Jan. 31, 2022 — The National Haitian American Elected Officials Network (NHAEON) on has named a new leader following a leadership retreat in Arizona.
Charnette Frederic, a Councilmember in Irvington, N.J., is now the organization’s new chairperson. She succeeds Alix Désulmé, Vice-Mayor of North Miami.
“We have the elected officials, we have the knowledge, we have the structure,” Frederic said as she accepted the nomination. “We’re ready to take Haiti and our Haitian brothers and sisters here to the next level.”
Dozens of elected officials from across the country gathered in Chandler, Arizona, where key issues discussed included how to strengthen U.S.-Haiti ties and bolster Haitian-American representation in U.S. politics. A new executive board was also announced, including Rodneyse Bichotte-Hermelyn as historian, Sabrina Charles-Pierre as secretary and Marie Woodson as treasurer.
First-term Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) and former Congresswoman Mia Love (R-UT) received the event’s Shirley Chisholm-Breaking the Glass Ceiling award for female political leadership.
NHAEON will continue “focusing on issues impacting members of the network and constituencies,” which range across states throughout the country from Arizona to New York, officials said in the news release.
“We have much work to do, and there will be many challenges ahead of us,” said Mary Estime-Irvin, vice-chairwoman of NHAEON, during the leadership gala. “As a network of elected and appointed officials, we are in privileged positions of leadership to address real issues affecting our disproportionate communities and propose long-term solutions.”