5th Haiti Funders Conference a Success

Amid deepening crises and ballooning humanitarian need, the 5th Haiti Funders Conference on June 12-14, 2023 brought investors, funders, donors, diaspora and nonprofit leaders and other Haiti stakeholders together to strategize about how to meet this moment and best support the Haitian people and Haitian-led forces for change.  Recognizing that the unsustainable situation in Haiti today presents an opportunity, the conference embraced the theme that change must happen and philanthropy can play a pivotal role in Haiti’s resurgence with strategic investments now.

180 attendees representing 123 organizations were able to participate in the event, which featured 57 speakers (70% of whom are Haitian) leading and facilitating 22 plenary and breakout sessions and several keynote addresses.

Our discussions were grounded in the difficulties of the current situation, but the focus of the program was not on how to adapt to or emerge from the current crisis. Rather, our focus was on how philanthropy and development assistance can better address the root causes of Haiti’s crises and achieve better results than we have in the past. We focused on learning the lessons of what has not worked in the past and studying successful models of partners working with communities to outpace poverty.

 A summary of the complete conference proceedings can be read here. One speaker aptly summed up the feeling overall:

“Two words came out in every conversation here: collaboration and partnership. Because we have a duty to do better than in the past and our collective brain here is powerful. We can do better than what the world is doing now in Haiti.”

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The Haiti Funders Conference series aims to increase the amount and impact of philanthropy directed to supporting sustainable economic and social development in Haiti by supporting actors currently investing in Haiti and encouraging new ones to enter the field. This highly participatory Conference brings an engaged community of funders and experts together to:

·        learn about success stories and consult with peers on challenges,

·        hear from experts on the current political and economic situation and what it means for development efforts,

·        build relationships for coordination and collaboration, and

·        learn about significant initiatives where integrated investments can achieve systemic impact.

The Haiti Funders Conference is held bi-annually. Please follow haitidevelopmentforum.org for updates on the next Conference.