Stevens was born on December 30, 1950, in Moyamba, Sierra Leone, the nephew of Siaka Stevens, who ruled Sierra Leone with an iron first as a one-party state from 1967 to 1985. After attending secondary school at the Albert Academy in Freetown, Sierra Leone, he earned a B.A. in History and Politics from the Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone in 1975, a Diploma in Industrial Relations & Personnel Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science in June 1982, and an M.A. in Refugee Studies from the University of East London in 2002.

 

After earning his B.A., Stevens served as Personnel Manager at the Sierra Leone Ports Authority from 1976 to 1981. He also founded the National Youth League of the All People’s Congress, the political party founded by his uncle, Siaka Stevens, and has remained involved in the party throughout his adult life. 

 

Shortly after Siaka Stevens retired as president of Sierra Leone in 1985, his hand-picked successor named Bockari Stevens as ambassador to Guinea, Cape Verde, Mali and Guinea Bissau, positions he held from 1986 to 1992. Stevens became interested in humanitarian work in 1993 when he traveled to London to work as information and communications officer for the Children’s Society Refugee and Homelessness Team. He took a job as a grassroots capacity building officer with Southwark Action for Voluntary Organisations (SAVO), a community-based policy and networking organization in London, where he was to identify the needs of the Sierra Leonean community groups in the London Borough of Southwark. Stevens worked at SAVO until he was appointed Ambassador to the U.S. in November 2007. 

 

Stevens and his wife, Musu, have five children.

- Matt Bewig