Gonet Academy 2025 Cohorts: Growth, Outcomes, and National Impact

—Cohorts Drive National Workforce Transformation, Expands Impact Across Liberia

Gonet Academy has strengthened its position as one of Liberia’s leading professional development institutions following a landmark 2025 training year that saw the Academy train 2,762 professionals across three major cohorts while achieving a remarkable 90 percent overall completion rate.

From January 2025 through February 2026, the Academy’s Cohorts 11, 12, and 13 collectively became the driving force behind one of the most significant professional training expansions currently taking place in Liberia’s education and workforce development sector.

The achievements represent more than numerical growth. They reflect a broader national movement aimed at equipping the country’s workforce with practical skills, ethical leadership capacity, and industry-relevant competencies necessary to compete in an increasingly demanding labor market.

“This journey has never been only about certificates,” said Mohammed Kerkulah, Founder and CEO of Gonet Academy. “It is about transforming lives, strengthening institutions, and contributing meaningfully to national development by building human capital that can solve real problems.”

Kerkulah described the Academy’s 2025 performance as evidence that Liberians are increasingly embracing skills-based professional education as a pathway to opportunity, leadership, and economic empowerment.

The Academy’s 2025 performance was anchored by three consecutive training cohorts that expanded enrollment, improved completion outcomes, and deepened institutional partnerships across government, private sector institutions, and civil society organizations.

Participants were drawn from all 15 counties of Liberia and represented more than 350 institutions nationwide, reflecting what observers describe as the Academy’s growing national footprint.

The training programs covered high-demand professional disciplines, including Monitoring and Evaluation, Project Management, Human Resource Management, and Procurement, Logistics, and Supply Chain Management. Others are Occupational Health and Safety Management, Banking and Finance, and Digital and Technology Programs.

The Academy also maintained strong female participation throughout the year, with women accounting for more than half of total enrollment across all three cohorts.

According to education and workforce analysts, that level of inclusion is particularly significant in a country where women continue to face structural barriers in professional advancement and leadership opportunities.

Cohort 11: Record Applications and a National Breakthrough

The Academy’s Cohort 11 cycle, which ran from January to May 2025, marked a defining institutional breakthrough.

The cohort attracted a record 1,553 applications—the highest in the Academy’s history—with 801 learners ultimately enrolled.

That represented a 31.1 percent increase compared to the previous cohort, signaling rapidly growing demand for practical, career-oriented training opportunities.

By the end of the cycle, 746 professionals successfully graduated, producing an impressive 93.10 percent completion rate.

Importantly, the cohort also reflected increasing female participation, with women accounting for 52.7 percent of enrolled learners.

For many observers, the numbers highlighted a broader shift occurring within Liberia’s professional education landscape.

At the graduation ceremony held on May 30, 2025, Josiah F. Joekai Jr. described Gonet Academy as “more than an educational institution.”

“It is a national movement for transformation and capacity building,” Dr. Joekai declared.

He praised the Academy for aligning its programs with Liberia’s workforce development needs and publicly endorsed its efforts to expand access through a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), aimed at reaching learners beyond Monrovia.

Dr. Joekai also proposed strategic collaboration between the Civil Service Agency and Gonet Academy to create stronger pathways between professional training and employment opportunities within the public sector.

Cohort 12: Consolidating Quality and Expanding Professional Pathways

While Cohort 11 symbolized rapid expansion, Cohort 12 focused heavily on consolidation, quality assurance, and specialization.

Running from June to September 2025, the cohort enrolled 1,049 learners and achieved a 91 percent graduation rate, with 827 professionals successfully completing their programs.

One of the Academy’s most notable achievements during this phase was the successful stabilization of its flagship Comprehensive Professional Programs (CPPs), designed to provide deeper technical and industry-focused competencies.

The Academy reported that pre- and post-training assessments showed competency improvements averaging more than 75 percent across all programs.

“This is the kind of measurable impact that matters,” Kerkulah explained. “Training should not only inspire participants—it should demonstrably improve their performance, productivity, and confidence.”

Cohort 12 also reinforced the institution’s commitment to inclusion and gender equity.

Women represented 58 percent of enrolled participants; the highest female enrollment rate recorded during the Academy’s 2025 cycles.

A particularly emotional moment during the graduation ceremony came when learner Marie Gayflor, an amputee participant, publicly praised the Academy for creating an inclusive learning environment that accommodated diverse learners regardless of physical challenges.

The keynote address delivered by Edna G. Johnny further emphasized ambition, resilience, and leadership.

“There is no passion to be found in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living,” Dr. Johnny told graduates.

Cohort 13: Celebrating Five Years of Institutional Impact

The Academy’s Cohort 13 cycle carried additional symbolic significance as it coincided with the fifth anniversary of Gonet Academy’s founding in February 2021.

The cohort enrolled 948 learners and graduated 913 professionals, making it one of the largest graduating classes in the institution’s history.

The ceremony also received one of the Academy’s strongest public endorsements to date.

Jarso Maley Jallah described Gonet Academy as “a catalyst for human capital transformation” and emphasized the importance of institutions capable of preparing ethical, innovative, and technically competent professionals.

“Liberia’s future depends on building a workforce that can think critically, lead responsibly, and solve problems creatively,” Dr. Jallah noted.

She also praised the Academy’s continued commitment to gender equity, particularly after women accounted for 56.19 percent of graduates in Cohort 13.

Dr. Jallah described the figure as “a deliberate and necessary correction of the leadership pipeline.”

The Academy’s growing reputation also attracted praise from the international development community.

Pauline Veronica Egan commended Gonet Academy for advancing women’s empowerment and noted that several members of her organization’s team are alumni of the Academy.

Beyond enrollment numbers and graduation ceremonies, Gonet Academy’s broader significance lies in its growing influence on workforce development and institutional capacity building in Liberia.

At a time when employers across sectors frequently cite skills gaps, low productivity, and inadequate technical preparedness among job seekers, institutions like Gonet are increasingly filling a critical national void.

The Academy’s emphasis on practical learning, workplace simulations, industry engagement, and competency-based instruction has positioned it as an important bridge between education and employment.

Analysts say this approach is particularly relevant in Liberia’s evolving economy, where both public and private institutions continue to demand professionals with stronger communication, management, analytical, and operational skills.

Kerkulah believes the Academy’s mission remains deeply tied to Liberia’s long-term development ambitions.

“Our goal is not simply to train people,” he said. “Our goal is to build leaders, innovators, professionals, and problem-solvers who can transform institutions and communities across Liberia and beyond.”

That philosophy, he explained, is captured in the Academy’s “3Es Framework”: Equip, Empower and Elevate.

As the institution moves into future cohorts, Gonet Academy intends to deepen partnerships, expand digital learning access, strengthen international collaborations, and continue contributing to what it calls Liberia’s “human capital revolution.”

For many graduates, however, the Academy’s impact is already personal and immediate.

It has meant access to opportunity, renewed confidence, professional advancement, and, perhaps most importantly, the belief that skills and knowledge can still transform lives in Liberia.