Liberian Learning Center
Liberian learning center
The Liberian Learning Center is a collaborative project led by Canadian charity Empowerment Squared in partnership with Rotary International, Rotary Club of Hamilton, Rotary Club of Monrovia, Paynesville City Corporation, mcCallumSather, and Hamilton Public Library, and Tri Buchanan Development Corp. The Center will be built in multiple phases on the site of Paynesville City Hall and will include Liberia’s first postwar comprehensive learning center and library, co-working and business incubation spaces, sports and recreation facilities, and event facilities.
The Liberian Learning Center is a collaborative project led by Canadian charity Empowerment Squared in partnership with Rotary International, Rotary Club of Hamilton, Rotary Club of Monrovia, Paynesville City Corporation, mcCallumSather, and Hamilton Public Library, and Tri Buchanan Development Corp. The Center will be built in multiple phases on the site of Paynesville City Hall and will include Liberia’s first postwar comprehensive learning center and library, co-working and business incubation spaces, sports and recreation facilities, and event facilities.
project overview
The Liberian Learning Center is a complex of three facilites in Paynesville, Liberia, focused on transforming the educational landscape in the city and providing a diverse set of resources to a catchment of over 100,000 community members.
Phase 1 of the Center, pictured above, will include Liberia’s first postwar comprehensive learning center and library, and serve as a hub for personal and professional development with co-working and business incubation spaces.
Phase 2 is planned as a safe and well-equipped indoor recreation facility.
Phase 3 will involve a substantial renovation to the existing large town hall conference center to transform it into a modern and multi-functional space for a diversity of uses.
The Center will act as a resource to several local community-based organizations and initiatives, empowering them to provide necessary programs and services to the Liberian population. Phase 1 will host a wide range of programs which include information literacy, educational programming, computer training, life skills andpersonal development.
Hamilton Public Library, an innovative Canadian library system with over 7 million items in circulation and 22 branches, is proud to be a formal project partner, and to act as a liaison for the engagement of leaders in the industry from across the world.
HPL is advising on the development of a modern, responsive, and thoughtful library system at the Liberian Learning Center intended to evolve into a pan-Liberian library system. This relationship will also uniquely allow Liberians access to global digital resources.
LEO NUPOLU JOHNSON – A SON OF THE SOIL
Empowerment Squared was founded by current Executive Director Leo Nupolu Johnson. Born in Liberia, Leo lived through almost a decade of civil war before fleeing the country and spending 8 years living in refugee camps in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana before resettling to Canada in 2006.
Leo’s impact has been recognized across the world. His expertise includes nonprofit startups and management, international development, immigration and resettlement, fundraising and financial management. He has received the Reverend John C Holland Award for Youth Leadership and Excellence and the YMCA Peace Medal, and was named one of the top 75 immigrants in Canada. He was recently awarded the World Citizenship Award by the City of Hamilton, the Gandhi Peace Award, the McMaster University Global Community Impact Award, and Afroglobal TV’s 2018 Visionary Award, and was selected as a United Nations Fellow for the International Decade for People of African Descent.