1. Dear Reader,
As I sit here to write this letter, I am reminded of the wise words of Ralph Waldo
Emerson: “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” Some
people succeed because it is their destiny. However, most people succeed because they are
determined. I consider myself a self-determined man.
The person I am today is a product of the trials and the adversity that molded me. I grew
up in the midst of the abject poverty that is prevalent in many parts of Haiti. I know what it
means to be hungry, to be unable to pay for school, and to live in decrepit conditions. In spite of
the darkness that surrounded me in my youth, I always remained focused on a single light, the
dream of rising out of the pervasive misery that surrounded me. I knew education was my
primary gateway to a better life. I thus devoted myself academically so as to graduate from high
school, and earned a coveted spot among the few to be admitted to the Faculty of Sciences at the
State University of Haiti.
Upon earning my degree in Computer Engineering I worked for several enterprises
before deciding to start my own company. In 1998 I founded GaMa Consulting S.A. with my
business partner, Ralph Desulmé, and my wife, Gaëlle Pierre. The company thrived and with it
my dream of being self-sufficient came true. The company thrived and with it my dream of being
self-sufficient came true. I was at the helm of a lucrative company that helped secure my station
in the middle class; I was financially independent, and I had a beautiful family for which I could
provide. I had freed myself from the manacles of poverty.
With the explosion of the 2008 food riots in Haiti, the veneer of my hard-earned dream
dissolved. As I looked upon my Haitian brothers and sisters seething with anger and hatred as
they protested in the streets and threw stones at the GaMa store in an attempt to destroy it, I did
not feel anger towards them. Rather I saw in them myself, or at least a reflection of who I once
was when poverty engulfed my life. I related to them because I knew their reality and their
plight. It suddenly dawned on me that I had a duty to them, to help them transform themselves
into self-determined people just as I had done for myself. That year I embraced a new dream, to
guide my people to freedom from the bondage of poverty.
In 2009, I founded the ETRE Ayisyen Foundation in order to reach out to Haiti’s youth
and plant in their minds the seed of entrepreneurship as a weapon to battle adversity and cure the
spiritual malaise and disease that is poverty. I wrote an autobiography, The Power of a Dream, in
order to build a bridge between the Haitian people and myself, to erase the socioeconomic line
that separated us, and to show them that I was one of them. I sought to give them, through my
story, a beacon of hope that they too could rise above adversity.
In June of 2012, I participated in the Leaders in Development seminar at the Harvard
Kennedy Business School and had the unique opportunity of working with a group of professors
and leaders from around the world. I left that seminar with one key understanding: No country
has ever taken the path to economic growth without a political consensus between the elite and
the lower class. I came to the conclusion that Haiti, since its Independence, has never reached

2. this political settlement primarily because it was founded on a basis of profound economic
inequality, the root of social divide in this country.
I strongly believe that an economic and social New Deal is necessary for Haiti’s growth.
At present Haiti is characterized by economic exclusion, which drives social inequality and
fosters hopelessness. The Haitian population is a people in despair who seek only to immigrate,
to escape the burden that comes with carrying a Haitian passport, for they have no sense of
belonging to a country that fails to give them the means to lead good lives. Today, five groups of
people who constitute the majority of the Haitian population are excluded from the economy: (1)
the youth, (2) the peasants, (3) the young entrepreneurs, (4) the women, and (5) the
professionals. This majority has been barred from contributing to the growth of the economy
while the minority, the elite, controls the economy despite its inability to make the economy
grow big enough to allow all Haitian citizens to live well. Today, we are at a crossroads in which
Haiti must choose to walk down the path of economic growth through economic inclusion: We
must make way for the economically excluded to participate in the economy. This excluded
majority is the human capital in which Haitian society must invest in order to grow.
Over two hundred years ago Dessalines asked the following question: “What of the poor
blacks whose fathers are in Africa? Will they have nothing?” Just as the newly freed slaves
following Haiti’s Independence had no land on which to make a living, our country’s lower and
middle classes have inadequate financial means to lead good lives free of poverty. The social
disparity in Haiti today stems from the historical and unequal divide of resources that can be
traced to our nation’s conception.
I have transformed my dream into a mission: To be an advocate for the economic and
social pact that this country so desperately needs. Social justice is based on equal opportunity
and equal access to education, credit, and health care. This country cannot provide social justice
until it paves the way for economic inclusion and growth. Only when resources are more equally
distributed can Haiti work towards social justice.
Haiti further needs a break from partisanship in order to open itself to economic growth
that benefits the many as opposed to the few. This undertaking demands a leader who
understands the struggles of both the poor and the middle class. My unique path in life has led
me to be a member of both classes. The inequality between the rich and the poor runs too deep.
We Haitians have time and again blamed politics as the root cause of our instability. I, however,
believe the economy is the core issue, and that only in addressing the question of economic
disparity can we start to bring peace and stability to Haiti. The scarcity of resources in our
country creates a very precarious economy of which the poor and the middle class are direct
victims. Social justice is key to Haiti's political stability, and to reach it we need a new social and
economic deal between the elite and the poor.
The New Economic and Social Deal I propose stands on three pillars:
1. Quality education for all Haitians: No Haitian should be condemned by his or her
social background, skin color, or place of birth (Orijin Mwen pa ka Kondane'm, My

