Monrovia, Liberia – Five University of Liberia students joined about 200 young people from across West Africa in Nigeria last week for a five-day bootcamp designed to equip emerging leaders with skills to drive social innovation, entrepreneurship and community development.
The students participated in the fifth annual Social Innovation and Leadership Bootcamp (SILB) Africa 2026, held October 12–16 in Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria. The theme was “Architects of Change,” and the bootcamp featured training and workshops focused on youth leadership, networking, social innovation, entrepreneurship, civic engagement, cross-border collaboration and community building.
“When I was selected especially to represent the University of Liberia, I felt so honored to be on an impactful platform, where different young leadership across Africa comes together to collaborate, engage, network and culture exchange,” said UL student Courage Cooper. “The theme Architects of Change stood out for me as an advocate of youth engagement and community development.”
Cooper, a second-year student, was one of the five UL students selected from the President’s Students Advisory Council to attend the bootcamp. Jocephus Barleh, Emmanuel Theo, Thomas Hallie and Michael Blojaye also represented the university at SILB.
Theo, a UL senior student, said being selected to attend SILB “was a great honor and an exciting opportunity for me.”
“As a young person from the University of Liberia, I felt proud, grateful, and motivated to represent my university and contribute to meaningful change in society,” he said.
The UL students were among 33 young leaders from Liberia at SILB, where more than 200 participants from West African countries attended. Joshua Bless Lincoln, Coordinator for the SILB, based in Liberia, accompanied the Liberian delegation.
“As a youth empowerment advocate, I believe young people are key to Africa’s future,” he said. “I saw the bootcamp as an opportunity for young Liberians to learn, unlearn, relearn, build meaningful networks, and gain practical leadership skills to help address the challenges facing Liberia and Africa.”
Lincoln said delegates had to apply and get selected to attend the bootcamp. Final selections were made by SILB organizers.
“Generally, opportunities like this seek young people who demonstrate leadership potential, a commitment to personal growth, an interest in social innovation, and a willingness to contribute to their communities,” Lincoln said. “The goal was to bring together young Liberians who could learn from the experience and use that knowledge to create positive change.”
Cooper said key takeaways from the week, included these nuggets: “knowing yourself comes comes along with knowing your people,” “data is a leadership tool” and “no leader succeeds alone, they need a team.”
Theo said SILB was an opportunity to network, share ideas and hone his leadership skills.
“I saw this selection not only as personal growth but also as a responsibility to use what I learned to make a positive impact in my community and beyond,” he said.