Haitian National Dies While in U.S. Immigration Custody – HAFFD

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Yrvy Frenel

Yrvy Frenel is a dedicated and passionate professional with extensive experience in psychology, children's and youth rights, and a deep commitment to her home country, Haiti. With over 12 years of project management experience, Yrvy has demonstrated her ability to lead teams effectively, foster innovative ideas, and achieve project objectives.

She holds a degree in psychology from the State University of Haiti and completed a two-year study at Le Grand Chemin Center in Canada, focusing on drug dependence and emotional dependence. Her professional background has equipped her with skills in personal development, social animation, capacity building, and the supervision of qualitative and quantitative research.

Since 2013, Yrvy has focused on managing and overseeing various development projects. She currently serves as the Program and Outreach Manager for the Haitian American Foundation for Democracy (HAFFD). Initially, she managed the "Voices from Haiti Tour" project, which aimed to create a platform for meaningful dialogue and exchange between the Haitian diaspora and leaders in Haiti, fostering a deeper understanding of Haitian culture, challenges, and opportunities. Now, she oversees all programmatic and outreach activities for HAFFD.

In addition to her current role, Yrvy has worked as a project manager for Lakou Lapè, where she ensured the implementation, execution, and proper management of human and financial resources for a project focused on analyzing and finding solutions to recurring conflicts in Haiti. She has also served as a consultant for the Ministry of Tourism, where she was an expert in project management and social animation, responsible for the socio-community monitoring of the ministry's projects.

Among her other experiences, she served as a project manager for Oxfam for four years, where she managed a Governance and Active Citizenship project for youth, benefiting over 3,000 participants and involving 14 partners. As a coordinating psychologist for War Child Canada, she provided psychosocial training for young tutors and conducted training sessions on child protection and gender-based violence.

Yrvy is multilingual, fluent in French and English, with intermediate proficiency in Spanish and Haitian Creole as her mother tongue. Her diverse skills and unwavering dedication make her a remarkable advocate for personal and community development, both in her professional and spiritual endeavors.

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Picture of Dina Simon

Dina Simon

Born in Haiti, Dina immigrated to the United States at the age of nine with her family and grew up in Brooklyn and Long Island, New York. An advocate for social change, Dina Simon is the Chief Human Resources Officer at the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) of New York City, one of the largest pension plan sponsors in the United States, with more than $100 billion in assets and over 230,000 members, retirees, and beneficiaries.

She brings over 20 years of robust experience in state and local government, and has held senior leadership positions, including Chief of Staff and Executive Director of the Pay Equity Cabinet of the NYC Mayor’s Office, Senior Advisor to the Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands she later made history when she became the first woman appointed First Deputy Commissioner at the NYC Department of Correction.

Dina holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from Long Island University, C.W. Post, a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from SUNY Brockport, and is a Harvard Women and Power alumnae.

With Haiti in her heart, Dina founded the My Haiti Travels agency shortly after the devastating earthquake of January 2010 to support the resurgence of tourism and investment in Haiti. My Haiti Travels offered Dina the opportunity to introduce the Haitian experience to members of Haiti’s global Diaspora. My Haiti Travels deepened Dina’s commitment to Haiti and its offered Dina a unique perspective on Haiti’s social, economic, and political issues.

Dina is a board member of the Haitian Roundtable (“HRT”), a not-for-profit organization founded in 2008 by Haitian American professionals committed to civic engagement and strategic initiatives benefiting the Haitian community. Dina’s commitment to Haiti is deeply aligned to HRT’s mission to redefine the narrative about Haiti and its Diaspora.

As Haitians and Haitian Americans sought solutions to address Haiti’s deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Haiti, Dina joined the Haitian American Foundation for Democracy’s (HAFFD) as a founding member. Dina’s civic and professional experiences are aligned to HAFFD’s efforts to engage the Haitian-American Diaspora to promote policies that foster peace, democracy and sustainable development in Haiti.

Dina has received several honors for her outstanding work in the public sector and commitment to community service. In 2017, The Network Journal named her one of the Top 25 Influential Black Women in Business. In 2022, she was named Alumni of the decade by her alma mater Long Island University for her work in public service. She resides in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.

