Executive Director
About Haiti Projects
Haiti Projects is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering women of rural Haiti toward self-sufficiency. It serves the Fond des Blanc area of Haiti, in the interior of the country’s southern peninsula.
First founded as a family planning clinic in 1994, it now provides access to jobs at fair trade wages, education, health care, and avenues for building a sustainable community. The organization is located in a secluded agrarian region that is largely sheltered from the political unrest in the capital of Port-au-Prince. It is currently the second-largest employer with over 100 staff in an area of Haiti where over 100,000 people live with no electricity or public services.
One of the most impactful initiatives of Haiti Projects is the Artisanat Cooperative. A program that has become an essential part of the community and is now the second-largest employer in the region, after Saint Boniface Hospital. Haiti Projects now provides income to nearly one hundred women from all areas who work to support their families.
Haiti Projects currently operates five programs that promote women’s empowerment in the community. In addition to the family planning clinic and the Artisanat Cooperative, the organization operates a maker, a library that offers educational and literacy courses to the local community. It has created a girls’ soccer league that includes more than 100 girls and young women that gives them the chance to gain self-confidence, leadership and critical life skills. It also manages a beekeeping project in which the women involved ultimately decide what they want to do with the honey they produce and the by-products of beekeeping.
About the Role
Haiti Projects is seeking a dynamic, skilled Executive Director (ED) to lead the organization, continue the growth and impact of its services, and maximize its potential as an empowering force within the local community. The ED reports to the Board of Directors and is responsible for the organization’s fundraising, strategic guidance, leadership development, financial operations, and performance.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Actively engage with the Board of Directors to develop and implement long-range, strategic plans;
- Develop annual business goals, ensuring their alignment with short and long-term objectives of the organization;
- Define KPIs to measure progress against annual goals and provide guidance to the team to measure performance;
- Oversee the financial performance, operational effectiveness, fundraising, and human resource functions to meet budgets, achieve desired results and ensure Haiti Projects operates consistently with its overall strategy and mission;
- Oversee Artisanat Cooperative operations in the US and product transport and sales in the American market;
- Develop, nurture, and manage a country team that leads the programs on the ground, ensuring that they are highly engaged and successful in meeting their goals;
- Actively develop team capabilities and work collaboratively with team members for problem-solving;
- Communicate with the Board of Directors about financial operations, program performance, and issues as they arise, seeking guidance and approvals as needed;
- Build trusting relationships with key partners, funders, stakeholders, staff, and the local community and act as a point of contact for critical shareholders;
- Serve as the spokesperson for Haiti Projects with ultimate responsibility for internal and external communications, maintaining a positive image of the organization in the community and with all stakeholders and influencers;
- Ensure compliance with all laws, regulations, and policies.
Skills and Experience
The successful candidate will have the following skills and qualities:
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
- Strong organizational and leadership skills
- Senior team leadership experience
- Experience with finance and financial oversight
- Successful track record in fundraising and grant writing
- Familiarity with a broad range of business functions such as marketing, PR, finance, operations, production, human resources, etc.
- Knowledge of Haiti/Haitian culture
- Previous experience working with a Board of Directors preferred
- Working proficiency in English and French, Creole is desirable
- Experience operating in a resource-constrained developing country
- Entrepreneurial mindset, with the ability to adapt to changing circumstances as they arise
- Innovative problem-solver who can take measured risk willing to test and learn encourages the team to do the same.
- Ability to travel to Haiti when the context allows