Beginning in the 2023-2024 fiscal year, Hope for Haiti’s organizational leadership established the Professional Development Award. In honor of former Board Member Dee Dee Nye, the Dee Dee Nye Professional Development Award (DDNPDA) is awarded to staff members who exemplify Hope for Haiti’s Core Values and have made significant progress toward improving their performance and work outputs. The Awardee(s) will work with their supervisor and COO to develop a 12-month professional development plan to increase skills, knowledge, and experiences to help them continue their professional growth.
Economy Program Manager Wilner Saint-Preux is one of this year’s two award winners. Wilner began working with Hope for Haiti in August of 2021 as the Digital Cash Assistance Coordinator, empowering small- and medium-sized business owners in rural southern Haiti to increase their inventory and, in turn, income to support their families.
Wilner quickly began taking on other responsibilities and soon became a Program Coordinator on the Economic Development Program team, expanding his scope of projects and responsibilities.
“In this role, I worked with enterprises to build their capacity,” said Wilner.
Wilner also began setting up Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) in several of Hope for Haiti’s partner communities to empower vulnerable women and transfer money in innovative ways to community members in crisis situations. As of April 2024, Wilner and his team have launched 14 VSLAs, in which the women have saved thousands of dollars to help support each other in times of need.
Wilner said, “As a result, I contributed to economic growth by stimulating production, creating job opportunities, and promoting financial inclusion. I look forward to continuing to work with Hope for Haiti to further improve the lives of Haitians.”
Wilner was recently promoted to Economy Program Manager and has shared exciting plans for the upcoming year for expanding his program.