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Picture of Father Reginald Jean Mary

Father Reginald Jean Mary

The Reverend Father Reginald Jean Mary, lovingly known as Father Reggie, was born in Jean-Rabel, Haiti where he spent his early years. In his teens, he moved to Port-au-Prince and returned to his hometown after earning a degree in accounting. It was in Jean-Rabel, that Father Reginald, volunteering in a literacy campaign was inspired to join the priesthood.

In 1991 Father Reginald migrated to the United States and joined the Archdiocese of Miami. He earned a degree in psychology and a double master’s degree in divinity. In 2001, he was ordained to the priesthood and assigned as parochial vicar at Notre-Dame D’Haiti. In 2004, South Florida’s Haitian community jubilantly welcomed Father Jean-Mary as Notre Dame D ’Haiti’s young and dynamic new pastor. In 2004, Father Reginald launched a capital campaign to rebuild the church and in February 2, 2014 the resplendent Notre Dame D’Haiti was inaugurated with the unveiling of the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Located in the heart of Little Haiti, the church has become a source of pride to Haitian Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Notre Dame also sits at critical crossroads where faith, power and community intersect. Under Father Reginald’s leadership, the church has become the obligatory stop ground for local and national leaders, including President Biden who visited in 2011.

In the midst of the border crisis, Secretary of State Mayorkas, met with community leaders at Notre Dame D’Haiti, community center. Father Reginald’s, honoring his vision of a strong and united Haitian community, has created through the church, a space where Haitian American leaders, elected officials, community stakeholders from Haiti and the US Diaspora come to seek counsel and guidance. Father Reginald is credited for innovative strategies, which have increased membership. He introduced “Jericho” a weeklong, yearly revival where over 7000 worshipers from Haiti and the global diaspora gather in prayer and fellowship.

Father Reginald is excited to join the Haitian Foundation for Democracy’s Board of Directors. He cares deeply about Haiti and about the right of the Haitian people to live in peace and dignity. He believes that the faith community has a pivotal role to play in educating and strengthening the Diaspora’s capacity to be an impactful and transformational agent of change both domestically and in Haiti.

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Picture of Michelle Austin Pamies, Esq.

Michelle Austin Pamies, Esq.

Michelle Austin Pamies, Esq. was born in Port-au-Prince Haiti and migrated to Queens, New York at a young age. Michelle’s love for Haiti, can be traced back to her frequent trips there as a young adult. Her attachment to her homeland, its culture, its languages and history, have inspired her drive to excel and lead. Michelle is a 1996 Magna Cum Laude graduate of the University of Miami School of Law where she served on the University of Miami Law Review and was a member of the Order of the Coif.

She is currently a founding partner of Austin Pamies Norris Weeks Powell, LLC and her practice primarily involves representing municipalities and businesses, handling their transactional and litigation needs, as well as providing legal advice and counsel. Prior to joining the Firm, Michelle worked for 8 years as Senior Corporate Counsel – Commercial Law in Union Pacific Railroad Company’s Law Department. Her responsibilities included being the lead attorney for the procurement of goods and services, procurement and management of intellectual property and development of new business ventures.

Michelle’s past experience also includes being General Counsel of Planet Automotive Group, Inc; General Counsel of the Agency for Workforce Innovation, an agency of the State of Florida, Corporate Counsel for AutoNation, Inc.; and Corporate attorney in private practice at Holland & Knight LLP’s Miami office.

Michelle is a former member of the Public Health Trust of Miami-Dade County, and Miami- Dade County Ad Hoc Committee for the Creation of an Airport Authority. She has served on numerous non-profit boards, including, Girls Inc. (Omaha) and SantLa (Haitian Neighborhood Center).

She is a founding member and former Vice President of the Haitian Lawyers Association, Inc. and is Co-Chair of the Women of Color Empowerment Institute, Inc. She serves on the boards of the Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce, the University of Miami Law Alumni Association. She also serves on the Executive Board of the Greater Miami Chapter, Links Incorporated and is a board member and co-chair of the Grants Committee for the Women’s Fund.

Her love for Haiti and her deep concerns about her beloved homeland’s future, have compelled her to become a founding member of the Haitian American Foundation for Democracy (HAFFD). She hopes that through HAFFD’s efforts Haitian Americans will mobilize their resources and collective power to make profound and impactful change in Haiti.

Michelle has received numerous awards, including, among others, the Nostalgia in Gold Caribbean Woman of Excellence Award, the Women of Distinction Award from the Lauderhill Chamber of Commerce, the Women who Inspire Award from the City of North Miami and one for being one of South Florida’s 50 Most Powerful and Influential Black Leaders of 2018 from Legacy Magazine.

