With Knowledge, We Rise Higher!
we are united in our dedication to Enabling communities to Rise
WHO WE ARE
Partnering to build a world where all children can thrive
Connect and Elevate is a non profit organization whose goal is to bring experts in their respective fields of Athletics, Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (A.S.T.E.A.M) to Haiti and other under-served places. We want to CONNECT these experts in A.S.T.E.A.M with the local instructors, coaches, and mentors and provide them training and networking opportunities they would otherwise not have access to. The foundational knowledge and tools we provide in our workshops and camps empower the local children that they are teaching, thereby allowing the next generation to elevate themselves beyond what any outsider is capable of imagining for them. Exposing the coaches, teachers, instructors, mentors and children to these experts will spark innovative thought and ideas so they can ELEVATE themselves to and beyond their current state and successfully compete in a global marketplace in the near future. We believe that each child has the potential to succeed if the opportunity is given to him or her. We are determined to work with established organizations and individuals already guiding the children in their community and provide them an additional boost needed to develop children through knowledge transfer, sports activities and Artistic exploration.
BOARD MEMBERS
An Engineer, a Coach and an Artist came together to redefine the role of NGOs in developing countries. Three individuals who value the importance of cultivating a whole person. Who believe in enabling the development of Mind, Body and Soul of the next generation to empower them to end the cycle of poverty.
Pascale Delaunay
President
The Engineer
Dr. Ernest Gregoire
Secretary
The Coach
Richard Pierre Louis
Treasurer
The Artist
OUR APPROACH
Beyond S.T.E.M to A.S.T.E.A.M
Much has been proclaimed about the need for more STEM “programs”. The logic is simple: the wave of future economic prosperity lies in a workforce that is well-versed in rising job markets like science, technology, engineering and math. Thus, lack of exposure to these fields puts those without exposure a working knowledge of STEM at a disadvantage. While STEM initiatives are a wonderful start into the exploration of these four areas of study, the critical process of creativity and innovation is missing. To gain a competitive edge Innovation is the missing ingredient. We started our services in Haiti because it has the most need and the biggest upside to Haitians. Necessity is the mother of invention and adversity is its father, Haiti has an abundance of both. As an athlete and an engineer from Haiti I have experienced firsthand the transformative power that sports and technology can provide to people, especially the youth. Other struggling areas like Haiti can also provide environments which are prime for cultivation of the creative and innovative spirit.
ASTEAM is an educational approach to community enablement that uses Athletics, Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics as a catalyst to self-development. ASTEAM take the benefits of STEM and complete the package by integrating these principles with Athletics and Arts. We believe the opportunities and lessons gained from participating in athletics are paramount to the foundational formation of children. We also believe that the Arts are best way to unlock creativity and expression. Art takes technical knowledge and removes limitations, takes rules and replaces them with wonder, critique, inquiry, and innovation. This approach to enablement is certainly not an easy task, but the benefits to the children and the entire community are tremendous. We are always learning, always growing, always experimenting. We aim to provide the tools and exposure to ASTEAM programs as a catalyst to explosive growth, new and creative solutions from the innovators of tomorrow.
To connect global experts with local Heroes in their ASTEAM fields for exchange of knowledge to provide catalyst for the local communities to enrich themselves and future generations to compete on the global stage.
To see the potential of the next generation realized on such great scale that the exchange of experts is reversed. For people to come to Haiti not to educate and enable but rather to be educated and enabled. To learn from the generation that ushered the return of Haiti as the “Pearl of the Caribbean”.
Check out the blog post from our founder
PARTNERS
