Our Board of directors
Adlumia Gannett, President
Janell Andrews, Secretary
James Tew
Martha Fox
Mark Glovsky
Charlot Lucien
Cherie Miot Abbanat
Pierre Valette
Stacey Lai
Cathy Celestin
Adlumia Gannett President
Adlumia is the President of the Haiti Projects Board of Directors. She has been a longtime volunteer and is active as a Board Member and Chair of several nonprofit organizations. She is one of the original founders of a handicraft guild, 1800 House, at one of the Nantucket Historical Society's properties. Adlumia is founder of a Buddy Program at the North Shore AIDS Health Project and was a buddy to at least six people living with AIDS. She serves as Co-chair for the annual fundraiser for Summer Search and on the boards of North Shore Aids Health Project, Community Servings, and the 1800 House. Adlumia is actively involved with Plan USA and World Vision and proudly sponsors a boy in the Dominican Republic and a family in Ghana through those organizations.
Janell Andrews Secretary
Janell became involved in Haiti Projects from its inception through her friendship with founder Sarah Hackett. Over the years she has participated in all aspects of the US-based operations and has sat on the Board almost from the beginning. Professionally Janell is a high school teacher, tutoring students who need support in their academic subjects and teaching a variety of courses in the science curriculum.
James Tew Treasurer
Jim Tew has been an officer and board member of Haiti projects since 1996. Jim joined the board after he read an article in his local paper about Sarah Hackett’s efforts in the Fond des Blancs region of Haiti. Since his retirement from a career in banking and investment management in 2003, Jim has visited Haiti annually. Jim is currently working on the campaign to build Haiti Projects’ new community library.
Martha Fox
Martha Fox fell for Haiti during a mother-daughter service trip in 2000 when she became compelled to stay connected to the country for the long haul. She has supported traveling medical clinics and lived, worked, and taught in several orphanages. She has a passion for learning and sharing stories of the valiant Haitian people she has met. Martha is English Language Arts Coordinator and Director of the Dodge Writing Center at Brookwood School in Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA. She is a published poet, wife, and proud mother of Kit, a teacher, and Emily, a nurse. Martha is recipient of a 2011 Seven Fund Teaching Fellowship. As a recipient of this fellowship she will travel to Rwanda to study enterprise solutions to poverty with a focus on the role of education in transforming developing countries. Martha received her BA in writing from Emerson College, an MFA in writing from the University of California, and her masters in education in curriculum and instruction from Lesley University. Martha holds an MA Educational Licensure in elementary education.
Mark Glovsky
Mark is a member of Glovsky & Glovsky LLC, a nine-lawyer general practice law firm with offices in Beverly, Massachusetts. The firm was founded in 1918 by Mark’s grandfather and is an integral part of the North Shore community. Mark’s area of concentration is real estate law. Mark is a member of, and former Essex County Delegate to, the Massachusetts Bar Association and a member of the Real Estate Bar Association. Mark has been significantly involved in many community and non-profit organizations throughout his career. He served on the Board of Directors of the Beverly National Bank from 2006-2009 and is currently a Director of Danvers Bank. He is a former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the North Shore Chamber of Commerce and a former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Montserrat College of Art. Mark and his wife, Livia Cowan, live in Gloucester where he is active in the community. He has served on the boards of the Cape Ann Museum and the Gloucester Stage Company. He is a member of the Essex County Club and the Annisquam Yacht Club. Mark is the proud father of two children and three grandchildren. Mark received his AB from Dartmouth College in 1970 and his JD from Boston College Law School 1973.
Charlot Lucien
Charlot Lucien has been the HIV/AIDS Contract Management Coordinator and a Refugee Health Technical Assistance Coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in the HIV/AIDS Bureau’s Client Services Unit over the past fifteen years. He currently works with programs nationwide to provide technical assistance to organizations serving refugees in the areas of health and mental health issues. He is also a consultant to the French Cultural Center in Boston, where he administers a French Program in the Boston Public Schools. Lucien is very involved in the Haitian community of Massachusetts where he resides. He is the founder of the Haitian Artists Assembly of Massachusetts and an accomplished storyteller, artist and lecturer on Haitian history and culture. Charlot is the recipient of several awards from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts including from the Massachusetts Legislature for his contributions to the cultural landscape of Massachusetts and from the City of Boston for his involvement in the planning of services for people living with HIV/AIDS. Charlot is the father of two children, Malaika and Sebastien Lucien. He currently resides in Norwood, Massachusetts. Charlot holds a bachelors in management from the National Institute of Management of Haiti’s State University, and various certificates from the University of Massachusetts including those in Management of Non Profit Organizations, Arts Management, and Immigrant Health.
Cherie miot abbanat
Cherie Miot Abbanat is a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) and in the Department of Architecture. She has been teaching MIT for over fifteen years. Prior to teaching at MIT, Cherie worked in the regulatory policy field as an economist for the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities and later as a consultant to state, federal and international policy makers. Recently, Cherie co-founded an initiative called Hands and Hearts to Haiti that has to-date raised about $26,000 and landed 2 tons of food and medical supplies to various locations in Haiti. In addition, Cherie is President and one of the founders of Women Beyond Mountains, a non-profit dedicated to building leadership capacity in the women of Haiti. At MIT, Cherie is lecturing on Haiti and the need for Haitian-led initiatives at MIT and as part of the rebuilding process.
In 2009, Cherie was nominated for MIT’s Arthur C. Smith Award for exceptional dedication and heartfelt contributions to undergraduate student life and learning at MIT. Cherie has her undergraduate degree in Economics and French from Simmons College and her Masters Degree in City Planning with a concentration in Environmental Policy and Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Pierre Valette
Pierre is currently the Vice President of Content and Communications for Athena health, a leading provider of practice management, electronic health record, and practice management services. Prior to his work at Athena health, Pierre served as the Executive Producer of Children’s Programming for WGBH from 1999-2008 where he Executive Produced Arthur and Postcards from Buster. Pierre worked as Vice President of Quest Productions from 1991-1999 where he contributed to the development and production of a wide range of PBS and network series including the Peabody-winning The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow (PBS) He has also produced numerous medical documentaries including a palliative care video with the Harvard Medical School. For his work in these capacities Pierre has been honored with 4 Emmy Awards, 2 George Foster Peabody Awards, 13 Emmy Nominations, 5 CINE Golden Eagle Awards, a Boston Music Award and the British Academy of Film & Television Award.
Stacey Lai
Before joining the Haiti Projects board, Stacey Roy Lai hosted the Haiti Projects products at her place of business and fell in love with the products and the mission. The more she learned about Haiti, Haiti Projects and the team behind this powerful mission, the more she wanted to participate. After volunteering marketing efforts & helping to build awareness to this brand, she asked to participate in a more formal manner. Stacey joined the Haiti Projects Board in January of 2012.
Stacey Roy Lai is the owner & founder of Children’s Drop & Shop and Sea Sales in Manchester-by-the-Sea where she also lives with her husband, Steve, and three young daughters. Previously she was the Co-President of the Manchester Mothers’ Club and Magic Years Cooperative School. Today, she is an avid community volunteer in the local schools and other charities.
Cathy Celestin
Please check back soon for full bio.
