Board of Directors and Advisors

Sarah first visited Fond-des-Blancs, Haiti, in 1992 as a volunteer nurse with the St. Boniface Haiti Foundation, a Boston-based public health NGO. She quickly fell in love with the country and its beautiful people. Working in the hospital, Sarah saw the dire effects of poverty on the health and well-being of the villagers living in one of the poorest countries in the world, with the highest mortality and lowest literacy rates in the hemisphere. The challenges that faced women in the community particularly touched Sarah and she sought to create programming to help the women pull themselves out of poverty. In 1994, Sarah launched a family planning clinic that provided much-needed family planning services to community members. In 1996, the Haiti Projects Artisanat Cooperative was launched, bringing meaningful work and regular income to women of Fond-des-Blancs. Haiti Projects Artisanat Cooperative now provides life-saving income to nearly 100 women in the villages of the Fond-des-Blancs commune who work to support their families.  The Isabel Allende Foundation gave Sarah their “Espíritu Award” in 2009 in recognition of the “compassionate action” of Haiti Projects in promoting the empowerment of women and girls in Haiti. Subsequently, Haiti Projects built the first community library with internet and seeded an education scholarship fund to help educate the community.

One day, the village leader, Briel Leveillé, approached Sarah for help. He wanted to start a farmers’ cooperative to help locals buy tools and learn how to enrich the impoverished soil. The Bishop’s Fund provided a grant for about $6,000 and Rassemblement Travailleurs Paysan (RATRAP) was born. For 24 years, RATRAP has been going strong with more than 300 member farmers and a meeting house built with these original funds.

In 2017, Sarah focused on another community need - food security and sustainable agriculture - and went to work creating her fourth not-for-profit effort in Fond-des-Blancs, Greening Haiti Fund. In partnership with talented agronomists, educators and regional officials as advisors, and with the financial backing from supporters in the United States and beyond, GHF quickly raised the resources to begin solidifying the infrastructure to grow, plant, and care for tens of thousands of tree seedlings that will help to provide the shade, soil retention, and sustenance so vital to the future health and welfare of the people of Fond-des-Blanc.

As Greening Haiti Fund expands its mission with GHF Climate Curriculum and GHF Backyard Gardens and Orchards, Sarah’s dream of revitalizing one community on the southern peninsula of Haiti is coming to fruition.

Michael (left) helped Greening Haiti Fund get off the ground and plays a pivotal role in the execution of initiatives in the US and in Haiti. Michael has a BA in Communications, is an experienced marketing and logistics engineer who launched a beverage business in Saudi Arabia, as well as founder of two successful businesses in the US: a production and location catering company and a renovation contracting company.

Vickie, above with Fenol Jacquotin from Haiti Projects, is a retired attorney who served as board chair of Haiti Projects, Inc., also founded by Sarah Hackett, and has travelled to Haiti and Fond-des-Blancs many times, acquiring her love of Haiti.

Vickie currently serves as an Access to Justice Fellow, a program of the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission, and has developed and manages an on-site program in the Probate and Family Courts providing attorney conciliation services to unrepresented litigants.

Vickie is board chair of The Elmore Bolling Initiative in Lowndesboro, Alabama, a non-profit created to honor Elmore Bolling, the prosperous father of seven who was the victim of racial murder in the Jim Crow south. The Initiative’s mission is to serve the underserved citizens of Lowndes County, one of the poorest rural counties in the country.

She also serves as an editor at The Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project at Northeastern Law School. 

Barbara was employed as a special education teacher and administrator for 30 years. She worked with adolescents dealing with learning disabilities, social and emotional difficulties placed in public schools, day and residential programs.

Her first experience in the Caribbean involved helping to build a parish house in the Dominican Republic with a youth group. Later, she and her husband sailed and vacationed in many Carribean islands. After meeting Sarah Hackett, she visited Haiti and Fond-des-Blancs. She enjoyed meeting the people involved in Sarah's projects including the women's clinic, library, farming coop, sewing cooperative, and Greening Haiti Fund nurseries.

Barbara joined Greening Haiti Fund to help with fund raising, secretarial work, and continues to support its efforts to improve the greening and education of Haiti and her people.

Dan has been personally involved in work in Haiti for a number of years. Dan has extensive experience in managing environmental permitting efforts, managing third party consultants, construction management, environmental and safety monitoring, and environmental compliance auditing on large-scale energy, utility, and transportation projects. His experience includes wetland and land restoration, on and offshore natural gas pipeline projects, and LNG Deepwater projects.  Dan is accomplished in federal and state environmental conservation compliance management.  

