The 8th Annual Haitian American Business Expo and Job Fair convened on Saturday, May 16, 2026, at Boston Preparatory Charter Public School in Hyde Park, marking a decade of work by the U.S. Haitian Chamber of Commerce, Inc. to support Haitian American entrepreneurs, strengthen minority-owned businesses, and build economic opportunities across Massachusetts and the broader Haitian diaspora.
The 2026 edition of the annual expo was particularly significant. It coincided with the 10th anniversary of the organization itself, founded in 2016, and unfolded against the backdrop of one of the most culturally significant moments in modern Haitian history — Haiti’s return to the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 52 years, scheduled to begin next month with the opening Boston-area match at Gillette Stadium.
For Dr. Hans Patrick Domercant, founder, president, and CEO of the U.S. Haitian Chamber of Commerce, the convergence of timing was not coincidental. The expo, he has said, is designed to position Haitian American businesses to benefit from the international visibility and economic activity surrounding the tournament — and to present a vision of Haiti and the Haitian community that goes beyond the headlines.
A Decade of Building
The U.S. Haitian Chamber of Commerce, Inc., also known as the Haitian American Business Expo, Inc. (HABEXPO), was founded in 2016 with a mandate to connect, advocate for, and elevate Haitian-owned and diaspora-connected businesses across the United States. Over the course of a decade, it has expanded from a single-state Massachusetts organization into a national network, with regional directors in Florida, Georgia, Rhode Island, and other states, and partnerships extending to chambers and Haitian American business associations from Philadelphia to Cap-Haïtien.
The annual Business Expo and Job Fair, recognized as one of the largest Haitian American business and career networking events in the region, has served as the chamber’s flagship gathering since its founding. Each year, it has brought together entrepreneurs, professionals, students, job seekers, public officials, and community leaders for a day of networking, programming, and visibility.
For the chamber’s general management team and its North Shore Regional Director Emmanuel Jean, the 8th edition was a success on the institutional metrics that matter most. All of the organizations that have historically participated in the expo were represented this year. However, according to Joana Emilca, who spoke with CTN at the event, attendance from the general public was lower than in previous years — a development that organizers will analyze as they plan for the chamber’s next decade.
Boston’s Haitian Elected Leadership Steps Forward
In keeping with tradition, the expo drew significant participation from Boston’s elected officials and senior public servants — particularly those of Haitian descent who hold leadership positions at the highest levels of city government.
Boston City Councilor at large, Ruthzee Louijeune, the first Haitian American ever elected to the Boston City Council and currently the highest-ranking Haitian-origin elected official in the city, was present and reaffirmed her support for the chamber’s work. Louijeune’s continued visibility at the expo is itself a marker of the community’s political and civic progress over the past decade. Her elevation to Council President has made her not only a symbol of representation but a working partner for Haitian American business and civic organizations across the city.
Also representing the Mayor’s Office at the expo was Jean Julien, who serves as an advisor to the Mayor and as a community liaison between City Hall and Boston’s Haitian community. Julien has made a practice of being present at almost every major Haitian community gathering in the city, and his attendance at the 8th annual expo was, according to organizers and attendees, no exception.
A Showcase of Haitian Excellence Across Sectors
Beyond its function as a marketplace and a job fair, the expo serves a second purpose: it gathers, in a single room, a generation of Haitian American professionals who have risen to positions of significant responsibility across Massachusetts. For many attendees — particularly younger members of the diaspora — the expo is an opportunity to see, in person, the breadth of Haitian success in the United States.
Among those who spoke with CTN at the event was Evonflow Guillomaître, who introduced herself as a Vice President at TD Bank, one of the largest private banks operating in the United States. CTN also met Ali Manigat, a Haitian-origin lawyer with over 15 years of experience in real estate.
