About Us - Overview

It only took one time for the children of Haiti to capture the heart and soul of Naples, Florida resident and humanitarian, JoAnne Kuehner. Wanting to make a difference through focusing on education, she put her trust and support into “people” who were already striving for success. Joining forces with Dr. Keith Hussey in 1997, the focus to make a difference expanded to nutrition and healthcare.

Now over 20 years later, Hope for Haiti prides its long-term success of our mission on the foundation on which it was built. Hope for Haiti continues to believe in “people” and therefore partners with those in Haiti who are doing an excellent job and supporting them in furthering their work.


We do not build and run our own schools. Rather than reinvent the wheel, we work directly with those who are successfully ministering to the poor and who will be there for the long term. In this way, we make sure that over 95 cents of every dollar donated is used for programs that can help create a better future for the children of Haiti. Hope for Haiti has held the vision from the very beginning that the people of Haiti are the ones who take control of their future and we are here to lend a needed hand along the difficult path.

What was once only a vision has now become a reality. The over 500,000 children and adults we touch each year THANK YOU FOR BELIEVING IN US!

^ Back to Top

Meet the Board Members

JoAnne Kuehner is Founder & Chair of Hope for Haiti which she founded to help Haitian children have a more meaningful life. For 21 years, she has devoted her life to helping the “poorest of the poor” by connecting one of the wealthiest communities in the U.S. (Naples, Florida) to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. JoAnne travels several times a year to Haiti to check on progress of the Hope for Haiti projects and to spread love and compassion to the Haitian people. She, along with Dr. Keith Hussey, formed Hope for Haiti, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for the Haitian people through education, nutrition and healthcare. In recognition of the work she is doing in Haiti, JoAnne has been awarded an honorary Doctorate degree from the University of Scranton, named Woman of the Year by Gulfshore Life and in 2008 was granted both the Woman of Style award by n Magazine and named a Woman of Achievement by the AAUW. JoAnne and her husband, Carl, live in Naples, Florida.

Tiffany R. Kuehner is President and CEO of Hope for Haiti. At 15 years old, Tiffany’s first trip to Haiti started a passion for the same country to which her grandmother has dedicated her life. Graduating from Georgetown University in Women’s Studies with a specific focus on International Development, Tiffany has spent time working on poverty and gender issues in the U.S., China, Thailand, Tanzania, Uganda, and Haiti. Now, having returned from living in Haiti, Tiffany is based in Naples, Florida, but continues to work closely with Hope for Haiti's programming team, traveling frequently to Les Cayes. In her spare time, Tiffany enjoys photography, dancing, celebrating life with family and friends, and cooking with her husband.

Francis J. Proto, Treasurer of the Board, worked in excess of twenty five years for Borden, Inc. headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Upon leaving the company in 2000 he was the Chief Financial Officer of Borden Chemicals & Plastics Limited Partnership. He then worked as Chief Financial Officer/Chief Administrative Officer for E-Z Serve Convenience Stores, Inc. Upon graduating from Fordham University Frank served in the U.S. Army, then went on to work first for Mobil Oil Corporation and then W.R. Grace in financial functions having to do with mergers and acquisitions, systems design and implementation, and internal audit. He joined the Board of Directors of in 2004.

Todd Kendall, Vice President of the Board, is the President of Strateca, a Division of the Lutgert Companies. He is the former President of Premier Properties for 10 years and has been a board member of the Advisory Board for The Children’s Hospital of SW Florida. In 2001 Todd became a board member of . He currently also serves as a Board member of the Naples Chamber of Commerce and in 2008 was chosen as their “Volunteer of the Year” after guiding the build-out of the half-million dollar visitors Information Center at the Chamber's Headquarters off of US41, and in recognition of his organizing a group climb of Mt. Killimanjaro which raised over $750,000 for the Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida. Born in Syracuse, NY, Todd graduated from Florida International University, is married to his wife, Noreen, and has three children, Jen, Julia and Christian.

James B. Lancaster, Jr., Secretary of the Board, is a retired U.S. Federal Government Senior Executive. He served as the Associate Director for Administration, U.S. Office of Personnel Management; Senior International Affairs Officer and Foreign Service Reserve Officer U.S. Department of State, Agency for International Development (USAID); Assistant Director for Administration and Finance ACTION/Peace Corps; Senior Management Analyst, Executive Office of the President of the United States, Office of Management and Budget (OMB); and Senior Budget Analyst, House Budget Committee, U.S. Congress. Jim also has a varied private sector background including organizations in Paris, France, Ankara, Turkey, Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Maryland and Ghana, West Africa. Founded in 2002, Jim is the President of the African Literacy, Art and Development Association in Naples, Florida (ALAD). Jim joined the board in 2008 and has been married for the past 45 years to Harriet Levine Lancaster and has three adult children and four grandsons.


Kellie Burns, is a primary anchor for NBC 2 News at 5:00, News at 5:30 and News at 6. Originally from upstate New York, Kellie graduated from the State University of New York at Geneseo with a bachelor's degree in both Communications and Political Science, and a minor in International Relations. Kellie's award-winning career includes two Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for Hard News Feature, and Series Feature Reporting. She has also been honored with the Florida Associated Press Award for Long Serious Feature, Individual Achievement and Investigative Reporting. Some of the honors she has received outside the world of television include: Gulfshore Life Magazine's "Women of the Year", Woman of Style by N Magazine, Humanitarian of the Year Award from Saks Fifth Avenue, Media Award 2000 and 2001 from the American Cancer Society, and Honorary Chair of Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. She also regularly hosts Arts of Act to benefit the Abuse Counseling Center, Philanthropy Day Awards to benefit the Community Foundation and Handbag Happy Hour for ICAN. In addition to , she serves on the executive board of the Guadalupe Center of Immokalee, Search for Solutions Institute, and Gulfshore Life Magazine's Advisory Board.