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Patrick Gaspard

Patrick Gaspard is the president and chief executive officer of the Center for American Progress and the chief executive officer of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Patrick Gaspard was a key figure in President Barack Obama’s administration and held a number of prominent positions during Obama’s two terms in office, including serving as U.S. ambassador to the Republic of South Africa in the second term.

From the fall 2011 until the spring 2013, Gaspard served as executive director of the Democratic National Committee, where he steered the national party’s role in reelecting the president and oversaw a $300 million budget and 500 staff.

From 2009 until 2011, he was assistant to the president and director of the White House Office of Political Affairs. He also served as the associate director of personnel for the Obama transition and the national political director for the historic 2008 campaign.

Gaspard most recently served as the president of the Open Society Foundations (OSF), one of the largest private philanthropies in the world. He first joined the foundation as its global vice president, responsible for its regional programs across five continents and its global advocacy strategy in multiple world capitals. He quickly became president during his first year in OSF in 2017 and went on to serve in that role for four years. As president, he managed and set the strategy for a $1.4 billion dollar budget and a staff of 1,600.

During his tenure, he confronted significant threats to open societies around the globe, including the rise of authoritarian regimes and the spread of COVID-19 worldwide. In 2020, Gaspard conceptualized and stewarded Open Society’s urgent contribution of $200 million in investments to support essential workers and other communities hit hardest by COVID-19. He also shaped the foundation’s $220 million commitment to civil rights groups in the wake of the national reckoning on race following the murder of George Floyd.

During his tenure as U.S. ambassador to the Republic of South Africa, from 2013 to 2016, he led over 1,000 staff and an annual budget of more than $600 million from 29 different government agencies. Gaspard led the effort to redesign PEPFAR—the U.S. government’s HIV/AIDS initiative—to integrate it effectively into the South African health care system. He also successfully led the trade negotiations that led to an unprecedented 10-year renewal of the bilateral African Growth and Opportunity compact between the trading partners.

Gaspard was born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, to Haitian parents. He grew up in New York City and had a long career there and nationally in organized labor, electoral politics, and public service. He started as a union organizer and rose to become executive vice president for politics and legislation of the Local 1199 branch of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the largest unions in the United States. He went on to serve as the national political director for the national organization and its 2 million members.

Gaspard attended Columbia University and is the recipient of honorary doctorates from Columbia University and Bard College. He has also been awarded the Spingarn Medal, which is the highest honor bestowed by the NAACP.

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Dr. Larry Pierre

Larry Pierre was born and raised in Haiti and moved to the United States in his teens. In 1978, he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology at Barrington College and went on to obtain a medical degree at the prestigious University of Haiti’s Medical School. He also received a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Miami.

While in training as a visiting fellow at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital in the early 80’s, Larry Pierre met a significant number of patients of Haitian origin who were affected by HIV/AIDS and grew alarmed that they were not served adequately due to language and cultural barriers.

In 1989, he founded the Center for Haitian Studies (CHS), to address this problem. CHS, is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to improve the conditions of Haitians living in South Florida through the provision of health and social services and community-based research.

From 1988 to date, Dr. Pierre has brought through research and outreach education intervention projects over 40 million dollars to the Haitian community of South Florida. CHS’s clinic meets the medical needs of over 7000 individuals in South Florida. Dr. Pierre’s path to political empowerment was sparked as he engaged CHS and South Florida’s Haitian community in a process of reflection and power building. CHS’ annual Strategic Leadership retreats were organized as cruises, convening political leaders, service providers and stakeholders from South Florida and Haiti. These retreats, originally designed to keep the Center’s staff, Board and researchers updated on the changing conditions of the Haitian population in South Florida and in Haiti, set in motion, Dr. Pierre’s greater involvement in the US political process. They also deepened his commitment to Haiti.

Today, Larry Pierre is considered one of the most powerful political leaders in South Florida for his ability to raise funds in support of policies and causes beneficial to his community and to Haiti.

In spite of his influence, Dr. Pierre points to Haiti’s chaotic situation and the pivotal role played by the US in maintaining the status quo, as the catalyst for the creation of the Haitian American Foundation for Democracy. Through HAFFD, Dr. Pierre understands that transforming Haiti, demands the engagement of a committed, well-informed Haitian Diaspora.

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