Joel Desouve

Joel was born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and attended the State University of Haiti to study Business Management before coming to the United States. He has worked with nonprofit organizations focused on the rights of children, young adults, and migrants. This led him to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Public Affairs & Communication Studies and a Master’s degree in Public Administration, focusing on Policy Analysis and Evaluation at Baruch College. He had also interned with the New York City Office of the Public Advocate, Mr. Jumaane D. Williams, as a Public Policy Intern – Infrastructure & Environmental Justice. Additionally, Joel is a City University of New York – Black Male Initiative (CUNY – BMI) Ambassador. Currently, Joel works as the Special Assistant & Infrastructure Policy Advisor at the Office of Council Member Rita Joseph, serving the people of the 40th Council District in Brooklyn.

Joel is an Advocate for Social & Environmental Justice. He is a certified volunteer for the Salvation Army. Joel has volunteered for several nonprofit organizations during COVID-19, including “In It Together,” providing food boxes and meals to New Yorkers around Brooklyn. He is an ESOL teacher at the Empowerment Centre For Caribbean Immigrants. Last Spring of 2020, Joel did a Fellowship with the University Student Senate as a Public Policy Advisor and a year-long internship with Assemblywoman Mathylde Frontus in the District 46th Office. He also participated in 2019 and 2020 at the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs – APSIA Diversity Forum in Washington, D.C. As a former International Rescue Committee – IRC intern, Joel believes that migrants, immigrants, and refugees & asylees deserve a fair and equitable place in our society. As a Social Justice Advocate, Joel has been involved as one of the Advisory Board Members for both MIRR Alliance, to help educate and create changes in immigration policies, and Gallery Particulier, to help provide access to arts (primarily paintings) to a larger and non-traditional public.

As an NAAHP member/volunteer, Joel intends to contribute to creating a more solid and extensive network for students and young professional Haitians here in the United States and elsewhere.