2011 Semi-Finalist: Haiti Onward
Haiti Onward: Building Sustainable Pathways
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Reconstruction from Haiti Onward on Vimeo. |
WEBSITE: Haiti Onward FEATURE VIDEO: Haiti Onward on Vimeo |
Critical Need Being Addressed
Amidst historical and modern day complexities magnified by the January 12th 2010 earthquake, a unique set of conditions exists for collaborative design to address the pragmatic need to rebuild vital structures sustainably, while creating transparent and scalable solutions to the economic, environmental and social challenges facing the Haitian people.
Description of Initiative
Moving beyond the 'one organization' development model, HO Building Sustainable Pathways initiative brings together 15 Haitian and international organizations dedicated to delivering content and curriculum that develops holistic, economically viable and scalable sustainability solutions. Haiti Onward’s collaborative design platform engages leading organizations and local stakeholders to yield community- and place-based outcomes informed by ecological, anthropological and climate change data from world-renowned scientists and researchers.
A central Sustainability HUB will occupy a rural, 300-acre parcel provided by the Haitian League in the agriculturally rich central plateau to serve as the central home for a state-of-the-art workforce/leadership training and research center focusing on the integration of modern technologies such as water purification, eco-sanitation, and zero waste and renewable energy systems; and ancient techniques such as permaculture, natural building and biodynamic farming. Access to micro lending; the development of carbon market and cottage industries; social entrepreneurial training and job placement services will create sustainable pathways and scalability.
The central HUB will contain a Community Knowledge Center to serve as a media base for community-led information gathering and sharing, and include community classrooms, cyber-café, yoga studio, and lodging. Demonstration and research sites for ecological design systems will serve as campus centerpieces of living whole systems and provide opportunities to collect and share data. There will be 9 regional HUBS – community centers that are living 'laboratories' for hyper local communities to develop their own solutions. HUBS and their participants are able to communicate with each other, with the broader network of Haiti Onward collaborators, and can incorporate a framework to learn from the larger community. This prevents the myopic, parochial approach to development that is so pervasive. This approach is also very inclusive; it seeks to engage existing NGOs, local and national government agencies, and community organizations of all kinds.
BFI Assessment Summary
There are some 10,000 NGOs working in Haiti right now, most situated in Port-au-Prince since the devastating earthquake in 2010. While many of these NGOs mean well and are doing great work, there is no question that inefficiencies, redundancies and ineffectiveness are inherent in such a situation. After the earthquake the Haitian government, already plagued by corruption and lack of capacity, was crippled, so the slew of NGOs in Haiti lack coordination at a high level and run the risk of wasting their resources and of being ineffectual.
Haiti Onward is a project that seeks to transcend this problem by developing and deploying a model that brings together multiple actors to create a non-overlapping system, where each organization plays a supportive role toward a larger vision. Alive Communities functions as the lead convening orchestrator of 15 organizations coming together to develop 9 regional “sustainability hubs” across Haiti. The initiative is in its nascent stage, but land has been secured through a 10-year lease with the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture for the first hub. There has been a groundbreaking, and funding is lined up to start building.
The project realistically assumes that the dilapidated state of Port a Prince will take years to repair. It therefore looks to the countryside rather than the city as the place to rebuild. These hubs will host and propagate a wide range of programs that support economic development, community empowerment and enhanced public services, all grounded in sound ecological principles. They will include food production, education, housing construction, business incubation, mental health outreach, stress reduction, etc.
The vision for this effort was generated by conversations with the farming community in Belladere, Haiti. Working with the local city council, Azek Kazek, and the Haitian League, the Haiti Onward consortium is using its expertise to help that community develop a holistic agro-ecological training program coupled with new business models. They are also working with the Haitian Diaspora in the U.S. to develop more effective funding streams to assist with long-term development and are in the early stages of creating a community foundation with deep roots in the region, with locals as board members.
Haiti Onward is led by a strong team with clear goals but their problem space is very complicated, mitigating the challenges no matter how well intentioned, resourced and organized they are is still going to be hard. They are developing a working model that, should it succeed under such conditions could be replicated in many parts of the world where multiple NGOs operate.
PEOPLE: Haiti Onward
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A lifelong change agent and entrepreneur, he began his 32-year entrepreneurial career in corporate social responsibility and social enterprise at age 23 when he founded Relief Resources, the first company in the US dedicated to meeting the personnel needs of the not for profit/social service sector. He successfully built |
that business into nationally recognized model that integrated corporate responsibility and community economic development employing over 10,000 individuals during 30 years of operation and impact. Doug blends his extensive business experience with a deep commitment to core social, environmental economic issues that enhance the common good. His passion is to develop and deliver collaborative design platforms which utilize anthropological based principles and yield sustainable community operating systems. Doug has served in key leadership roles in the socially responsibility business and sustainable economic development movements including Business for Social Responsibility, Social Venture Network, the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies and the American Sustainable Business Council. He has extensive knowledge and experience in the building coalitions of businesses around key principles and practices.
