Suze François

CEO and Founder of The Mitef Group, LLC

Suze François is the founder and President of The Mitef Group, LLC–a global consultancy designed to help companies develop corporate social responsibility and economic and workforce development initiatives. Lately, Suze was awarded contracts with Development Alternative International, LLC (DAI) to support APIX, S.A.–the investment promotion agency of the Government of Senegal–and UNACOIS, the National Association of Businesses and Industries in Senegal.

The mission with APIX aimed at improving the organization’s quality and range of services offered to domestic and foreign investors in Senegal, identifying new services to be integrated into the Investment Directorate, and building the capacity of the Investment Directorate personnel to provide after-care services to investors. With UNACOIS, Suze works on strengthening the organization’s member services, promoting a better communication between the organization and its members, and supporting the organization’s modernization efforts. UNACOIS counts more than 70,000 members and contributes to the economic development of Senegal. These two missions are part of AfricaLead—a program funded by USAID.

Before creating her own firm, Suze worked in senior leadership for Walmart and the Walmart Foundation. There, she managed a $110M+ global portfolio to strengthen workforce systems and provide career opportunities for low income individuals in the United States, Asia, and Latin America. Her programs directly impacted more than 300,000 people, primarily women, while exceeding goals and remaining within budget. Additionally, Suze worked in Walmart’s Global Sourcing division as a Corporate Social Responsibility Manager where her duties included stakeholder engagement, international development, and supply chain risk management. To foster collaboration and achieve her goals, she has successfully built partnerships with major international brands and retailers, industry associations, government agencies, non-profit organizations, bilateral and multilateral organizations.

Although she lives in the United States, Suze remains connected to her native country, Haiti, through her involvement with the National Alliance for the Advancement of Haitian Professionals (NAAHP), an organization “leveraging the transformative power of collective action to promote inclusive, effective and lasting socio-economic progress in Haiti.” She served as the co- chair of the NAAHP Conference from 2014 to 2016. She is also the co-founder and President of the Potter’s Hands Children’s Center, a 501 c3 organization with the mission of developing the next generation of Haitian leaders. Suze believes that Haiti’s “brain-drain” can be turned into a “brain-gain” by tapping into the Haitian diaspora, since     it has the skills and resources to promote the development of the country.

Prior to Walmart, Suze was a fellow at the Organization of American States (O.A.S.) in Washington D.C.. During her tenure at the O.A.S., she focused on women’s peace and security and human trafficking issues in Haiti and Latin America, with a focus on the “Restaveks” (Haitian children working as maids).

Suze holds a Master’s in Public Administration and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations with a focus on Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies from the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. She is a native of Haiti and is fluent in French, Haitian Creole, and English. She also has extensive knowledge of Spanish and Arabic.

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