Mr. Herbert received his BA from Tufts University in 1962, his law degree from Georgetown Law School in 1965, and his Masters in Law from New York University in 1966.

“I am a supporter of Greening Haiti because I know of the work that Sarah Hackett has done over the years in Fond-des-Blanc, and would support anything with which she is involved. I know of her hands-on commitment to the greening of Haiti, have seen how she established the foundation for a pilot project that could be replicated throughout country and I enthusiastically believe in the mission.”

Following his retirement from the practice of law in 2005, Peter has pursued a career as an oil painter of landscapes and portraits. 

Hazel was born in the UK and has lived in Finland, Venezuela, the Philippines, the US, and Canada. She is a qualified Industrial Designer and Registered Graphic Designer of Ontario. From 2001 to 2011, she was a senior technical writer for Siemens in Canada.

She has always loved the countryside, and was influenced by the research of the Doubleday Association on sustainable agricultural practices. In Canada she learned of the work of the Canadian Network for Environmental Sustainability and Health (NESH), emphasizing the interconnectedness of human and environmental health.

As a birdwatcher, she was very aware of the impacts of deforestation, and the threat of climate change. “When I retired to the US to live closer to my children, I was looking for an opportunity to do something to help. In 2017, I was invited to join the board of Greening Haiti Fund. I was impressed by the close involvement with the local community, the emphasis on understanding soil fertility, and practically, by how much was being achieved in a short time. Greening Haiti Fund gives me a perfect opportunity to try to make a difference.”

Sarah is a behavioral scientist with two decades of experience in development and infrastructure consulting. She is currently the Market Transformation Research Director at the University of California-Davis’s Energy and Efficiency Institute where she leads research on the nexus of policy, technology, and human behavior. Prior to this, Sarah was an Assistant Policy Analyst at the RAND Corporation and an international infrastructure policy consultant for emerging economies at Econ One Research in Los Angeles. Sarah earned a Ph.D. in Policy Analysis from the Pardee RAND Graduate School and an M.Sc. in Economic History from the London School of Economics. She has advised development projects in Fonds-des-Blancs, Haiti, for over twenty years.

Born in Haiti, Joel Theodat came to the United States as a young man to continue his studies. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Philosophy from Suffolk University in 1980 and a Master of Science degree in Philosophy from Boston College in 1984. For 22 years, Joel worked as a teacher and Bilingual Program Director at West Roxbury High School and at Hyde Park High in Boston, MA. Dealing mostly with Haitian youngsters who recently migrated to the United States, Joel helped them adjust to the American culture while maintaining and honoring their Haitian culture. 

In 2006, his passion and love for Haiti took him back to Haiti as Executive Director of a non-profit organization providing education and health care to the people in the Bourdon area of Port-au-Prince. Joel currently teaches Haitian Creole to health care providers and others at the University of Massachusetts.  His heart is fully committed to help eradicate illiteracy and denounce injustice wherever it may be. Working with Greening Haiti Fund is another extension of his efforts to help the people of Haiti. 

"Life is a puzzle. Imagine if we work together to find the right pieces and its meaning." Joel Theodat

The Team in Haiti

As President, CEO and Lead Agronomist of Haitian operations, Emerson is invaluable to the success of Greening Haiti Fund.  Emerson speaks four languages and was born and raised in Fond-des-Blancs. With GHF since its inception, he takes pride and pleasure in teaching sustainable techniques to small farmers, encouraging participation, supervising practices and marking his successes. He also consults with the local community on diversifying plant and animal production, and strengthening community agricultural programs.

Emerson received his degree in Farm Management and Agricultural Science from Simon Bolivar United World College of Agriculture in Venezuela. He studied Human Ecology with a focus on agro-ecology and sustainable agriculture practices at The College of the Atlantic in Maine, USA. Before moving home to Haiti, he worked in sustainable farming in the United States, France, Grenada, and Venezuela.

“I'm always up early to get organized because I always have something to do. It is good to get things started early in the day if you are working in the nursery or planting because it is very warm and the sun is strong. Simple things like buying supplies in Port-au-Prince can take a lot of time. I enjoy teaching and supervising the staff - we get along well.”

