Second community foundation workshop in Haiti: practitioners from Kenya, Mexico and Brazil share their experiences
24 Feb 2012
Conversations about the creation of a community foundation in Haiti have been ongoing over the last year or so as part of a process initiated by Espwa and the Puerto Rico Community Foundation and supported by the GFCF, the Kellogg Foundation and the Inter-American Foundation. An initial workshop to discuss the idea was held in Haiti last year which brought together an initial group of community and business leaders, diaspora and funders. On January 31st and February 1st 2012 a second workshop was held in Port au Prince to take the idea further. In attendance were an expanded group of Haitian representatives as well as foundation practitioners and board members from Mexico, Kenya and Brazil. Over the course of the workshop, which was facilitated by Jenny Hodgson of the GFCF, participants identified some of the key obstacles that were inhibiting the realisation of Haitian-led development agenda as well as some of the local assets – such as existing grassroots groups, the commitments of individuals, support from the diaspora etc. – which could be built on in the framing of a new institution.
Sarah Hendricks, Tanguy Armand, Luiz Alberto Gonçaves, Pierre Noel
They heard from foundation practitioners and board members about the experiences of establishing community foundations in Kenya (Janet Mawiyoo from the Kenya Community Development Foundation) and Mexico (Karen Yarza from Fundación Comunitaria de la Frontera Norte and Ixánar Uriza from Corporativa de Fundaciones and Luiz Alberto Gonçaves, a founding board member of the Baoba Fund for Racial Equity in Brazil. And they began to map out a vision for a Haitian community foundation and a plan to move the process forward. For further information, contact Marie-Rose Romain Murphy at Espwa (romainmurphy<at>gmail.com).
Participants at the workshop in Port au Prince
This article as well as some other concept materials have been forwarded to me by a development colleague recently. I commend the work being done thinking about creation of a community foundation in Haiti, but have to also ask myself why put in place YET ANOTHER organization. There are so many foundations, community development institutions in Haiti doing pieces of the work that this Haiti Community Foundation proposes to do. Why not form a Collaborative or Consortium? bring together a carefully chosen, select group of organizations (those who share a common vision, some shared understanding/shared approaches among various stakeholders) that… Read more »
I would like to present a "late" thank you to this civil society representative for posting his or her comment. I understand that the same person contacted an ESPWA Board Member via email with the same concern. Our Board Member invited him/her for a discussion at the very least. She also invited this person to join our efforts and initiative. Although we never got a response to our invitation, we want to assure this person and others that the door is always open. The Community Foundation model is new to Haiti and the Haiti Community Foundation Initiative has taken careful… Read more »