Early Progress in the Global Ambassadors Program

Ashley Chandler

It’s remarkable how much progress we’ve made with the Global Ambassadors Program since our first mentoring trip to Haiti, and our participation in the third annual Women in the World Summit in New York.

Since those early days, the Vital Voices and Bank of America teams have been working with ambassadors and mentees to further develop the National Women’s Platform for Haiti. We’ve also been busy planning the next three events in Cape Town, South Africa; Mumbai, India; and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

• The team continues to provide support to Danielle Saint-Lôt and Femmes en Démocratie as they further refine the Platform. Danielle has conducted several high-level meetings with Haitian government officials, including incoming Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, who was confirmed by Parliament on May 16, 2012.
• Danielle’s mentor, Justine Metz, is leveraging her expertise in developing marketing and communications strategies to mentor Danielle in developing a campaign to promote the implementation of the Platform. Justine and Danielle are currently working together on step two of the communications strategy, which is to reach out to various key audiences.
• In April, Rachel Coupaud began serving as Minister Counselor (Charge d’Affairs) at the Haitian Embassy in Taiwan. She had an extended network upon arriving in Tawain because her mentor, Connie Morella, helped make key introductions for Rachel.
• In May, Mimose Felix was appointed Minister for the Promotion of Rural Farmers by the Prime Minister Lamothe, who also appointed seven women to Cabinet positions (out of 22 total). This is the first time that seven women have served as Ministers at the same time in the Haitian government.
• Maria Bello spoke at the U.S. Department of State’s Global Impact Economy Forum on April 27. In her keynote speech, she referenced Secretary Clinton and Ambassadors Verveer’s “trailblazing dedication to Vital Voices” and empowering women all over the world. She also talked about the critical support that Bank of America and Vital Voices is providing to help women leaders in Haiti to implement the Platform.

Ashley Chandler is the senior manager of the Global Ambassadors Program.