Vandalark Patricks

Vandalark Patricks, an accomplished and award-winning Liberian Human Rights Defender and public policy strategist, transformed a challenging upbringing into a powerful force for change. Born to plantation workers and experiencing domestic enslavement due to his family’s poverty, his early life and the Liberian crisis deeply inspired his activism. He has bravely faced physical torture and imprisonment for defending the rights of marginalized and vulnerable populations and speaking out against societal ills in Liberia. Vandalark is the Founder and Executive Director of Campaigners for Change International, a nonprofit he established in Liberia in 2004 as a college freshman. This organization supports at-risk youth—those involved in drugs, organized crime, and extortion—guiding them toward recovery and productive citizenship, and providing economic support through micro-financing. Campaigners for Change International actively works to narrow the equity gaps created by corruption. Academically, Vandalark holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (2021) and a Master of Public Administration in Public Sector Management from Cuttington University in Liberia. He also earned a Graduate Diploma in Public Policy as a Policy Leader Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. His extensive experience includes volunteering for life-transforming and poverty-eradicating organizations, working for two years as a volunteer at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in Washington, D.C., and serving as a panelist on global media and policy platforms, including the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).