Read more about our panelists below
Etant Dupain is a journalist, filmmaker, and community organizer. For over a decade, he has worked as a producer on documentaries and for international news media outlets including Al Jazeera, TeleSur, BBC, CNN, Netflix, PBS, and Vice. Etant founded an alternative media project in Haiti to enable citizen journalists to provide access to information in Haitian Creole for and about internally displaced people, aid accountability, and politics. His award-winning documentary film, Madan Sara (2021), was inspired by the strength of his mother and the women known as the Madan Sara who make Haiti’s economy run. Batay Pou Ayiti is his second feature length documentary.
Lucia D. Pascale SOLAGES is a grassroots feminist organizer passionate about improving the lives of Haitian Women and Girls. With over 10 years of experience, Pascale’s advocacy work exists at the intersections of feminist movement building, reproductive justice, end of violence against women, effective participation of Women in Public Affairs and globally promoting a feminist society.
She is a founding member and general coordinator of the feminist organization NÈGÈS MAWON – one of Haiti’s most active feminist organizations fighting for the rights of women and girls.
In Haiti, she was a consultant for UNFPA, PLAN INTERNATIONAL, WORLD VISION and many other institutions. She has held key positions within the Haitian government as the consultant for gender-based violence at the Ministry for Women’s Affairs and Women’s Rights and she served as a Gender and Development Advisor to two Minister’s cabinet of the same ministry. She was also a member of the Board of Directors of the TOYA Foundation, a women’s organization of which she is a member since 2009. She represented the women’s sector for two years in the Multisectoral Coordination Committee of the Global Fund in Haiti for HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
Today, she travels the world as an advocate, building bridges to talk about the realities of Haitian women and advance their rights. She’s a consultant now for international feminist organizations like Black Feminist Future, Equality Fund, South Feminist Future and others.
Ilio Durandis is the Founder of the Haitian Bioscience Initiative. He has also founded Haiti 2015. Ilio holds an MS in Molecular Biology, a BS in Biological Sciences and a degree in Political Science.
Ilio has held different positions working as a Developmental Scientist in the bio-pharmaceutical industry and has volunteered in several Haitian Diaspora Hometown social organizations. Ilio has also held positions as Rector of the University of Fondwa and Vice-Dean at University Notre Dame Haiti (Hinche campus). Ilio has written more than 200 articles about Haitian politics, education, and current events. His publications can be found at the Haitian Times, Caribbean Journal and Medium.
Our panel will be moderated by Régine Théodat
Régine Théodat is a Haitian American entrepreneur, strategist, former attorney, and cultural advocate. After spending 14 years in Haiti working on various development, entrepreneurship, agriculture, and human rights-related work, she returned to Boston in 2023. As the principal of Anana Consultants and founder of Isse & Lo, a Caribbean children’s brand, Régine merges her strategic expertise with her passion for heritage, impact, and Haiti. Isse & Lo offers a curated selection of bilingual books, toys, and cultural tools designed to help parents pass on their Caribbean and Haitian roots. With a strong commitment to authenticity and inclusivity, she fosters pride and connection among Haitian and Caribbean families.