Meet our Experts: Adja Phipps
Adja Phipps is a West African native. She currently lives in Seattle, Washington. Adja graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Political Science. She later went on to obtain her Masters degree in Sustainable International Development Law at the University of Washington School of Law, Seattle with a focus on Human rights and Women’s Rights.
Adja is a self-motivated individual who traveled the world alone as a young girl in pursuit of knowledge, which is reflected in her knowledge of African culture and Western academia. She self-sponsored her education in the USA by working night-shift as a caregiver and a fulltime student by day.
Adja has a high drive for professionalism; she also thrives on impacting positively the lives of others, specifically women’s lives wherever she finds herself residing or working. Adja has become a subject-matter-expert on developing, organizing and operating micro-enterprise projects that help women in Africa become financially independent.
Adja’s fight for women’s rights started when she was about nine years old and witnessed a man beating his wife while everybody around watched. Adja stepped in to rescue the woman, and that woman fled her husband’s home that same night, leaving her children behind. Adja later became a victim of attacks and hatred for stepping in, but she did not stop speaking against gender violence, instead, she channeled her energy into writing and performing art. She playwrights for culture change.
Adja’s strategy for social justice is to maximize her talent as a great communicator, her relationship building ability, as well as the legal rules of the given system and organizations to improve the lives of others. She speaks whenever there is a need to, and she does not shy away from topics such as race, gender or class. She writes poetry, and short stories, including sharing her own experience to inspire others, and to promote social justice. Adja is multilingual in English, French, Moore, and Diola.
