[1][2] Prior to becoming head of the Freetown City Council, Aki-Sawyer had worked extensively in the UK financial and professional services industry.
She had also taken either pioneering or crucial roles in various charity and public service projects in the UK and Sierra Leone, including participation in the fight against Ebola in 2014 and the subsequent recovery initiatives.
She became the Investment Director of IDEA (Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award) in 2009, in which she was tasked for raising international finance to fund projects, and the management of local stakeholder groups.
She took a sabbatical leave from IDEA and joined Sierra Leone's National Ebola Response Centre (NERC), and became the director of planning.
[3] Before vying for the top position at Freetown City Council, Aki-Sawyerr worked as a key member of the President's Recovery Priorities (PRP), serving as delivery Team Lead, from January 2016 to October 2017.
PRP was the second phase of a multi-stakeholder programme aimed at driving sustainable socio-economic transformation in Sierra Leone after the Ebola crisis.