About us
SHIFSD
SHIFSD envisage a just society free of Illiteracy and Poverty
Our story started in 2000 in the Central Region of Ghana, where a group of Liberian refugees put their minds and skills together to support others who had been displaced by the Civil War. In 2008, SHIFSD returned home to Liberia, and we are now based in the township of Johnsonville, Montserrado County.
Our Mission
Our work encourages sustainable development in Liberia, through promoting and enabling access to Adult Literacy, Technical Vocational Education and Training, Entrepreneurship and Social Justice.

- Trust
- Honesty
- Time Consciousness
- Good governance
- Transparency
- Hard work
- Discipline
- Integrity
- Commitment
SHIFSD’s target beneficiaries are: the youth, refugees and women in deprived communities, aged 13 to 35+.
- Functional Adult Education for underprivileged people in semi-urban communities;
- Civic Awareness through educational activities on rights and responsibilities; peacebuilding, gender; sexual reproductive health, and environmental conservation;
- Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET);
- Micro-enterprise Development for disadvantaged youths;
- Teacher Training & Personal Growth Studies;
- Agriculture, etc.
Our work aims at inspiring community development by encouraging personal and collective initiatives that engender enlightenment, self-reliance, peace & prosperity.
Our work covers all 15 counties of Liberia, and we currently work in Montserrado, Margibi, Bomi, Gbapolu, Grand Cape Mount, and Nimba counties.
Liberia has a population of 4.94 million of which the youth constitute 65%. Monrovia alone has a population of 1,467,000 of the total population as of 2019. Many of the country’s young people missed out on school, particularly vocational skills necessary for gainful employment amidst the harsh economic realities.
Our Staff

Jeremiah T. Burgess
Co-founder and Executive Director

Jerry K. Bleh
Program Officer and Lead Supervisor

D. Nyema Wesley
Finance Officer

David J. Nagbwe
Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Officer (MEL)

Emmanuel J. Saygbe
Education Coordinator
Our Board Members

David S. Sloh, Sr.
Chairperson

James N. Domah, Sr.
Co-chair

Dixon Wlehbo
Member

Rosemarie A. Gray
Member

Mildred N. Sayon
Member

Frances S. Kettor
Member

Dio Harris
Member