Posted on September 12, 2011

Clinton Bush Haiti Fund Awards $1.1 Million to Support Artisans, Entrepreneurs, Students

The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund has announced three grants totaling more than $1.1 million to help connect artisans, students, and microentrepreneurs to the networks, jobs, and resources they need to stimulate economic growth in the impoverished nation.

Grant recipients include the HAND/EYE Fund, which was awarded more than $530,000 to form the Artisan Business Network and connect Haitian artists to U.S. and global markets through high-profile retailers, including Macy's and Anthropologie; microfinance institution FINCA Haiti, which will receive nearly $360,000 to bolster its ability to provide poverty-stricken Haitians with access to credit; and nearly $260,000 to Inveneo, a communications technology NGO that aims to build computer labs in forty rural Haitian schools, creating local jobs and providing students with access to broadband Internet.

"When Haitian men and women have access to the networks and funding to build their enterprises and communities, they are able to more fully participate in the national and international economy," said Clinton Bush Haiti Fund board member Alexis Herman. "There is immense business potential in Haiti, and these grants will help tap into that potential."