3. Origins Cannot Condemn Me). Today our education system is merely training people to
earn their diplomas and degrees without teaching them to participate in the economic
development of our country. Our education system must sculpt our citizens into civil
servants who will work to build our country. The knowledge that is amassed through
school must respond to the needs of our society.
2. Economic decentralization: (1) The delegation of power to minimize the control of the
few over the economy, and to give true power to both the people and to the local
communities. In gaining more autonomy, these communities will then be able to focus on
local development. (2) The decentralization of wealth and the establishment of a
development bank to provide all Haitian citizens with equal access to credit, which will
catalyze the creation of wealth through entrepreneurship by drawing on the intellect of
the youth.
3. A strong institutional framework: The establishment of necessary institutions to uphold
the rule of law and pave the way for political stability. In erecting barriers against the
corruption that perpetuates poverty, these institutions will help to gradually transform
Haiti from a “failed state” to a nation that fosters economic growth through political
stability.
Haiti needs a leader who understands the complexity and delicacy of the interaction
between the socioeconomic factors that exist in our nation today. Only such a leader can make
the most of his five years in office and devote them not to campaigning for reelection or to the
election of a chosen successor but rather to making difficult decisions, strengthening institutions,
paving the path for economic growth, and leaving a legacy. Only such a leader can plant the seed
for real change.
I am that leader. Throughout my life poverty has distressed me from the inside out, in
living through poverty and then witnessing it from a safe distance. I am tired of seeing my people
suffer; tired of watching us fight against each other when we should be fighting our true enemies,
poverty and the corrupt system that preserves it; tired of the instability that cripples Haiti. I can
give the Haitian people hope for a brighter tomorrow and the opportunity to play on a leveler
playing field. I have assembled a technical team of experts in economy, education, agriculture,
sociology, and entrepreneurship, both in Haiti and aboard, as well as a political team of former
Haitian senators, congressmen, and ministers who will work to turn my vision into a concrete
plan that will help this country grow and thrive.
At this point, you may be asking yourself where I will find the resources to realize my
vision. I want to clarify that the resources already exist. Our country merely needs a leader with
the capacity to negotiate in order to tap into those resources and invest them in Haiti’s growth.
One tentative route that my advisors and I have considered is (1) inviting Asia to play a financial
role in Haiti’s future, (2) harnessing know-how from emerging countries in Latin America like
Brazil and Mexico, and (3) entering the North American market by become a hub of production
for products that are in demand in North America.

4. The world has branded Haiti “the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.” The time
is ripe for us to strip our country of this label, for us to take our country’s destiny into our own
hands. Haiti’s leaders within both social and political spheres need to initiate and agree upon a
“growth and development pact,” which can lead Haiti down the road to political stability and
economic growth. Friends of Haiti in the international community can assist in facilitating such
an endeavor.
Abraham Lincoln once said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” I strongly
believe that we can arrive at a shared vision to create a new Haiti that will astound the world. I
am a self-determined man with the capacity and most importantly the will to transform our
fractured country into a self-determined nation. I am the leader that Haiti needs today.
Warm Regards,
Mathias Pierre