Fashion designer Dayanne Danier is known for her chic women’s fashion line Bien Abyé. But she’s always wanted to intersect it with philanthropic activities. Enter her non-profit organization Fleur De Vie, which when translated means Flower of Life. The organization’s name is very telling of its work in Haiti. It strives to help young women to dare to dream of bigger and better things.

Q & A

How did the idea for Fleur De Vie take shape?
The idea of Fleur De Vie came from a number of influential moments in my life. After watching Oprah’s first Christmas in Africa special, I was inspired to reach out to my own community in a similar way which led to first sponsoring a number of children in Haiti. Later, I felt that writing checks to an organization was not enough. I really wanted to get reconnected with Haiti directly. So I traveled to Haiti for the first time in 25 years in July of 2009. I had such a remarkable and emotional trip that all I wanted to do was schedule a return trip immediately. I didn’t realize that coming back would be that soon, but when the earthquake took place, it did not just crush Haiti, it crushed my heart. My aunt told me about the MEVA school and how they lost their building and the children were suffering emotionally. So Jenny Batista—the cofounder—and I decided we would go spend a week with the children. After spending a week and seeing how they had no dreams for their future, we knew at that point, we had to do something. I remember it like it was yesterday; I sat on the balcony of my uncle’s house and told him I wanted to start Fleur De Vie. Jenny was right there with me and said “and I want to help you.”

What are some of the must-hit goals that you have for the organization?
Some of the must hit goals are to promote sustainability, to be transparent to our donors, and to assist those who need help in a way that will effect positive change in their life.

In terms of the response you have gotten, what’s the general reaction towards Fleur De Vie?
Overall, the general response we have received has been very positive. Our donors are very happy that they are helping effect an individual’s life and that they can visually see that what we say we are going to do, we actual do. Our volunteers in Haiti are so happy that many of them ask when the next program is scheduled. They like the idea of being a part of something positive, they want change as well. The volunteers that come from the United States welcome the opportunity to not only volunteer on the ground in Haiti, but see a different side of the island and culture that is not often portrayed in the media. The recipients of our aid are extremely pleased because the types of projects allow their students to have a different experience in their life which they might not ever have.

You are also the mastermind behind your own fashion line Bien Abyé. Is it hard being an in-demand designer, and one who is so heavenly involved in philanthropy?
This is extremely hard. Time management is a must in such a situation. I have to admit, Bien Abyé took a slight back seat to Fleur De Vie in its first conception year. Planning an event internationally is not easy and I found myself traveling back to Haiti quite often, that I now can’t stress enough the need to build partners on the ground. At the same time, the theory of giving back is very important to me as an individual. It is something my parents taught me ever since I was young. My parents came to the United States because they wanted a better life for their future family. I have a strong passion about wanting to complete that circle and say thank you by giving back to the place that made my parents. I hope I can find diaspora who feel the same way and want to join Fleur De Vie on this mission.

Fleur De vie has a great many events and activities and projects to help it achieve its goals. Can you please discuss them?
Sure, in the past we have done so much, usually reaching out to children. The first project of the official organization was the Back To School Recreational Day event in September. This project was focused on preparing children for the upcoming school year while getting them excited about education. We took 500 children to a huge open field, thanks to Fabrice Rouzier who was open to us using Sun Auto, and had a day filled with fun activities, music, and food. We also incorporated a health awareness aspect with basic screening and dental care promotion. It was like an education party! The day ended with every child getting a new backpack which contained school supplies. The children and volunteers had such a good time. We can’t wait to do it again this year. December of last year, we returned in collaboration with the Consul General of Haiti New York office and did a True Noel Day. Again, we reached out to 500 children from 5 different schools/organizations and spent a day at each organization doing arts and crafts activities, sang Christmas carols, and gave them each a gift from Santa. That week really made the holidays something special to these children and to the team.

The focus of Fleur De Vie is to promote positive change mostly through educating communities on all topics that can help improve their lives. At the same time, when you see a child’s face light up just because we made them feel special from a small activity, all the hard work to make these programs happen are so worth it. For [this year], we have repeat activities planned and some new ones as well. Overall, we try to do better and better each year to promote positive change. So that just means the projects will get better and better each year!

What would you say is the organization’s greatest need, or needs rather?
There are two greatest needs of the organization and the most important, is volunteers! The reason I say that is because of the strong need for positive reinforcement in the lives of the people. As you see, our numbers are not small and we want it to only grow bigger as far as people we connect with. But we can’t do it by ourselves. The more people willing to travel with us will create a bigger impact in Haiti. It is all about numbers working together for a greater cause.

Also, of course, donations. One of the things we try to do the most is buy supplies on the ground in Haiti. It helps support the local economy and also cuts cost on shipping. The schools and organizations we work with are really in dire need of help. I will never forget the time I went to visit one of our schools, the conditions of the benches literally brought me to tears. I was so embarrassed talking to the principal with tears coming down my eyes, at the same time I could not believe the conditions these children where learning in. It just broke my heart. And just when I thought it was an isolated issue, we returned in December to go to one school in Mirebalais where the benches were no wider than seven inches and the material was just untreated, rotten wood. These images drive me insane and I wish we could do more. When these schools say, “Thank you so much” for just a backpack or arts and crafts activities, I feel so sad because to me, I wish we could do more. One day, I hope Fleur De Vie receives enough funding to cover the back to school activities and the hardware needs for some of these schools. If we want to effect positive change, we first have to change the way the population learns in their foundation years and that means helping schools with children.

