JEAN-ROBERT ANANTUA, PRESIDENT/CEO
Bob Anantua spent the earlier part of his career working in academia for the City University of New York. As a product of the system, he felt that he had to give back by investing his talent to improve the system at different levels. As the Assistant Coordinator of application processing, he provided great leadership, coordination and management skills to transition the manual processing to an electronic format using a document management system. As Acting Assistant Director of Admissions, he took great pleasure in mentoring young students looking to find their way. He received a B.S. in Information Technology. He received additional business training from Tuck Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. He also received project management training from University of Maryland Baltimore County. As a partner and COO of an 8a firm that specialized avionics engineering and program management, he was instrumental in increasing the firm’s revenue from $350,000 to 4.8 million in five years. Mr. Anantua is also a firm believer in community service. He is a volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Maryland. He is a member of PEER Servants, a Christian Microfinance organization doing “good” around the world. He also serves in the children ministry at his church in Columbia, Maryland. Mr. Anantua believes that entrepreneurship is the gateway to a flourishing economy. Today, as the CEO of Build Haiti Foundation (BHF), Mr. Anantua seeks to form partnership with organizations and individuals of different capabilities and background. He will deploy the organization’s effort to promote job creation, education, entrepreneurship and other important programs to revitalize the Haitian economy. He believes that raising awareness about the plight of the Haitian people will serve as catalyst that will allow individuals and organizations to come together for this common cause. |
DAVID WEEKS, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
After viewing on social media the devastating impact of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, David Weeks reached out to the Build Haiti Foundation to learn about ways the Haitian people could be supported. As the Global Education and Community Service Director at the Glenelg Country School in Howard County, Maryland, he rallied his school community to help construct a health clinic in the village of Camp Coq which has now become operational. He has traveled with BHF President Bob Anantua to Haiti to help secure a Sister City relationship between Cap Haitien, the second largest city in Haiti, and Columbia, Maryland. Furthermore he has helped to establish the BHF Global Leadership Program as a way of empowering the Haitian people and providing U.S. students and adult mentors with a valuable, hands-on experience working effectively with Haitians in Haiti. Having partially spent his youth in Cuba, Mr. Weeks is familiar with Caribbean culture. Married to his French Canadian wife, Marie, for thirty years, he is also conversant in French. His professional responsibilities have included the establishment of the 501c3 Salih Self Development Foundation in Ghana and philanthropic work supporting the needs of Ghanaian, Nigerian, Kenyan and Indian people. He holds degrees from Harvard and Loyola Colleges and has studied at the Center for Social Development of Emerson College in England. |
ALEX F. LILAVOIS, PROGRAM MANAGEMENT/FINANCE
Alex Lilavois is a senior level management consultant with over twenty years of experience in strategic management, quality management, and program development. Mr. Lilavois is a graduate of the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business with an MBA in Finance and Strategic Management and an undergraduate degree (BS) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida. Mr. Lilavois holds a Project Manager Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute and his expertise in business and operations startup has resulted in improvements in client financial and market position, optimization of resource utilization, sizeable gains in process effectiveness and efficiency, and realignment of organizational structures towards strategic enterprise-level goals. Mr. Lilavois donates his spare time to organizations that promote education and economic development domestically and internationally. As a business development professional fluent in French, Spanish and Haitian Creole, he has consulted senior level executives within the financial services, federal government, manufacturing and power utilities sectors in the U.S. and global marketplace. Mr. Lilavois is an admirer of Asian and Caribbean art, especially the various forms of Haitian Art. He lives in Rockville, Md. with his wife and two sons. |
LIZ BOBO, BOARD MEMBER
Ms. Bobo is a public servant who spent 33 years serving the State of Maryland. She has served four terms in the Maryland House of Delegates, representing District 12B in Howard County. She currently sits on the Environmental Matters Committee. She graduated from Seton High School in Baltimore before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature from the University of Maryland University College and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Maryland School of Law. Bobo practiced as an attorney before her election to the House of Delegates. She has been recognized for her work on conservation and children’s issues. She was on the Governor’s Commission to Study Poverty in Maryland, 2001-03 and was named Maryland’s Top 100 Women, Daily Record, 2002. She made the Howard County Women’s Hall of Fame, 1997 |
