Igniting Our Power 2023

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.

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.

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.