Yeama Thompson, Sierra Leone, is a media development professional who rose through the ranks from a cub-reporter at the Sierra Leone Daily Mail to an Editor of The Chronicle newspaper in war time Sierra Leone. During that period she also conceptualized and produced community radio programs for women and children. During the 2011 Liberian General Elections, she served as senior trainer for Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) and worked with a number of community radios, Monrovia-based journalists and policy makers to engage all Liberian stakeholders in public discussions on major issues of concern to Liberian citizens through that time. She also led gender-sensitive reporting training for Liberian journalists through her work with IREX. Yeama currently serves as Country Director of Journalists for Human Rights in Sierra Leone, where she conceptualized and implemented a human rights reporting strategy during the 2012 elections. She also works closely with the Women in the Media Sierra Leone (WIMSAL) and with support from the BBC Media Action and Journalists for Human Rights launched a leadership training initiative for media executives, which contributes to the development of a strategic action plan for female Sierra Leonean journalists from 2013 to 2015.