In the cultural domain, CTN spoke with Charlot Lucien, the founder and director of the Haitian Artists Assembly of Massachusetts (HAAM), a group established in January 1995 that brings together Haitian visual artists, writers, storytellers, and performers from across New England. HAAM has spent three decades promoting new narratives about Haiti and elevating Haitian artistic voices in the region. Lucien, who is also a public health administrator for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and a lecturer at the University of Massachusetts Boston’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of Haitian cultural advocacy in the United States.
Faith, Community, and Cultural Leadership
The expo also drew prominent community figures from outside the business and political spheres. Pastor Guirval Mercédat, Pastor Dieufort Fleurissaint, and Jacky Poteau, well-known personalities in Boston’s Haitian community, attended in support of the event. Their presence reflected what several attendees described to CTN as the day’s central theme: community service.
“Serving the community is the central theme,” several participants told CTN over the course of the afternoon — a sentiment echoed in nearly every conversation at the venue.
Preslet Nelson, a prominent Haitian entrepreneur in the Boston area, was also present at the expo to support the chamber’s work and engage with fellow business leaders.
Entrepreneurs Building in Real Time
A core focus of the expo was its showcase of working Haitian American entrepreneurs — individuals who have built businesses from concept to operation, many of them in fields that did not exist a decade ago.
Artists and entrepreneurs Nixson Leger and Nephtalie Charles were among those present to promote their products and engage with potential customers and partners. For Charles, building a business has long been a personal goal — one she has been working toward since 2015. Today, with the rise of social commerce and digital platforms, she is reaching that objective through direct-to-consumer sales on TikTok and her own website.
Speaking with CTN, Charles offered a message to anyone considering starting a business but hesitating to take the first step: the path is available, the tools are accessible, and the time to begin is now.
The presence of entrepreneurs like Charles at the expo — alongside more established executives, attorneys, and elected officials — illustrates the depth and generational range of Haitian American economic life in the United States today.
Beyond the Haitian Community
Notably, the 8th edition of the expo was not attended exclusively by Haitian Americans. Jean Kemayi, representing African and African-descendant organizations in the United States, also participated. Speaking with CTN, Kemayi discussed several activities his organization is planning in connection with the 2026 FIFA World Cup — reflecting the broader cross-cultural collaboration that the chamber has worked to cultivate over its decade of operation.
The participation of African and Pan-African organizations alongside Haitian American partners speaks to a particular vision of the diaspora that the chamber has long articulated: one in which Haitian American success is part of, and supportive of, a broader Black diaspora economic and cultural network.
Looking Ahead: A World Cup Summer
For the U.S. Haitian Chamber of Commerce, the 8th annual expo is just one event in a broader slate of activities planned around Haiti’s return to the World Cup.
During the 2026 World Cup tournament — which begins June 11 in Mexico City and includes Haiti’s group-stage opener against Scotland at Gillette Stadium on June 13 — the chamber plans to organize a series of activities designed to present Haiti to the world from a new angle. The vision, as Dr. Domercant has publicly described it, is to leverage the tournament’s global visibility to highlight Haitian entrepreneurship, talent, and cultural contributions at a moment when international attention will be focused on the country and its diaspora as never before.
Beyond the World Cup itself, the chamber has signaled that additional programming will continue throughout the year. The 10th anniversary of HABEXPO is not being marked as a single event, but as the opening of a new decade for the organization — one in which the chamber intends to continue expanding nationally, deepening partnerships, and advocating for Haitian American business growth at every level.
For the entrepreneurs, executives, elected officials, artists, and community leaders who gathered in Hyde Park on Saturday, the 8th annual expo was a moment to celebrate what has been built. For the chamber and its founder, it was a foundation for what was to come.
Editorial Disclaimer
This article was originally written in English. Versions in other languages — including French and Haitian Creole — are made available through AI translation software. Errors and inaccuracies may be present in translated versions. Only the English version should be considered the authoritative record.
Additionally, CTN uses AI software to convert article text into audio format for accessibility and broader community reach. Listeners are encouraged to refer to the original written English text for verification of any specific facts, names, or figures.
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