Prime Minister and Minister of Planning and External Cooperation
Republic of Haiti

Born in 1958 in Port-au-Prince (Haiti), son of a physician, a senior official of the World Health Organization (WHO), Jean-Max Bellerive left his homeland at an early age to begin his primary, secondary and university studies in Switzerland, France and Belgium. He graduated in Political Sciences and International Relations and returned to Haiti in 1986.

He made his debut in the private sector as Coordinator of l'Aquinoise, fishing cooperative located in the south and financed by the European Union.

In 1988, he joined the Ministry of Interior and Local Authorities as Assistant Chief of the Department of Analysis and Policy Perspectives. He left that post in 1990 as he held the title of Director of Organization and Method Unit and Acting Director General.

In 1990, with some colleagues in the Civil Service, he founded Sibel Consult, a management and project development agency. In such capacity, he collaborated with public institutions including the Secretariat of State for Tourism, the National Port Authority, Banque Populaire Haitienne, the Provisional Electoral Council and the Ministry of Haitians Living Abroad, and several private firms.

After a brief stint at the Provisional Electoral Council in 1999-2000 where he served as Chairman of the Electoral Bureau for the West, between 2000 and 2006 he occupied the functions of Chief of Staff for Prime Minister Jean-Marie Chérestal, Chief Technical Advisor to Prime Minister Yvon Neptune and Coordinator of the Coordination and Monitoring Unit for Public Policies, financed by UNDP and attached to the Office of Prime Minister Gérard Latortue.

In 2006, he was called to join the Préval-Alexis Government as Minister of Planning and External Cooperation and remained in the same position during the Préval-Duvivier Pierre-Louis Government. On October 30, he was designated by President Préval, and ratified by Parliament as Prime Minister on November 11, 2009.

Jean-Max Bellerive is married with two children.

Lieutenant General P.K. (Ken) Keen retired from the U.S. Army with over 38 years of experience leading military and government organizations. He commanded a Company and an Airborne Battalion in the 82nd Airborne Division; 1st Ranger Battalion and the 75th Ranger Regiment; a Special Forces Detachment; Military Group in Colombia and Office of Defense in Pakistan; U.S Army South; and Joint Task Force units including participating in combat operations in Panama and Iraq.

He served on 3 U.S. Embassy country teams (Colombia, Haiti, and Pakistan) leading the U.S. military forces in each country during crisis periods.

Keen was Commander of Joint Task Force – Haiti leading a force of over 22,000 personnel in the largest U.S. military’s response to a foreign disaster following the earthquake in Haiti on 12 Jan 2010. He has worked extensively with governments, the United Nations, and non-government organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean in response to natural disasters and on humanitarian assistance projects.

He led the Office of Defense Representative – Pakistan, with an annual $1.05-billion security assistance aid budget, collaborating with and coordinating efforts among the International Security Forces in Afghanistan on border operations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as supporting U.S. interagency organizations in counter-terrorism efforts. He worked to nurture personal relationships with senior Pakistani military leaders to sustain military-to-military relationships during the most challenging period in our bilateral relationship in the last 20 years.

Keen was the second in command at U.S. Southern Command in Miami in execution of U.S. military humanitarian assistance, disaster relief operations, and counter-drug operations spanning a diverse theater of 31 countries and 15 areas of special sovereignty in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.

LTG (Ret) Keen currently serves as a Leadership Executive in Residence at the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.

Elizabeth J. Kucinich is a government affairs professional with a background in international development, monetary reform, conflict analysis and diplomacy. A longtime human rights advocate and champion for improved human health, medical research efficacy and animal-protection, Elizabeth is the Director of Public and Government Affairs for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

Elizabeth has worked in international humanitarian and development roles serving the people directly in India (Missionaries of Charity), Tanzania (VSO), Uganda (independent initiative) and the UK (refugee case worker, British Red Cross and detained asylum seeker support worker, LDSG). In Tanzania she lived and worked in a subsistence farming community for 16 months as an international development worker whose mandate was in the field of education, HIV/AIDS awareness raising and intermediate technology development (rain water harvesting, bio gas, etc.).

Elizabeth left development fieldwork in order to further concentrate on changing destructive international policies which create disparities in global wealth, health, social and environmental well being but continues to advise several international education and community-building projects in East Africa.

