ABOUT AMARA
Early Years
The fourth of six children, Amara was born in poverty on his mother’s kitchen floor in Bassa Camp, near Weasua, Gbarpolu County, Liberia on December 7, 1971. He did not start school until age 10. At 17 years old, several members of his immediate family, including his father and three siblings, were killed during Liberia’s protracted civil war. Living as a refugee in Guinea, he established a school for Liberian refugees. His volunteer leadership led him to a position with the International Rescue Committee as a Refugee Education Coordinator for Beyla Prefecture, Guinea where he led the construction, staffing and supervision of 18 refugee schools for Liberian children and then immigrated to the United States of America to further his education.
Call To Serve
After completing college at Drexler University, he worked for the Vanguard Group of Investment Companies, a Fortune 500 company in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania from 1998 to 2006. He moved up the ranks to become a project manager.
Returning to Liberia to work for then president of Liberia Her Excellency Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as Deputy Chief of Staff for policy in 2006, and quickly rose to be named Minister of Finance – which eventually became Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.
After the Ebola crisis wreaked havoc on the country’s economy in 2014 and due to commodity prices declining affecting iron ore and rubber, Amara championed reforms such as the establishment of the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning and the Liberia Revenue Authority to enhance economic and fiscal policymaking and shore up domestic revenue mobilization, followed by an Open Budget Initiative and Citizens Guide to the budget that educated Liberians across the country about the budget, the submission of timely fiscal outturn reports to the Legislature, and mobilization of a whopping $240 million in international aid for the Ebola disaster response efforts and fiscal incentives to maintain macroeconomic stability.
The Bank
Amara served as Regional Integration and Partnership Senior Advisor to the World Bank’s Africa Region’s Vice Presidency, managing strategic partnerships with the African Union and 8 Regional Economic Commissions (RECs), providing expertise and technical assistance to advance regional economic integration between countries and the wider African economic community, and coordinated the deployment of a $2B portfolio in resources to RECs and led partnership dialogues to strengthen engagement.
Education & Experiences
Amara holds an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He also holds a master’s degree from Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor’s degree from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Education
- Monrovia College (Liberia)
- Drexel University (USA)
- Penn State University (USA)
- Harvard University (USA)
- MIT (USA)
Notable Previous Jobs
- The World Bank Group
- Minister of Finance and Development Planning
- Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of Her Excellency President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
The Senate
On 10th October 2023, Amara was elected to the 55th Legislature as Senator of Gbarpolu County and was sworn into office on 15th January 2024.