MOMINA MALIK, BOARD MEMBER
Momina Malik – Educator and mother dedicated to supporting her community. Ms. Malik believes that each member of a community brings a unique talent to improving and transforming a community. As a Volunteer Coordinator, Ms. Malik is one of the original members of the Build Haiti Foundation who continues to amaze all in her dedication to serve, impact and transform. |
Larry E. Newman, P.E., BOARD MEMBER
Larry is a professional civil engineer with over 40 years of engineering experience. He has been working in Haiti over 20 years, assisting in the design and construction of schools, hospitals, churches, water systems, and sanitary systems. Larry travels to Haiti approximately 2-3 times a year. He is the president of Haiti Water, a 501c3 that focuses on the design and construction of potable water systems. Haiti Water drills and develops wells in areas where the “big rigs” cannot go; and installs chlorine disinfection systems. Larry is also a member of the board of directors of Hens for Haiti, a 501c3 that designs and initiates small scale egg production facilities in Haiti. Larry is committed to sustainable water and food production in Haiti. Larry is the president of Spatial Systems Associates, Inc., a Columbia-based computerized mapping firm that he founded in 1995. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Columbia-Patuxent and a member of the St. Louis Knights of Columbus. Larry is his Rotary Club’s international chair, and serves as a Water and Sanitation Cadre member within Rotary. He works on water and sanitation projects for Rotary around the world. |
Oletha DeVane, BOARD MEMBER
Oletha DeVane is an accomplished multi-media artist who explores political, social and cultural interpretations in a variety of mediums. She has been featured in numerous select galleries and museums, such as the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Art Museum of the Americas in Washington, D.C., the Museum of the Bible in New York, the Dixon Gallery in Tennessee, the James E. Lewis Museum at Morgan State University and is in collections of several institutions such as the Sheppard Pratt Hospital, Hyatt Regency and Hilton Hotels in Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Homewood Museum, Loyola University and other numerous private collections. The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture commissioned DeVane to create a permanent video installation documenting Maryland’s history of lynching. As part of an NEA grant, DeVane collaborated on a body of work at Pyramid Atlantic with the “Girls of Baltimore” (Joyce Scott, Leslie King Hammond, Patti Tronolone, Linda DePalma and Ellen Burchenal). A Sondheim semi finalist, her works was exhibited in Meyerhoff Gallery at Maryland Institute College of Art. She was one of the first African-American artists invited as an Artist-in-Residence to the United Arab Emirates and was an Artist in Residence in the baroque city of Lecce with the Bau Institute in Italy. An artist and educator, she has taught art classes in South Africa, South America, and Thailand. DeVane is the Director of the Tuttle Gallery at McDonogh School and Co-Chair the McDonogh History House/Museum project. She recently retired as Head of visual arts in the Upper School at McDonogh School in Owings Mills. For her Distinguish in Teaching, she was the recipient of the Rollins Luktemeyer Chair in 2007. DeVane has served on the Board of Maryland Art Place, Build Haiti Foundation, curated numerous exhibitions, on selection committee at School 33 Art Center, served as Vice-chair of Wide Angle Community Media, a non-profit youth media organization in Baltimore and was the Program Director for various programs at the Maryland State Arts Council. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, DeVane received her B.F.A. from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and M.F.A. from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. |
Kellyann Few, BOARD MEMBER
Ms. Few has over 20 years of experience as a Civil-Environmental Engineer and Program Manager with knowledge in hazardous material/waste management, water quality, pollution prevention, environmental management systems, facility management, and sustainability program development. Ms. Few has the ability to work collaboratively with different organizations and team members to accomplish organizational goals by preparing technically accurate documents, planning meetings and other task centered activities. Her ability to explain, defend, negotiate and coordinate program policies and activities with a variety of stakeholders has resulted in the successful organizational balance of Mission and environmental sustainability. Specialties: Planning, Programming, Implementation, Execution for protection/preserving Land-Air-Water-Community... Supporting the balance between Mission and Environmental Sustainability... Process Improvement through innovative Program Management |