Matthew Fred
Liberia

As a humanitarian and journalist, Matthew M. Fred has been working for five years to resolve conflict and discrimination issues among tribal communities in rural Grand Bassa County, South-western Liberia. He presently serves as the President and founder of Youth Against Tribalism In Africa (YATIA), a non-profit youth led organization striving to eradicate tribalism by focusing on mentoring rural communities’ youth and elders concerning the effect of forms of discrimination. As a human rights journalist, Matthew reports on human rights issues affecting rural communities in Grand Bassa County. Matthew holds certificates in human rights reporting from Journalism for Human Rights (Canada) in collaboration with the Liberia Media Center (LMC). He also has a Certificate in Youth Peace Building and Leadership skills from the Action Aid Liberia/UNICEF JPYEE Program, coupled with an Advanced Diploma in Computer Science from the Keytech Computer Institute in Liberia. Passionate about seeing Liberia free of ethnic conflicts and discrimination, Matthew is committed to using his Washington Fellowship experience to enable his institution to spread its advocacy, awareness and mentorship against tribalism, which he believes is economically, socially, religiously, physically and emotionally restraining Africa’s economic growth and development.