Martina Brooks

Born in New Kru Town, Brooks was raised in Montserrado County where she completed her primary and secondary education. She moved to Harbel, Margibi County to her grandparents during the First Liberian Civil War before returning Montserrado County in 1993 to settle in the ELWA Community. She completed her secondary education at the Calvary Chapel Mission School in 2004 before obtaining her BBA degree in management in 2013 from the University of Liberia. In her secondary years, Martina was actively involved into sporting activities. She played on the Calvary Chapel Mission School kickball team that participated mostly in the Inter School Sports Association League. She captained the Calvary Chapel Mission School quizzing team in the 2004 national quizzing competition held in honor of Rufus Neufville. UShe missed out on winning tournament as her school was beaten in the semi-finals. She was later named the best female quizzer of the tournament and was awarded a scholarship from the government of Liberia.

She ventured into journalism in 2005 when she took up an internship at UNMIL Radio, where Brooks was trained to present and produce radio programs. At the end of her internship, she received offers from other media outlets, but chose to remain at UNMIL Radio.[1]

At UNMIL Radio, she transitioned into producing for a sports program called 'Europe League Round Up,' where she previewed happenings in the various European football leagues. Brooks' passion for sports led her push to report on events from the field. She has now built an impressive repertoire, having covered events ranging from Liberia Football Association league games, the Liberian National County Meet, the Liberia Marathon, and athletics competitions.[1] Her dedication to the craft eventually caught the attention of her male colleagues and Brooks was named as the Sports Writer Association of Liberia most improved sports journalist in 2011.[1]

As she has gotten to play a larger role within the Sports Writer Association of Liberia, Brooks used her influence to turn the group, which previously consisted of only men, into a more gender-sensitive organization. As a result, women were motivated to get involved into reporting sports. After more than a decade at the UNMIL Radio, Martina was given a different assignment as she was sent to South Sudan to work as Senior Radio Producer of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan radio.

In 2011, she was elected as the Vice President of the Sports Writer Association of Liberia.[1][2] She became the first female to hold the position as Vice President of the sports writing body. Prior to her position as Vice President of the Sports Writer Association of Liberia, she served as an Executive Committee member of the association.

Outside journalism, Brooks good work in the community didn't go unnoticed as she was commissioned and certificated as Peace Ambassador by the Young Ambassador for Peace program in collaboration with the Universal Peace Federation and Youth Federation for World Peace.