Maryse Pénette-Kedar is a former Secretary of State for Tourism. During her tenure, she implemented the country’s first Tourism Master Plan. Her public career started in the early 1980’s, when she successively served as commercial attaché at the Embassy of Haiti in Washington, D.C., Minister Counselor and Chargé d’Affaires at the Haitian Embassy in Belgium. It is in this capacity that Mrs. Pénette-Kedar negotiated and secured Haiti’s entry into the Lomé Convention, an important economic cooperation agreement signed with the European Economic Community (European Union) in 1988.
Subsequent to her career in Haiti’s Foreign Service, Mrs. Kedar returned to the private sector. From 2005 to 2007, she chaired the Association of Industries of Haiti whose goal is to promote and develop Haiti’s industrial sector.
Mrs. Kedar currently works for Royal Caribbean International, serving as a special consultant and the President of Société Labadie Nord S.A. (SOLANO), a Haiti registered corporation responsible for the management of Royal Caribbean’s cruise port in Labadie.
Maryse Pénette-Kedar is also the founder and President of the Board of the Center for Leadership and Excellence (CLE). This new and innovative organization focused on building leadership for social change through training programs, research on local social assets and capacity –building activities.
Mrs. Pénette-Kedar’s civic mindedness has been recognized throughout the years, most notably with the Grand Croix, the highest honor and recognition bestowed by the Government of Haiti, for her accomplishments.
Today, Maryse Pénette-Kedar, is ever more engaged in what she calls “the battle for Haiti’s future”. She is the founder and Board President of the Progress and Development Foundation (PRODEV). She oversees the foundation’s efforts to manage three schools which offers quality education to over 1000 students in different part of the country. She is on a mission to demonstrate that education is the only solution needed to place Haiti on the path to sustainable development