What to Expect
COMMUNITY
Women arrive seeking to build professional collaboration, gain supportive circles and strong desires to seek mentors and mentor others
CULTURE
Over three days, members live the shared Haitian culture and pride that has sustained their ambitions and continue to propel them forward as women of Haitian descent
EMPOWERMENT
Women leave feeling a sense of their own power and a desire to continue leaning into this network of similarly minded sisters who share their drive
Why Join Us?
Connect with Esteemed Speakers
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Tribe
Celebrate Haitian
Culture
Exclusive Content and Screening
Workshops
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2023 Highlights
2023 Keynote Speaker
Michèle Montas
Award-winning Journalist
2023 Saturday Keynote Speaker
Michèle Montas is an award-winning journalist with over twenty years’ experience at Radio HaitiInter which she directed after her husband, journalist Jean Dominique was gunned down in 2000. During her three forced exiles in New York, Michèle Montas worked in Communications for the United Nations, serving for 3 years as Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General and later as Senior Adviser to the UNMission in Haiti. She has served since as a consultant for the UN.
She is a 2002 recipient of the Maria Moors Cabot Prize for excellence in reporting from Columbia University( NY) and a 2003 recipient of the Reporters Without Borders’ Prize for the Defense of Freedom of the Press (Paris). In 2005, she also received the Percy Qoboza award from the National Association of Black journalists. She holds a BA degree from the University of Maine, an MS degree from Columbia University’s School of Journalism and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Maine.
Brunch
Special Remarks
Karine Jean-Pierre
Press Secretary & Assistant to the President
2023 Sunday Brunch Keynote Speaker
Karine Jean-Pierre is currently the Press Secretary and Assistant to the President. She is the first Black person and first openly queer person to serve as the White House Press Secretary. Karine is a long-time advisor to President Biden, having served in senior communication and political roles in the Biden Administration, the Biden campaign, and in the Obama Administration.
Prior to her role on the campaign, she served as Chief Public Affairs Officer for MoveOn.org and an NBC and MSNBC Political Analyst. Jean-Pierre served as Regional Political Director for the White House Office of Political Affairs during the Obama-Biden administration and as Deputy Battleground States Director for President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. She served as Southeast Regional Political Director for President Obama’s 2008 campaign, Deputy Campaign Manager for Martin O’Malley for President, Campaign Manager for the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Initiative, and Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Legislative and Budget Affairs for two members in the New York City Council.
Previously, she worked at the Center for Community and Corporate Ethics, pushing major companies to change their business practices, and is a published author. Born in Martinique and raised in New York, Jean-Pierre is a graduate of Columbia University.
Gessica Geneus
Award-winning Actress and Director (2021 Freda, 2017 Douvan Jou Ka Leve, and 2002 Barikad)
2023 Fireside Chat
Généus Gessica is an actress, singer and director from Haiti. She began her career when she was 17 years old. After the earthquake in 2010 she became actively involved in the re-construction of her country and she started working for the United Nations. She then won a scholarship to study at Acting International in Paris.
She returned to Haiti and created her own production company, Ayizian Productions, to develop her own work. Between 2014 and 2016 she directed Vizaj Nou, a series of short portraits of major figures from contemporary Haitian society. In 2017, her documentary film Douvan Jou Ka Leve (The Day Will Dawn) won seven awards and it continues to be shown around the world. Freda is her first feature film.
Featuring
DJ Kemissa
Brunch DJ
Chef Valery Abraham
Brunch Chef
2023 Speakers & Performers
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Saturday M.C. Vice President News Programming at Nickelodeon + Executive Producer, Nick News
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Sunday M.C. General Manager, Edelman
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Author, Visionary Business Leader
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
CEO, Executive Coach, Corporate Trainer, Daphne Valcin Coaching, Inc.
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Student, Boston University
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Senior at Howard University
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
CEO, New Century Tax & Planning
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Managing Attorney, Francois William Legal LLC
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
AAMS®,CEPA, CRPC® | Financial Advisor | Edward Jones
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Moderator, Associate Director for Consumer Education and External Affairs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Coleader of the sustainable transition office at HEC Montréal and Cofounder of KANPE Foundation, HEC Montréal and KANPE Foundation
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Co-Founder, KANPE Foundation
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Chief Technical Officer, Government, Workday
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
African Diaspora Curator, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
TV, Personality, Real Housewives of Miami, Event Planner Extraordinaire, Cancer Warrior
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Entrepreneur, health and wellness ambassador, speaker, and author
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Conscious Connector of Community Healing (Mental Health Professional), NYC DOHMH | Charlie Health
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Legal Analyst, Former Prosecutor, Criminal Defense Attorney, Registered Nurse
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Founder and CEO of Gestion Etudes Comptabilité Audit (GECA)
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Creative Director and Owner of Bien Abyé
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Haiti Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Owner, Mind body Ayiti / Jardin de Theo / Clinique Orlo
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
First Vice-President, ProFin President of Volleyball Haitian Federation and Treasurer of Centre d’Art
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Owner, Nourish
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Host Committee Chair, International Trade Attorney
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Sociologist, Professor, and Researcher, Haiti's Quisqueya University
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Moderator, International Development Consultant, Haiti Pro-democracy Advocate
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
President of L' Association Professionnelle d'Ecoles Privées -APEP
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Divisional CIO, People Tech & Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (DIB), Capital One
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Moderator, Executive Producer/CEO, Ground-To-Sky Media
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
U.S. House of Representative
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Moderator, State Representative Of District 108 North Miami, Florida
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Nhaeon’s Chairwoman, Councilwoman At Large 2nd Vice President Of The Council, Irvington, New Jersey
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Nhaeon’s Chair Elect, Vice Mayor Of District 3, North Miami, Florida
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Nhaeon’s Vice Chair, City Clerk, North Miami, Florida
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Yoga Teacher/Lifestyle Consultant, The Individual Soul
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Tribe Leader, Peace Love Art Yoga, LLC
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Jazz/World vocalist, Composer
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Dancer, Xpressionayiti
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Artist, Choreographer, XPression
Joel and Mushy Widmaier
Accomplished pianist-keyboardist-composer and drummer/vocalist