Liberia submits 6,000 nominations for the Lonestar Cell MTN Heroes of Change Initiative

The MoMo Heroes of Change program showcases the selfless work done by individuals in their communities in health, education, youth, women’s development, tech solutions, and community impact.

Lonestar Cell MTN gave Liberians two weeks to submit the names of individuals who fit the criteria.  When the time period ended, 6,000 nominations had been received by Lonestar Cell MTN.    

After two days of vetting the 6,000 entries, Theo Kerion Williams of Echo House, the PR and Event Management agency facilitating the MoMo Heroes of Change program, said there were two key observations from the initial selection process.   

“What we found going through the entries is that there are hundreds of people around the country doing good work in the designated Heroes of Change categories.   We wanted to qualify more of these individuals but, in many cases, there was just not enough detail about the work of the nominee to move them forward,” he said.   

Of the 6,000 nominations two hundred will be evaluated by five prominent Heroes of Change panel of judges for further evaluation.   Thirty of the two hundred will be forwarded to the Governing Council for review and then posted to Lonestar Cell MTN social media pages where Liberians can monitor the process and vote.  

“A key cornerstone of Heroes of Change program is integrity,” said Lonestar Cell MTN Abigail Nufeatalai, Brand and Communications Manager.   

“We selected the judges and the Governing Council based on their expertise in health, education, youth, women’s development, tech solutions, and community impact.  More importantly, we were careful to ensure that the process was fair and transparent.  We carefully selected the judges and the members of the Governing Council because of their history of fairness and objectivity.  Then, we included   three rounds of voting and included the public,” she said.  

Liberians will vote for their choice by sending a no-cost SMS with the nominee specific code to Lonestar Cell MTN once the 30 nominees are selected.  Voting is weighted with the public having 30-pecent of each vote and the judges and the Governing Council with 70-percent.

Lonestar Cell MTN Mobile Financial Services General Manager, Christopher Ssali said that the response to the call for nominations has been overwhelming. 

‘’Clearly, from the response, there are thousands of Heroes out there willinging volunteering their time and resources to transform their communities. Heroes of Change is looking forward to recognizing and rewarding their gallant spirit, resilience, and innovation,” he noted.

The winners of the Heroes of Change will receive financial awards to continue their community work. The first to third place winners will receive $7,000, $2,000, and $1,000 respectively.