Elizabeth holds a Masters degree in International Conflict Analysis and a BA with honors in Religious Studies and Theology, both from the University of Kent, UK. She has also received vocational training in human rights fieldwork, minimum standards in disaster response, and other related areas.

Bryan Lourd is a partner and Managing Director of Creative Artists Agency (CAA), an entertainment and sports agency, based in Los Angeles with offices in New York, London, Nashville, and Beijing. CAA represents many of the most successful professionals working in film, television, music, theatre, video games, sports, design, and the Internet, and provides a range of strategic marketing and consulting services to corporate clients. Lourd represents many of the world’s leading actors, actresses, directors, and producers.

A New Iberia, Louisiana, native, Lourd began his career as a page at CBS Studios before joining the William Morris Agency mailroom program in 1983, working his way up to agent. He moved to CAA in 1988. Seven years later, in October 1995, Lourd and his partners became the new owners of CAA.

Lourd is a member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities and is on the Board of InterActiveCorp (IAC). Lourd attended the University of Southern California, earning degrees in Journalism and International Relations.

Sean Penn is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of J/P Haitian Relief Organization. Two-time Academy Award® winner Sean Penn has become an American film icon in a career spanning nearly three decades. Penn's humanitarian work has found him in New Orleans in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and more recently in earthquake-ravaged Haiti. In January 2010, Penn founded the J/P Haitian Relief Organization, which focuses on medical aid, protection, and re-location. His organization is currently serving as UN IOM designated Camp Management for one of the largest IDP camps in Port-au-Prince and established the first emergency re-location in the country.

For his efforts in Haiti, Penn was named Ambassador at Large to the nation of Haiti on January 14th, 2012, he received the Commander's Award for Service (US Army 82nd Airborne Division), 82nd Airborne Award for Meritorious Service, the Operation Unified Response JTF Haiti Certificate from Lieutenant General, US Army Commander P.K. Keen, along with the 1st Recon 73rd Division Coin of Excellence, 2nd Brigade Combat Team Coin of Excellence, Commendation of Excellence United States Southern Command, and Award of Excellence by the Deputy Commander US Southern Command.

Earlier this year, Penn was honored with the "Children's and Families Global Development Fund Humanitarian Award" presented by the Ambassador of the Republic of Haiti, Raymond A. Joseph and his wife, Lola Poisson-Joseph. Additionally, in July 2010 Penn was knighted by Haitian President Rene Preval in a ceremony in Port-Au-Prince.

William M. Pohlad is the CEO, River Road Entertainment; President, Pohlad Family Foundation.Established film producer Bill Pohlad, chief executive officer of River Road Entertainment, is known for his ability to seek out unconventional material and bring it to light, unafraid to take creative risks.

Since founding River Road Entertainment in 1987, Bill has produced and directed numerous commercial, corporate and documentary films, as well as several successful feature films. His involvement in groundbreaking productions such as Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning epic, Brokeback Mountain, Robert Altman’s final film, A Prairie Home Companion, Sean Penn’s adaptation of Into the Wild, and Robert Kenner’s Food Inc., have made him one of the most influential producers in independent films.

Most recently, Bill produced Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life, starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, and Doug Liman’s Fair Game, starring Naomi Watts and Sean Penn.

Bill earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and economics from Gonzaga University. He currently serves as president of the Carl and Eloise Pohlad Family Foundation, and divides his time between Minneapolis and Los Angeles. He and his wife, Michelle, have one son.

Paul G. Vallas is Superintendent of the Recovery School District, which includes 67 traditional and charter schools in New Orleans. He is implementing sweeping district-wide reforms, duplicating many of the initiatives that turned the school systems of Philadelphia and Chicago into nationally recognized models for education reform. In New Orleans, Vallas’ initiatives include a standardized curriculum, an extended school day and school year to provide students with more instructional time on task, and a classroom modernization program that has provided interactive white boards in all core classrooms, laptops to all teachers and more than 4,000 laptop computers to high school students. In addition, Vallas implemented high school redesign initiative that has brought industry-linked signature programs to RSD high schools and helped draft a comprehensive blueprint that will guide future school construction and renovation in New Orleans.

Prior to joining the RSD, Vallas served as Chief Executive Officer for the School District of Philadelphia from 2002-2007 and as Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools from 1995 to 2001. Vallas has also served as budget director for the City of Chicago and as revenue director for the City of Chicago.

Originally from Chicago, Vallas received a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and History in 1976 and a Masters in Political Science in 1980 from Western Illinois University.