Professional History: Robtel is a Liberian academic, activist, and author of the award-winning anti-corruption children’s books, Gbagba and Jaadeh!, and the monograph Development, (Dual) Citizenship and Its Discontents in Africa: The Political Economy of Belonging to Liberia (Cambridge University Press, 2021). In her role as Assistant Professor in International Social and Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, she conducts research on race, citizenship, 'South-South' migration and development cooperation in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Her university biography states that she has more than 15 years of combined personal and professional experiences at the intersection of scholarship, policy, and practice in Africa, Europe, and North America, where she has worked across a broad range of fields supporting universities, governments, media institutions, multilateral, regional, non-governmental and community-based organizations. Robtel has expertise in the political economy of development, migration, citizenship, conflict, post-war recovery, and governance.

In 2018, she was one of two winners of the 3rd annual International Anti-Corruption Excellence (ACE) Awards. In 2015, Robtel was listed by the Financial Times as one of 25 Africans to Watch. A thought leader and public scholar, she has provided expert commentary for radio, television, print, and online media across the globe. She has also been published in Africa Policy Journal. Her personal website is filled with publications, media engagements, and other information.

She has been an Ibrahim Leadership Fellow at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Oxford's Department of International Development (ODID).

Academic and professional credentials: BA African Studies (Howard University)
BA English Literature (Howard University)
MSc African Studies (University of Oxford)
PhD Development Studies (SOAS, University of London)

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