Meet Fatu

Growing up in Liberia, she witnessed how deeply the stories people inherit shape the lives they believe are possible. In a culture where girls were often taught to stay small, she chose to speak anyway. As a teenager, she became both a radio host and debate captain, using her voice in spaces where tradition often expected silence. Those early experiences sparked a lifelong fascination with the power of stories to shape identity, leadership, and possibility.

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In 2018, Fatu earned a scholarship through SMART Liberia to study Peace and Conflict Resolution at Manchester University in Indiana, becoming the first woman in her family of twenty to earn a university degree. While completing her degree, she mentored African students pursuing higher education, helping them navigate opportunities she had once fought to access herself.

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Her thesis explored the relationship between education, poverty, and violence, examining how greater access to education and economic opportunity creates more peaceful societies while their absence often leaves women carrying the greatest burden. That work later inspired her TEDx talk in 2024, where she explored how storytelling, fiction, and empathy can help people process trauma, build resilience, and create meaningful social impact.

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In 2022, Fatu moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to pursue a Master's degree in Technology Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Saint Mary's University, becoming the first person in her family to earn a master's degree. There, she expanded her work beyond research and into building communities, creating platforms, and designing experiences where people could connect through stories.

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Over the years, she has organized national peace initiatives, curated multiple TEDx conferences, facilitated leadership programs, written fiction, built businesses, and became Nova Scotia's first hijab runway model. While these experiences may seem different on the surface, they are all connected by one belief: stories shape culture, culture shapes leadership, and leadership shapes the future.

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Along the way, she learned another lesson that continues to influence her work today. Opportunities are rarely found. They are created. By reaching out to global leaders, creators, founders, and organizations, she discovered that networking is simply storytelling in action. The right doors often open not because you have all the answers, but because you show up authentically, communicate your vision clearly, and are willing to ask. That belief became the foundation of UnMasked.​

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Today, Fatu helps organizations, leaders, and entrepreneurs uncover the stories that shape how they lead, communicate, and inspire. Through keynote speaking, leadership development, strategic storytelling, and community building, she equips audiences to replace performance with presence, uncertainty with confidence, and inherited limitations with intentional leadership.

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Her work has been recognized in Forbes column and featured on stages and platforms dedicated to leadership, entrepreneurship, innovation, and social impact. She currently serves as Programming Lead for Canadian Association Of Professional Speakers Atlantic Region, curates TEDx experiences, and continues to build spaces where meaningful conversations create lasting change.