The Embassy of Haiti launched the Haiti's Future Leaders Fellowship Program in 2014 to exchange accomplished university students and young professionals between Haiti and the U.S., and the second annual class of fellows has arrived in Port-au-Prince and Washington for the eight-week program. "These fellows represent some of our best young minds and their impressive education and work credentials attest to this fact. They are illustrative of the very people we hope to enlist in helping chart Haiti's future," said Paul Altidor, Haiti's Ambassador to the U.S.

Each year, the class of fellows is named after a Haitian historical figure who has demonstrated a passion for public life. The 2015 Haiti's Future Leaders Fellowship class takes its name after the leading figure in Haitian cultural nationalism, Jean Price-Mars. This initiative by the Haitian Embassy is designed to promote stronger and more frequent communication and collaboration between Haitians at home and Haitians living in the U.S. The larger goal of the program is to develop a pool of accomplished young professionals – whether they live in Haiti or the United States – and provide them with firsthand experience working in public administration to prepare them for future leadership roles in Haiti.

The Haitian fellows will be placed in various departments at the Embassy and will also engage with Washington-based institutions with which the Embassy collaborates. The Haitian-American fellows will be embedded in a number of key public institutions. They will work closely with senior government officials to gain experience in public administration, policymaking and will also use their education and skills to enhance the work of these institutions.

The mission of the program is to involve the Haitian Diaspora more directly in Haiti's development process, engage them on important domestic public policy matters, and attract accomplished young Haitian-American professionals to live in Haiti by providing them with unique opportunities to gain invaluable work experience and be involved with setting a path for the future leadership of the country.

For questions about the program, please contact The Embassy at amb.washington@diplomatie.ht

HL/ HaitiLibre