Priority 1
Women’s leadership & voice
Championing spaces where women and girls shape decisions, lead institutions, and have the tools to advocate for their rights at local, national and global levels.
Meet Our Visionary Leader
Director's Corner
Hey, welcome to our Director’s Corner.
Explore reflections, leadership insights, and key messages from the Executive Director of B4P CODEFOUND.
Director's Corner
A leadership space for vision, strategy and reflection.
Messages and insights from the office of the Executive Director.
This section introduces the thinking that guides Business for Peace Community Development Foundation (B4P CODEFOUND) – from shaping programmes and partnerships to elevating the voices of women and young people at community, national and global levels. Use this page to anchor the Director’s message, special statements, and strategic reflections.
STRATEGIC MESSAGE FROM OUR ED
A renowned women’s rights campaigner and social justice activist, our founder and executive director,
Lindora Kolu Howard-Diawara, understands what it means and how it feels to be a woman searching for survival in a postwar setting.
Lindora experienced severe adversity as a child, including surviving a raging civil war that engulfed her homeland, Liberia, when she was only 12 years old.
She began working for peace at 21, and the cause of women early in her life and has unceasingly advocated for equality at all levels while pushing for social cohesion across communities and cultures.
Her inspiration for change is deeply rooted in the stories of women and girls in developing countries, especially those who possess so much potential for personal development and change within their homes, communities, and society but who also need partners to walk with—partners who can help them realize that they can be more than who they are told or believe they are. She is inspired by real-life stories of determination—stories that reflect the shifts individuals make from victimhood to agency and those that reflect the dignity of the human person. She is further motivated by the resilience of mothers and daughters in conflict contexts, who still manage to find the courage and strength to rise every time they fall.
Lindora is a Senior Chevening Fellow, an Alum of the US State Department’s International Visitor’s Leadership Program (IVLP), a member of the Pan African Women Entrepreneurship Program, and an Alum of the New American Leadership Academy. She is the bearer of several training certificates earned during programs held in the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and across Africa. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of Liberia, and a Master of Arts degree in International Peace Studies from the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, USA.
This spirit of resistance, resilience, and resoluteness pushes Lindora to continue doing what she does for the cause of women, peace, and social justice globally. She has worked and associated with multiple local and international organizations, including Mercy Corps (with assignment in Mali), the World Bank’s Global Practice team on Social Urban and Rural Resilience (GPSURR), the Kroc Institute of Peace Studies’ Alumni Network at the University of Notre Dame, Interchurch Organization for Development Cooperation (ICCO)/Foundation, the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP), Lisle International, and the National Association of Palava Managers (NAPAM).
With more than 15 years of professional experience in peacebuilding and development, she has helped facilitate and build the capacities of hundreds of children, students, teachers, women, girls, and organizations in peace education and conflict prevention at community level. She has also supported civil society capacity building and development on gender, peacebuilding, human rights, democracy, and organizational leadership and development. Additionally, Lindora contributed to building and sustaining the Liberian Women’s Peace Movement—a peace advocacy campaign that helped end the Liberian Civil War—led by the Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET) program of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP-Liberia) from 2002 to 2011.
Leadership focus
How the Director guides B4P CODEFOUND’s work.
Beyond the day-to-day programmes, the Director provides strategic direction that keeps our foundation grounded in women’s rights, youth leadership and community-driven development.
Priority 2
Economic development & resilience
Linking livelihoods, entrepreneurship and financial literacy so that households can move beyond survival into sustainable economic independence.
Priority 3
Peace, dignity & social cohesion
Promoting dialogue, reconciliation and inclusive communities where differences are respected and young people grow up in environments free from violence.
From the Director’s desk
Keeping B4P CODEFOUND anchored, accountable and people-centred.
As B4P CODEFOUND grows, the Director’s role is to hold the bigger picture: connecting programmes, partners, and communities so that every initiative contributes to long-term dignity and opportunity for women, girls and young people.
“Our commitment is to stay close to the communities we serve while engaging confidently with global conversations on justice, peace and development.” – Office of the Executive Director
Focus areas
4 core pillars
Leadership
Women & youth–driven
Approach
Evidence-informed & community-led
Centering women & youth
Ensuring that programme design and decision-making keep the realities of women and young people at the centre of every conversation.
Linking peace & prosperity
Guiding the organisation to treat economic development, peacebuilding and social cohesion as interconnected—not competing—priorities.
Building trust & accountability
Strengthening internal systems, reporting and learning so that partners and communities can see clearly how every resource is used.
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Liberia 2025 Youth & Women Conference – Concept Note
13 November 2025
This concept note outlines B4P CODEFOUND’s Liberia 2025 Youth and Women Conference, bringing together partners, leaders and community actors to strengthen participation, economic empowerment and peacebuilding in Liberia and the diaspora.
Women’s Economic Empowerment & Livelihoods Brief 2024
05 October 2024
This brief shares lessons from B4P CODEFOUND’s work with women and girls in Liberia, highlighting small business start-ups, savings groups and dignified livelihoods that help families move beyond day-to-day survival.
