Posted on December 22, 2011

Clinton Bush Haiti Fund Announces $1.5 Million in Grants for Workforce Development

The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund has announced grants totaling $1.5 million to institutions working to develop and assist current and future hospitality workers, entrepreneurs, students, and teachers in Haiti.

Grant recipients include Quisqueya University in Port-au-Prince, which was awarded $914,000 to enhance its recently established Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The fund also awarded $286,646 to EducaTech to establish a digital library at Haiti's Institute of Management and International Studies and provide computer equipment, education resources, and technology training to students and faculty at the university.

In addition, the fund awarded $264,000 to the Oasis Foundation to help rebuild the Haiti Hotel School — l'École Hôtelière Haitienne — which was destroyed by the massive earthquake that struck the country in January 2010. The grant, which comes on the heels of a $2 million investment by the fund in the Oasis Hotel, will enable the school to resume training of and matriculate new students pursuing careers in the hospitality industry.

"Just as access to jobs is crucial for Haiti's development, local businesses — especially the many new hotels under construction — must have access to a skilled workforce for sustainable economic growth," said Oasis Foundation director Hildegard Epstein Cassis. "With this grant, we will be able to provide hospitality workers with the skills essential to building back a better Haiti."