MEET JOEL ABDULAI KALLON
Joel Abdulai Kallon holds the distinction of Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society and is also a Fellow of the Danish Agency for International Development (DANIDA).
He is employed as Programmes and Information Manager with the Institute for Governance Reform (IGR). His professional interests are built around integrating technology with research for effective advocacy and policy formulation. At IGR he specializes in research design and data analysis, and has contributed to several prominent publications including an analysis of Sierra Leone’s 2018 electioneering process titled, “Deepening Democracy in Sierra Leone (2018)”. At the height of the 2018 elections campaign, he was responsible for the publication of a “Policy Brief on Asset Declaration (2017)”, which helped to propel a national conversation on the need for political aspirants to declare their assets before taking up office.
He was also very influential in the development of Sierra Leone’s first-ever Citizen’s Manifesto, which established nationwide the citizenry’s concerns and demands going into the 2018 elections. Currently, Joel is responsible for the Bio-Meter project –an online tool that tracks the campaign promises of the recently-elected President Julius Maada Bio.
Vision for Youth Empowerment
Joel demonstrates considerable passion for youth empowerment and readily shows up to address community challenges. Through Chozen Generation, an organization he founded, Joel provides a platform where young Sierra Leoneans can meaningfully engage their leaders on specific issues and policies that are most important to them. The organization promotes youth leadership and organizes an annual national debating championship for girls to raise awareness on gender equality issues.
Joel’s national influence as a young leader is also further expressed in his regular engagements with leaders of government. In 2018 for instance, he led a delegation of youth leaders to the Commissioner, National Youth Commission to discuss on a range of youth issues. After the launch of the government’s free education initiative, Joel also engaged the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education in a meeting with the Deputy Minister on key, youths-focused recommendations on making the free education work.
Education
Joel attended the prestigious Albert Academy School where he got the best result in the 2005 Basic Education Certificate Examination. In 2015, he graduated from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, bagging the University Award for best student in Mechanical and Maintenance Engineering in the process.