Patronus: Rabbit and Crow
Fav Mantra: Root to Rise

Valerie is originally from Haiti and currently living in vibrant bustling Accra, Ghana. Prior to joining FRIDA, she was responsible for managing corporate and foundation partnerships for ICA Fund Good Jobs and Kiva. She took the lead in launching the Women’s Entrepreneurship Fund while at Kiva in collaboration with the US Global Ambassador for Women’s Issues as part of a new initiative of President Obama’s administration. Prior to joining Kiva, Valerie managed corporate partnerships for the Organization of American States in Latin America where she focused largely on human trafficking prevention in Mexico and Central America. She has been featured by MTV Americas to share her experiences with building public-private partnerships and has been an interviewee on MTV’s “Agentes de Cambio”. Valerie is a Kennedy Fellow, Aspen Ideas Festival Scholar and was selected as a Skoll and Mastercard Foundation Youth Leader in 2016. Valerie holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Stanford with a minor in Dance and African Studies, and a Master’s Degree in International Relations from the University of Cambridge. She enjoys taking a variety of creative classes and listening to people’s life stories, searching for new African female artists in all mediums, attending talks about things she knows little about and exploring medicinal herbs, and is currently pursuing her Yoga teacher certification. Valerie is fluent in Haitian Creole, Spanish, French and English.