Jacques was born and raised in Fond-des-Blancs. He studied agronomy sciences at Université Episcopale d’Haïti, graduating in 2019. As GHF’s Director of Education, Mr. Poulard both teaches and directs implementation of GHF’s Climate Curriculum. He came to GHF through an internship and is now employed full time. In summary, he is a beloved son of Greening Haiti Fund. 

Dumonel hails from and lives in Fond-des-Blancs. He studied Agronomy Sciences at the Faculté d’Agronomie et de Médecine Vétérinaire (FAMV) of the State University of Haiti (Damien), graduating in 2017. He is an Agronomist and teacher of Music Education, French-speaking Literature and Natural Sciences. He has worked with GHF since 2018.

Frantzcy helps people understand the sometimes complicated concepts of sustainable agriculture. His is a treasured position. After studying agronomy sciences at Université Caraïbe, Haiti, Mr. Peltrop is now GHF’s Agricultural Vulgarization Agent.  He came to GHF as an intern and has worked full time with the team since 2019.

Mr. Capel is a native of Fond-des-Blancs and today lives close to the nursery. Unemployed at the time, he was the first person to help GHF when we began to build our operations in Murier and has been a member of the team ever since.  Today, he concentrates his time at the seedling nursery and remains busy taking care of the rabbits and making sure everything is in place. He is well-loved in the community.

Simeon lives with his family in Fond-des-Blancs. He is the Guardian of one of our demonstration plots: watering plants, cleaning the plot, and maintaining the fence after goat damage.  Before coming to GHF in 2019, Simeon cut trees for charcoal production, but no longer needs to for money. He is earning a salary growing trees and protecting the environment.

Advisory Committee

Anthony is originally from Les Cayes, in the south of Haiti. He is an engineer support specialist in logistics automation for a branch of the German company SICK AG. 

A former systems analyst for CIAT (Center Inter American Tributario) for the modernization of DGI (IRS) in Haiti, he also worked for United Nations during his Peace Corps mission. 

Despite his technical background, he is also a chef trained at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school who was twice chosen to represent Haitian cuisine in Suriname for their flag day. 

“I always wanted to give back to my country. When I met Michael (Tocantins), I heard what the organization was doing in Fond-des-Blancs. I loved it! I wanted to help and saw the opportunity to share my knowledge and change lives!”

As a young girl, Pat visited Haiti with her parents as tourists.  She went back to Haiti after having four children, all the while writing four books. Reminiscing about earlier trips to Haiti at the age of 65, Pat recalled asking for an appointment with Nannette Canniff, St. Boniface Haiti Foundation’s first President, fully aware that she didn’t offer what is now called “skill sets”. Following a lunch meeting, Ms. Canniff said, “A group us is going down next Tuesday, come along,” and handed Pat a large bag, filled with towels, to bring. This began one of the most  compelling times of Pat’s life. She fell in love with Fond-des-Blancs, its people, and her job finding new education programs to introduce in the community. She volunteered for 12 years, eventually joining the Board of Directors of St. Boniface Hospital Foundation.  Later, Pat joined the Board of Haiti Projects, where she still serves, while also working invaluably as an Advisor to the education programs at Greening Haiti Fund.  

Susanna had the great pleasure of being introduced to Haiti in 1998 by her mother, Sarah Hackett. From 2003-2011, Susanna supervised the operations of Haiti Project's Artisanat sewing cooperative. As part of her work in overseeing production over eight years, she traveled biannually to Fond-des-Blancs.  Products from the Artisanat were shipped to the US through customs and were sorted and inventoried in New Mexico, where Susanna lived. She managed all inventory from her home/studio and personally filled all retail and wholesale orders. Never in her wildest imagination did she think she would have so much fun working! She has moved on, and now runs her own altar linen business, LIVING THREADS, which features the beautiful handiwork of women in Fond-des-Blancs.

Richard Auguste Morse is the owner and general manager of the storied Hotel Oloffson in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and the founder, songwriter and lead male vocalist of the popular and acclaimed mizik rasin band, RAM, which has been performing in Haiti and internationally since 1990. He lives in Port-au-Prince with his wife, Lunise, lead female vocalist for RAM, and their son, Will. Mr. Morse graduated from Princeton University in 1979 with a degree in anthropology.  Mr. Morse was the Haitian Ambassador to the United States. He has been involved with GHF since 2017. IN the CURRENT: an Interview with Richard Morse