Dr. Brian G. Childs, DDS, is a practicing Dentist in Naples, Florida and is owner of Childs & Childs p.a. with his wife, Dr. Janet Childs, DDS. Brian graduated from Marquette University in 1994 and has always had a passion for using his skills and talents to benefit others. He has participated in medical missions to Haiti where he provides quality dental care to the poorest of the poor in some of the most rural communities that serves.

Bill Earls, Broker and Director, John R. Wood, Realtors, moved to Naples, Florida from Maryland in 1984. He has been the top agent at John R. Wood Inc., 18 times over the past 19 years, specializing in Commercial Investment Real Estate and Beachfront Homes and Estates. Two of Mr. Earls' greatest passions are aviation and helping other people. In 2008, he put those passions to work in support of the people of the Les Cayes District of southern Haiti. Following the devastating storms late that summer and early fall, he piloted his aircraft to the stricken area on two occasions. On each trip, he carried over 1,000 pounds of desperately needed medical supplies and nutrition packets. In 2009 he made another airlift mission with three dentists, who Bill assembled. They helped relieve pain and brought smiles to over 100 patients in three days. He has two sons ages 26 and 28.

Daniel J. Hughes formed Hughes Development Group, LLC to pursue quality, ground-up retail development projects as well as value-added redevelopment projects.  The formation of HDG follows a long career in retail brokerage and management as well as a successful track record in retail property acquisitions and redevelopments.  Dan is the founder and former CEO of Metro Commercial Real Estate, a shopping center leasing and management firm based in Philadelphia. In 2008, Dan, and his wife Beth, helped expand Hope for Haiti’s healthcare outreach to better serve the basic medical needs of the poorest of the poor in Les Cayes, and the surrounding areas, by supporting renovations on the Hope for Haiti Infirmary “Saint Etienne.”  The Infirmary is dedicated to the memory of Charles J. Hughes and is the home base for all of Hope for Haiti’s healthcare projects. A graduate of Rutgers University in New Jersey, Dan started his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in 1979 and worked for Coldwell Banker from 1981 to 1987 before starting Metro Commercial.

Howard M. Hujsa is a principal in the Private Clients Group of Cummings & Lockwood LLC’s Bonita Springs office. He is certified by the Florida Bar as a Specialist in Wills, Trusts and Estates Law. Howard is a member of the board of directors of the Southwest Florida Chapter of the Society of Financial Service Professionals and the Greater Naples Area Planned Giving Counsel. Howard graduated from the University of South Florida and his law degree is from the University of Miami and has a Masters of Laws degree in Taxation from New York University School of Law. Howard has volunteered as both an attorney and board of director with , Care Club of Collier County, the Naples Players and Youth Haven Foundation.

Vladimir J. Mathieu, MD is a Family Physician at the Naples Medical Center. He also serves as the Medical Director of Arden Court Assisted Living Facility and Encore Senior Village. He has served as the Vice-President of the Board of Directors for the Naples Medical Center since 2004. Dr. Mathieu is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and is currently the Vice-Chairman of the Family Physician Staff for the NCH Health System. Dr. Mathieu was born in Haiti has traveled to Haiti as part of a medical mission team recently. He lives in Naples, Florida.

Rosemarie "Dee Dee" Nye, is a former member of the Senior Leadership Team of Lucent Technologies (1995-2002), a Fortune 50 technology innovator (now Alcatel Lucent). Ms. Nye is a Turnaround Executive, Board Member & Dynamic leader of tech companies. As a principal/owner of small Commercial and Residential Real Estate Development businesses, she gained critical lessons of accountability and flexibility (2003-2007). In her corporate career at Lucent, Avaya Inc. and AT&T, Dee Dee worked directly for nine CEO's, COO's or Presidents of Fortune 100 companies. Her five global roles included on the ground operational responsibilities in Europe, Asia, Central & South America.

Gilbert Saint-Jean, MD, PhD is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. He did his dissertation on The Haitian Community of Miami-Dade County: A Cross-Sectional Study of Needs, Access, and Utilization of Health Services. He is also the Director of the Treatment and Prevention Evaluation Group at the University. Dr. Saint-Jean has written published books, many journal articles, and abstracts on a variety of topics including Cervical and Vaginal Diseases in Developed and Developing Countries, Barriers to Care Among HIV-Positive Haitians, Education in the Prevention of and transmission of HIV, to name a few. He is a member of the American Public Health Association, Association de Sante Publique d’Haiti and the Society for Epidemiologic Research and has been a NIH Health Disparities Scholar since 2006.

Harold "Hal" A. Smith, graduated with a Masters in Social work in 1969 from Boston College, and dedicated his life to serving and improving the lives of others. Hal Smith served as the executive director of Catholic Charities for 33 years. When Hal originally took on the role of executive director of Baltimore’s Catholic Charities, the agency employed 350 people and had a budget of about $6 million. At the end of Hal’s tenure, the organization grew to employing 2,100 people with a budget of $120 million, helping 200,000 people in 80 programs.



^ Back to Top