25/06/2026
A snapshot about YONER Liberia!
YONER Liberia is a nationally recognized youth-founded social enterprise, innovation accelerator, and ecosystem builder established in 2008 to advance entrepreneurship, technology innovation, employability, education, digital inclusion, and sustainable livelihoods.
For nearly two decades, YONER has empowered more than 100,000 young people, women, entrepreneurs, students, and community members across Liberia through innovative programs that bridge education, entrepreneurship, technology, and economic opportunity.
YONER is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of technology entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem development in Liberia.
In 2016, Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jarius Andrew Greaves was selected by the U.S. Department of State's Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) Initiative as one of Africa's leading young innovators. Following this engagement, YONER partnered with the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia to introduce and scale entrepreneurship and technology innovation programming across Liberia.
Through these partnerships, YONER:
- Directly trained and supported more than 5,000 entrepreneurs and innovators.
- Organized 28 technology entrepreneurship and innovation forums reaching over 3,000 emerging entrepreneurs.
- Established Liberia's first internationally recognized GIST Innovation Hub, becoming the second GIST Innovation Hub in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Introduced the internationally acclaimed Diamond Challenge and launched Liberia's first National High School Entrepreneurship Competition.
- Created the Liberia Entrepreneurship Academy, producing Liberia's first cohorts of youth trained in Technology Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise Development.
The organization's contributions have received national recognition from the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Youth and Sports and USAID through the Liberia Development Awards(2018), including recognition for outstanding contributions to youth development and entrepreneurship in 2019 and 2023.
YONER's leadership and impact have also been recognized by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia. The organization's influence contributed to Liberia receiving the first-ever single-country entrepreneurship-focused International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) initiative in the program's nearly eighty-year history, with YONER receiving three of the six national participant placements.
Today, YONER continues to build innovative ecosystems that prepare young Liberians for success in an increasingly digital, entrepreneurial, and technology-driven world.
