Board of Directors
Marie Marthe Saint Cyr, Chair, is a social worker by profession. She holds a B.A. in International Relations and a Master's degree in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. She owns a non-profit consulting business and was previously the Executive Director of Iris House, the first and only comprehensive program for women living with HIV and AIDS and their families, and served as an appointee of Mayor Giuliani as Community Co-Chair of the HIV Planning Council of New York City. She is the chairperson of the Board of the National Minority AIDS Council in Washington, DC, and was the Director of the Haitian Coalition on AIDS in New York City. Ms. St. Cyr developed the first program for women, Women and AIDS Resource Network (WARN), in Brooklyn, NY. Responding to the needs of the constituency she serves, she became the first Haitian Deputy Commissioner in New York City under the Dinkins Administration. She was Deputy Commissioner for Human Rights, responsible for the Community Relations Department and the AIDS Discrimination Unit, and initiated the Commission's Prison Project for Offenders with AIDS. She has been a Huntington resident since 1966.
Max Blanchet, Vice Chair, M.S. and B.S. in Chemical Engineering, MBA in Finance, has had a long experience evaluating, designing and implementing energy and environmental projects at Shell, Chevron and Pacific Gas and Electric Company. He was a founding member of the Bay Area Haitian American Council (BAHACO), and has served on the Boards of Global Exchange, the Northern Coalition for Immigrant Rights, and the Data Center. He is currently on the Boards of East Bay Sanctuary Covenant (EBSC), the Haiti Culture Association, the Berkeley-based KPFA of the Pacifica Network, and the National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR). Mr. Blanchet is a dedicated activist for the cause of democracy and justice in Haiti, combining thoughtful analysis with excellent organizational skills. Mr. Blanchet resides in Berkeley, California and is married with two daughters.
Gyliane Morgan, Board Treasurer, holds a Masters degree in Public Finance and Financial Management and has over 20 years experience as an analyst and consultant in the private sector, including the securities, money management and banking industries. Most recently, she was a Vice President at JP Morgan Chase's Investment Banking/Public Finance area where she was engaged in public sector financing for the Bank. Ms. Morgan has been an avid supporter of the Lambi Fund since its inception. She resides in Montclair, NJ with her husband and their two children.
Wendy Emrich, Board Secretary, a single mother of two adopted Haitian children. She is on the board of KGNU community radio station and is involved in starting two small sustainable businesses in the for profit world, which focus on energy efficiency, fair trade and environmentally sustainable products. She has a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Colorado and a Certificate in French from Laval University in Quebec. She spent four years in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) working in public health and agriculture. She is a long term environmental and peace activist with an interest in sustainable development and social justice. She was a founder of the Chinook Fund and the Global Greengrants Fund, Colorado based foundations that support grassroots social justice and environmental projects on a statewide and international basis, respectively.
Marie M. B. Racine, Ph.D., holds a doctorate in French, Theoretical Linguistics and Applied Linguistics from Georgetown University and is currently Professor of Foreign Languages at the University of District of Columbia. She has served as Acting Dean, Associate Dean and Chair of several University Departments. Her areas of expertise include Administration/Education, Language/Linguistics (including English as a Second Language and Creole Studies), Literature/Culture (particularly Haitian and Caribbean with an emphasis on the African Diaspora), Evaluation/ Research and Curriculum Development. Dr. Racine serves on the Board of the Washington Office for Haiti and has extensive Haitian advocacy organizing experience in the D.C. area. She has long been involved with community-based projects in the remote northern areas of Haiti.
Julie Meyer helped found the Lambi Fund and served on its staff for over nine years. She brings 25 years of activist and non-profit experience to the Fund including administrative, fundraising and leadership roles. She worked in the El Salvador solidarity movement for thirteen years, filling regional and national leadership roles for the leading grassroots solidarity movement, taking delegations to El Salvador, organizing national conferences and trainings, and so on. She has been a founder of numerous organizations including Grantmakers Without Borders, the New England Central American Network, and most recently Bilingual DC, and helped re-structure others such as La Clinica del Pueblo and Women's Health Consultants in Washington, DC. She remains active in the Latino community and school issues in the DC area and serves on several nonprofit boards.
Benjamin Saint-Dic is a Doctor of Law and holds degrees in Journalism, French studies, and Labor and Developing Countries. He has practiced journalism and served as a professor of French at the university and secondary school levels. He has been very active in the Canadian Haitian community and has served as a resource person in matters related to Haitians residing in Canada. A founding member of Ayiti Dwa Moun (ADM), a group formed to defend and protect the human rights of Haitians, he currently is responsible for ADM's public relations work. He also volunteers his services in various schools tutoring Haitian students with learning problems. Ben is well known for his active commitment to the democratic movement in Haiti.
Father William Smarth is a Haitian-born diocesan priest who has lived and worked with the Spiritans for many years. His Creole translations of the liturgy and his catechetical texts are widely used in Haiti. As a member of the Spiritans "formation" (consciousness-raising and training) team, Father Smarth has coordinated, evaluated and worked with several indigenous training institutes. As a religious leader promoting social justice, Father Smarth has worked closely with dozens of peasant, youth and popular organizations in religious and civic training throughout Haiti, but especially in the North.
Nadège T. Clitandre was born in Haiti and received a Ph.D. in African Diaspora Studies, with an emphasis in Women, Gender, and Sexuality, from the University of California. Clitandre received her Bachelors degree in English Literature at Hampton University and a Masters Degree in the Humanities at the University of Chicago.
Clitandre is an activist for social change and youth empowerment in Haiti as well as an educator of Haitian studies. After spending a year teaching English in Port-au-Prince, Clitandre wanted to get involved in community-based projects that focus on youth education and free access to knowledge for social change. She founded HaitiSoleil because of her commitment and dedication to the intellectual growth of young Haitians in her native land. Clitandre is a board member of the Haitian Studies Association and a member of the Haitian Culture Association in Berkeley, California, where she currently resides. She is the daughter of famed Haitian author, Pierre Clitandre.
Jay Schoenberger holds a B.S. from Vanderbilt University where he double majored in Human & Organizational Development and Spanish. He develops utility-scale wind energy farms throughout the Eastern United States for independent power producer, Invenergy LLC. Prior to Invenergy, he worked in business development for REC Solar, a California-based solar electricity integrator. Jay first became involved with the Lambi Fund when he and a classmate successfully founded and chaired a campus-wide fundraiser called "Fast for Hunger" aimed at raising both awareness and funds for Lambi Fund's projects. At Vanderbilt, Jay served as president of Hillel, the Jewish student organization, and served on Hillel's board the three previous years. While in college, he also studied in Santiago, Chile. Jay has a passion for the sustainable development that the Lambi Fund advances, development that is strategic, community driven, and continuously effective. Jay currently lives in Washington D.C.
Anouk Shambrook has a PhD. in Astrophysics and is a Program Manager at the Insight Center for Community Economic Development. She manages a grants program and has created a network of experts across multiple fields working to close the racial wealth gap in the U.S. Anouk has researched and highlighted innovative asset programs to improve policies. While at ICCED, Anouk has been the primary author of a number of reports on saving and investment strategies to increase economic well-being and security. She currently serves on the Board of Building Diversity in Science and resides in Oakland, California.