Heather Burns, co-founder and ceo. As co-director of HaitiOnward, she is responsible for identifying project partners, managing collaborative relations, developing revenue strategies and overseeing communication platforms. Heather is a highly regarded whole systems mapping and connectivity expert. These capacities have consistently built highly effective collaborations and community networking systems. She is a recognized leader for her unique capacities to identify emerging trends, design collaborative strategies and implement effective solutions that integrate socially responsible and sustainable tools and best practices for communities, corporations and social enterprises. She has extensive experience and research knowledge in the sustainability and corporate social responsibility sectors and expertly delivers those assets in formats utilizing successful responsive integration methodologies.
While living in Thailand and working as a PADI Dive Master, Heather spearheaded a community outreach program to educate local fisherman about ecologically responsible fishing practices. A gifted writer and respected editor, Heather is founder of Green Scenes, an ALIVE Community of blogs focused on local, sustainable solutions for people living and working in Boston and Connecticut. She also serves as an Executive Producer for the nationally recognized Green is Good radio program.
The Haitian Fund for Innovation and Reconstruction (HFIR) is the lead Haitian stakeholder engagement liaison and a supporting finance partner for Haiti Onward. HFIR provides vital representation with key social, economic and political leadership within the Haitian and Diaspora community.
Johnny Celestin, is the President of the Haitian Fund for Innovation and Reconstruction. A Haitian American with a strong background in philanthropy, Johnny has worked as a Program Executive in the President’s office at Atlantic Philanthropies and a Senior Manager at the Robin Hood Foundation in NY. HFIR was created in the wake of Haiti’s January 2010 earthquake. It is a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and led by The Fund will be guided by a US-board that reflects the diversity of the Haitian community and the various sectors – government, private sector, multilateral institutions and NGOs. It will also have a Haiti-based Advisory Board that will help identify partners and grantees, and navigate the local landscape.
The Fund’s goal is to strengthen Haiti’s public and nonprofit sectors and support a democratic and sustainable long-term rebuilding. By engaging the Diaspora and other partners, the Fund aims to leverage the collective capacity of Haitians on the ground and those living abroad to lay the groundwork for efforts that will establish jobs and services, address immediate and long-term health needs and train those who will lead local organizations.
Earthos Institute is a lead research and project partner of HaitiOnward providing; resource budgets to measure critical resources such as water, food and energy; working with scientists to evaluate and share transparent findings with the public and applying the data to the Building Sustainable Pathways initiative.Sarah Howard-McHugh, LEED AP, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Earthos, a non-profit organization whose mission is to establish measurable practice models that better fit human activities with the Earth’s ecosystems. Committed to ensuring healthy environments for all, Sarah began her professional career teaching environmental science and outdoor education in urban communities, and then founded community learning centers in the Boston area and subsequently worked to expand affordable housing. She has served on numerous community organization boards including Urban Edge, Blackstone Academy Charter School, Ashmont Hill Chamber Music. Inc. (President), Westport Housing Partnership (Vice Chair), and Westport Housing Authority (elected Commissioner). She has worked for well-recognized cultural institutions such as the New England Aquarium, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and the YMCA, helping each to better serve their diverse communities. She led Team Boston’s Solar Decathlon Initiative to design, build and deliver a net-zero energy house to the National Mall in D.C. Sarah is a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Design) Accredited Professional of the U.S. Green Building Council.
GiveLove Haiti is a lead project partner of Haiti Onward providing sustainable and holistic solutions to core environmental issues impacting human health. Alisa Keesey serves as the program director for GiveLove's Eco-sanitation program which provides Haitians a pathway to economic independence through environmentally responsible technologies. As Program Director of GiveLove’s Eco-sanitation program, Alisa draws upon over 20 years of experience working in rural economic development, sustainable agriculture and biodiversity conservation. As the co-founder of COVOL Uganda, she worked with women farmers to improve food security, and established the first fair trade shea butter cooperatives in Uganda, Sudan and Chad by providing technical innovations, training, and connections to high-value markets worldwide. In Haiti, Alisa directs programs that provide sustainable, holistic and low-cost solutions to dealing with human waste while protecting clean water sources and creating income streams for Haitians through recycling and sustainable agricultural applications. Her experience in Haiti and her observations during the BP oil spill and global economic crises has renewed her interests in sustainable futures and the role of social entrepreneurship in a post-development context. Her current ethnographic interests include the chaotic growth of global cities, sustainable livelihoods and economic equity, and the need for new forms of global cooperation and entrepreneurship under conditions of trans-sovereignty. Alisa holds Masters Degrees in International Agricultural Development, and Cultural Anthropology.
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JenJoy Roybal
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jroybal(at)bfi(dot)org
718 290 9283
Elizabeth Thompson
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et(at)bfi(dot)org
718 290 9285