Marleine Bastien, MSW, LSW

Marleine Bastien, a licensed clinical social worker and graduate of Miami-Dade Community College and Florida International University, is the founder and Executive Director of Family Action Network Movement (FANM) formerly known as Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami, Inc. (Haitian Women of Miami—FANM), an important group that has provided desperately needed assistance not only to Haitian women and their families, but to the community at large. Under Bastien’s leadership, FANM has shown a unique ability to provide an array of social services while also organizing around issues such as immigration, housing, health access, education reform, gender equality, and human rights. Bastien is the Chair of the Florida Immigration coalition and Vice-Chair of the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition. Over the course of 30 years, Bastien has worked on many important campaigns, including: The Haitian Immigration Refugee Fairness Act of 1998, Temporary Protected Status, The Dream Act, Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Living Wage and Human Rights Ordinance, and the Children’s Trust (treasurer and spokesperson for the Black Community with Congresswoman Carrie Meek).
She formed the Justice Coalition for the Haitian Children of Guantanamo and appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show to lend her expertise on a discussion of the devastating impact that prolonged the detention at Guantanamo had on Haitian children in 1995. She is a founding member of the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition, the Haitian Neighborhood Center (Sant La), the Center for Haitian Studies, the Florida Immigrant Coalition, and many more community organizations.

Bastien is the recipient of many awards, including: Social Worker of the Year Award, Miami-Dade County (2000), Human Rights Award from Amnesty International (2000), Women of the Year Award by Ms. Magazine (2001), WEB Dubois, NAACP Miami-Dade Branch (2002), Leadership for a Changing World Award by the Ford Foundation (2002), Women Who Make a Difference Award, Miami Law Women (2003). In 2005, Bastien was named “One of the 35 Most Remarkable Women in the World” by Essence Magazine and most recently, the 2013 U.S. Human Rights Movement Builders Award from the U.S. Human Rights Network. Upon the invitation of Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, Bastien testified before Congress in 2007 on the importance of Comprehensive Immigration Reform. In addition, she received congressional recognition from Senator Bill Nelson (2005), Congresswoman Corinne Brown (2008), and Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (2012). On October 16, 2015, Bastien received the “Stanley Milledge Lifetime Achievement Award” from the ACLU.

Bastien has dedicated herself to the betterment and benefit of others—in health, education, economic survival, social justice and equity. She consistently stands tall in the face of challenges and always seeks fairness for the common good of all communities.