nations World Humanitarian Summit. There, Wantoe spoke on behalf of West Africa Countries, generating over 3,000 commitments to action and over a dozen new partnerships to end the Ebola outbreak and for combating humanitarian disasters.
His commitment has earned him multiple international recognitions from Princess Diana and the 2017 Summer Youth Assembly from the Friendship Ambassador Foundation. He is a certified 2019 Obama Foundation Leadership Asset and Dialogue Alumni. In addition, a 2019 Princess Diana Award Recipient, A 2018 Global Young Voices SDGs Champion Winner SDGs Champion Winner Wantoe was also awarded as a 2020 Friend of Humanity Distinguished Alumni Award Distinguished Alumni Award by the Friendship Ambassador Foundations. In June 2020, he was awarded by the College of Mount Saint Vincent for his contribution to global enlightenment, student’s consciousness and systemic change. In 2021, Wantoe was also awarded the Frédéric Ozanam Award.
Wantoe has also been an active voice in the Diaspora mobilizing African leaders to find their voice and also championing projects that recognize African Leaders which find common solutions to the plethora of issues in Liberia. In 2020 he established the Aspiring Librarian for National Transformation connecting Diaspora Liberians for nation building and reconciliation. In its first year, they pioneered a scholarship drive for over 200 deserving Liberians through the support of Liberians in the diaspora. Wantoe was recognized as one of 8 Young Pacesetters for Africa Development by the African Renaissance and Diaspora Network. The selection was made from numerous nominations of trailblazers and young leaders across Africa and in the Diaspora through the UN system. He was conferred the recognition at the United Nations Headquarters during Africa Day Celebration in the UN Trustee Chambers.
He is a recipient of a medal in Public Policy with a Magna Cum Laude from the College of Mount Saint Vincent minoring in Education, History and Communication.