ROOTED Ep 6: Lorraine Mangonès - FOKAL (Haiti)

In this episode of Rooted, we are speaking with Lorraine Mangonès, Executive Director of FOKAL, the Open Society Foundations Haiti. Known in Haitian Creole as Fondasyon Konesans ak Libète, the Foundation for Knowledge and Freedom, FOKAL has for nearly three decades been one of Haiti’s most important civil society organisations, working at the intersection of education, culture, access to information, and civic life.

Lorraine studied theatre and art history in England and the United States, and communications in Canada. She chose to return home after the fall of the dictatorship in 1986, and has been with FOKAL since its founding in 1995. Since 2008, she has led the organisation as Executive Director.

This is a conversation about what it means to choose your country, to build something lasting in the face of unimaginable difficulty, and to believe, without apology, that culture and knowledge are the foundations of a free society. Lorraine speaks about leading FOKAL through the 2010 earthquake, making the case for deep structural work in a world that often demands quick results, and what she wishes the world truly understood about Haiti.

This podcast is hosted by Chantal Miller

Produced by BreAnna Holmes & Chantal Miller

Edited by BreAnna Holmes

See more from FOKAL here: fokal.org

See more from the Clara Lionel Foundation here: claralionelfoundation.org

See more from Island Girls Rock here: islandgirlsrock.com

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