Fr. Michelet Dorescar is the General Manager of the Congregation de Sainte Croix (CSC) Salt Facility affiliated with the University of Notre Dame’s Haiti Salt Project (HSP). Since 2007, he has led all salt-related activities within Haiti, directing salt procurement, processing, sales and marketing, and quality assurance. Fr. Michelet and his team of approximately 50 associates serve customers in four market segments (retail, foodservice, food-processing, and industrial) and coordinate the use of fortified-salt in the battle against lymphatic filariasis and iodine deficiency disorders with the Haitian Ministry of Health. In doing so, Fr. Michelet has established the Salt Facility as the leading supplier of processed salt in Haiti and as a recognized leader in improving the health of all Haitians.
Before joining the HSP team, Fr. Michelet held a variety of ministry roles within CSC in Haiti, Italy, and the United States. These roles included leading the Parish-Twinning Project with St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Naperville, IL; acting as the director of St. Thomas the Apostle College in Duchity-Pestel; and serving as the director of development for CSC Haiti.
Fr. Michelet holds a certificate in philosophy from the Grand Seminary Notre Dame de Gazeau, Port-au-Prince, a baccalaureate in theology from the University Gregorienne, Rome, and a diploma in administration sciences from the University Maurice Laroche, Port-au-Prince. He is fluent in French, English, and Haitian Creole. Fr. Michelet resides in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Canes Camil is the Operations Manager of the Congregation de Sainte Croix Salt Facility affiliated with the University of Notre Dame’s Haiti Salt Project (HSP). Since 2016, he has directed operations at the Salt Facility, including oversight of two capital expansion projects in addition to day-to-day activities. Canes and his team of approximately 40 operations associates are responsible for all aspects of worker safety, salt processing, fortification, packaging, and quality assurance. In doing so, Canes has established the Salt Facility as the leading supplier of processed salt in Haiti and as a local leader in food and worker safety.
Before joining the HSP team, Canes worked in numerous professional capacities including a technician for the National Television of Haiti (TVH), an engineering assistant for Siena College in New York, and a free-lance interpreter for various Haitian entities.
Canes holds a degree in electromechanical engineering from the Faculty of Applied Science, Port-au-Prince, and a degree from the Lycee, Hinche. He is fluent in French, English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole. Canes resides in Port-au-Prince with his wife, Diunette, and his son, Dorian Matteo.
Pierrot Mael, Sales Manager- Bio Coming Soon
David Civil, Accounting Manager- Bio Coming Soon
Thierry Lajoie, QA Manager- Bio Coming Soon
Jim Reimer is the Director of the University of Notre Dame’s Haiti Salt Project. Since 2012, he and his team have developed and implemented a social-enterprise model using fortified salt to prevent lymphatic filariasis (LF) and iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) in Haiti. Working with the Congregation de Sainte Croix, the Haitian Ministry of Health, Cargill Salt, and other entities, the Haiti Salt Project processes, markets, and distributes fortified-salt in the retail, foodservice, and food-processing markets of Haiti. In addition, the team has developed specialty salts and services for the industrial salt market that enable HSP to be a self-sustaining entity. As a result, HSP has become a leader in the effort against LF and IDD in Haiti, having developed a novel approach using business practices to help achieve healthcare objectives.
Before joining the HSP team, Jim worked for Cargill, Inc. in a variety of leadership roles in North and South America and Southeast Asia. Before leaving Cargill, he oversaw Cargill's support of HSP's initial research of fortified salt. Jim has also served as a thesis advisor within the Notre Dame ESTEEM Program and as a liaison with HSP's internal and external stakeholders.
Jim holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Nebraska, and an executive program certificate from the University of Michigan's School of Business. He is fluent in Spanish. Jim is based in Grosse Pointe, Michigan where he resides with his wife, Portia.Before joining the HSP team, Fr. Michelet held a variety of ministry roles within CSC in Haiti, Italy, and the United States. These roles included leading the Parish-Twinning Project with St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Naperville, IL; acting as the director of St. Thomas the Apostle College in Duchity-Pestel; and serving as the director of development for CSC Haiti.
Dave O’Brien is a Senior Advisor to the University of Notre Dame’s Haiti Salt Project (HSP). He is part of a team that developed and implemented a social-enterprise model to provide the country with fortified salt to prevent Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) and help eradicate Lymphatic Filariasis (LF), a mosquito born disease that affects more than two million Haitians. HSP’s production facility in Port au Prince is the leading supplier of packaged, fortified salt, under its Bon Sel Dayiti brand name. Currently, Bon Sel Dayiti is the only food grade, iodized, and fortified salt produced in Haiti. The Bon Sel facility operates as a social enterprise with support from the University of Notre Dame and Cargill Salt, using commercial principles and marketplace strategies to address the pressing challenges of LF and IDD more effectively.
Prior to retirement, Dave served as a tax partner at Deloitte with extensive global leadership experience and a tenured track record of consistently delivering outstanding results for his business, his people, and clients. He is well known for a lifetime of community service. Dave also serves as an advisor to the Notre Dame chapter of Students Consulting for Nonprofit Organizations, a student-run organization that seeks to assist nonprofits by “empowering talented students with knowledge, training, and hands-on consulting experience.”
Dave is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Dave is based in Atlanta, Georgia where he resides with his wife, Amy.
Gilbert J. Wirth, Jr. (Chip) has been an advisor to the University of Notre Dame’s Haiti Salt Project for the past 15 years. Chip —working alongside technical advisors from Cargill— assisted in the supervision of the design and construction of the project’s salt processing plant in Port au Prince, Haiti. In addition to the Haiti Salt Project, he is involved in several additional projects to serve the people of Haiti. Chip is one of the founders of the Maison Fortune Orphanage Foundation, a project that supports 230 underprivileged youth in the town of Hinche. He also worked with the University of Notre Dame Haiti to found the University’s Bio Science Program, a first-of-its-kind program in Haiti.
Chip serves as an advisor to the University of Notre Dame’s Student Consulting for Non-Profit Organizations and assists students in their work to support the efforts of the Haiti Salt Project. He also serves as an advisor and business partner to the University’s Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child, attempting to create novel economic development opportunities to fund and sustain Haitian Catholic elementary schools.
Chip graduated from Old Dominion University with a bachelor of science degree in Mechanical Engineering. He spent the next 8 years in the power generator business at Dominion Resources. In 1988, he and his wife, Patty, founded Wirth Development Corporation, a residential developer of single family homes and rental apartments. He and Patty currently reside in Chesapeake, Virginia.
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