After 23 years leading The Haitian Project (THP), Deacon Patrick Moynihan will step down as president on December 31, 2019.
Deacon Patrick Moynihan presents a diploma at a Louverture Cleary School graduation.
Deacon Moynihan will be succeeded by current THP Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Marisa (Reese) Grondin, who on Saturday, November 9th, was elected by a unanimous vote of THP’s Board of Directors to take over as president effective January 1, 2020.
Like the Moynihans, the entire Grondin family has been dedicated to THP’s mission since Reese and her husband James (Jimi) both served as volunteer teachers at THP’s Louverture Cleary School Santo 5 (LCS) in 2001. Jimi will also take on a critical role in the mission next year as director of new school construction. (Look for more about Reese’s history with THP and her recent election in a special edition of Haitian Project News coming out in early December.)
Reflecting on the transition, Deacon Moynihan said, “For my part, the change in leadership is not a departure, but simply a repositioning to open up space for the next generation of the Project’s leadership to allow our new vision for the Louverture Cleary Schools Network to thrive.”
THP’s Board of Directors also voted unanimously on Saturday to appoint Deacon Moynihan as president emeritus of The Haitian Project in recognition of his significant contributions to the organization and his continued commitment to its success.
Deacon Moynihan, who will serve as advisor to the president during the transition period, said, “I look forward to supporting Reese and Jimi, lending them my experience when called upon, and focusing on the success of the Network in Haiti."
THP President Deacon Patrick Moynihan (standing, center) and wife Christina (seated) with their children: (from left) Robert, Marianna, Timothy, and Mikhaila.
Encouraged by his wife Christina, who was the first to hear the call for the Moynihan family to go on mission, Deacon Moynihan left a successful career as a commodities trader with the Louis Dreyfus Corporation and moved their family to Haiti to live and work as leaders of The Haitian Project Community in February of 1996.
“The decision to step down represents a significant, albeit positive change for the whole family, especially Christina,” Deacon Moynihan said. “Not only was Christina the motivation for the Moynihans moving to Haiti, she was without a doubt the foundation upon which everything was built.”
At LCS, Christina was integral in providing social and spiritual support to both the students and to the families in the surrounding neighborhood. In addition to teaching and heading the Office of Campus Ministry and Community Outreach, she quickly put in place Ekòl Ankourajman (School of Encouragement), an after-school literacy program for youth and adults from the neighborhood who could not attend the school.
In response to the pressure added on parents in the local area after the earthquake in 2010, Christina devoted much time and energy to the expansion of LCS’s early childhood development center for children from the neighborhood—keeping countless children out of orphanages by providing families with the support they needed to stay together.
When Deacon Moynihan became president in 1996, the Project was struggling with debt and the school served just 75 students. Today, LCS serves 360 students, has hundreds of successful graduates, and operates the largest university scholarship program in the country providing university support to over 100 graduates annually. Its graduates regularly go on to earn 12 times the per-capita income of Haiti just several years out of university.
Having raised more than $16 million for THP’s Annual Fund during his tenure, Deacon Moynihan's leadership and drive increased the Annual Fund 20-fold to nearly $2 million in 2018.
Additionally, he successfully led multiple consecutive capital campaigns totaling nearly $4.5 million in gifts and pledges to ensure the perpetuity of the mission. Deacon Moynihan also led the development of THP’s 20-year strategic plan to create The Louverture Cleary Schools Network, which THP's Board of Directors adopted last June.
“Deacon Moynihan has been a good steward and an infallible model of servant-leadership throughout the years as president of THP,” said THP Board Vice Chair and Haitian private sector leader Patrick B. “At this turning point in our history and on behalf of all the people of Haiti, I thank Deacon Moynihan and his wife Christina for their years of selfless service and engagement toward breaking the chains of ignorance and poverty in Haiti.”
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