Volunteers are without a doubt huge contributors to the organization.
Oh yes, of course! We like to have volunteers for a number of reasons. Number one, it promotes transparency. With so much bad press surrounding where funding to Haiti goes, it is very important to have volunteers see the proof in our work and the size of our projects. It is also a great way to connect the world to Haiti. We like to promote both Haitian diaspora and non-Haitian people to join us because we want the world to see a different face of Haiti. Many people are interested in going to Haiti, but they hesitate to travel on their own. This way, they travel in a group, get to see numerous sides of the culture, and reach out to the Haitian community directly. We also love to get the volunteers who are on the ground in Haiti. They are so eager to help their country in a positive way, that they are usually the first people to contact us and say, “What is next for Fleur De Vie?” There is a positive energy over Haiti. People just need to get on the right path and work together for the change that is needed. With the right volunteers, this can all happen.

What are your future plans to add more buds to Fleur De Vie?
I love this question! It can be viewed in so many different ways. I will first say the buds can be compared to the different project. So for [this year], we are adding a few new projects to our list which are very important. One is donating Reading Centers to school. Many of the schools in Haiti don’t have a library or books for children to read for pleasure. And with literacy rates so low, Fleur De Vie will like to promote reading by donating a center directly to school. Also, we are brainstorming on a “Tools of The Trade” classes for young adults because education is important at all levels. So any knowledge we can give to the community that can help better someone’s life is important. I am also trying to come up with a program that does outreach to young adult women. The lack of role models that show the young girls to “use your brain not your body” drives me bananas and I would really like to do an event geared to young woman. I haven’t come up with anything yet, and this is news to my board as we speak. [Laughter] But it is so needed and I will not rest until I come up with something.

The artist in me comes up with some really creative programs so hopefully whatever it is will make an impact. I am very fortunate to have a strong board of individuals who share the same drive as me and who is usually in agreement to my crazy ideas. For that, I am truly blessed!
The other way to refer to the “buds” is through volunteers. And for that we are always open to accepting new volunteers to join us on our trips to Haiti.

You can check out the Fleur De Vie website HERE to see how you can help with its initiatives.

Fashion designer Dayanne Danier held a spectacular event at the French Institute of New York last night. Complete with delicious plates, wine tasting, and a performance from singer-songwriter Mikaben, things were looking more “up”, than the Manhattan and South Beach skylines combined.

Check out the interview below in which the designer talks about the books that have impacted her, balancing her work as the designer behind the label Bien Abyé, and running Fleur de Vie, her non-profit organization.

Kreyolicious: As time has gone by, do you feel that you have a better handle on how to manage your career as a designer and as a non-profit founder?
I definitely feel I have a better handle on how to manage my career as a designer and non-profit founder. The best way to describe is exactly that, managing. I love when people ask me this question because when you stop and look at some of the best designers out there, or at least my favorite ones, they are designing numerous brands and involved in so many initiatives. So to me, it’s the same and more about how do I bring them together, and in a way I am working on that. I love working with textile artisans in Haiti, and I am looking to engaging them in the production of Bien Abyé. At the same time, I believe nonprofit organizations need to keep sustainability as a key element of their infrastructure. So my focus is on how to bridge those gaps between Bien Abyé and Fleur De Vie.

Above: Participants at a Fleur de Vie event.

Kreyolicious: What book would you recommend that female leaders read to get a better handle on things?
That is a great question. Wow! I love reading so mmm, let me think a moment. My all-time favorite book that I find myself reading every time I am going through a new chapter in my life is The Alchemist. I actually first read it on the plane to Haiti when we did the first Back to School program five years ago. I loved it because the idea of seeking out one’s true destiny and never giving up. As a leader, one sometimes has to make hard decisions that the team might not see the vision or the end result. It is up to the leader to have the intuition, the direction to know what to do and accept what will come next through your actions. I can name so many other books, but I would say that is my favorite…To the point I have shared it with our volunteers in Haiti and have been thinking of incorporating it with our teachers and students of Fleur de Vie.

A Fleur de Vie Back to School event in Haiti.

Kreyolicious: Where do you see Fleur de Vie two years from today?
God willing, I would like to see Fleur De Vie grow to have a school in the south and in the north of Haiti. I would also like to grow our on the ground members to a larger scale. It is important that the community be involved in the promotion of social education to the youth. It’s all about nurturing the next generation. I would also like to see Fleur De Vie be more financially sustainable. Our programs require funding that is really not coming in at the rate we need it to. Two years from now, I would like to come up with a way to solve this issue.

BE SURE TO CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE FLEUR DE VIE WEBSITE AND LEARN MORE ABOUT DAYANNE, AND HOW YOU CAN HELP HER ORGANIZATION!

Miss Haiti Universe Lisa Drouillard has a lot of mileage on her feet. The New York-born-and-raised beauty queen traveled to Vegas late last year to compete at the Miss Universe pageant. She didn’t win the crown, but to most, her smile and persistence were everything.

Since then, she’s been continuing her community service work. She teamed up with the organization Fresh Youth Initiatives to inspire younger girls with her motivational talks.

And then there’s Haiti. There was a time when Haiti was a place Lisa Drouillard saw on the internet, and heard others discuss. Now, she’s made several trips to the island, visiting schools and speaking to Haiti’s children—and being an unofficial ambassador of sorts. It comes with the beauty queen territory, and it’s a territory that she’s more than familiar with, having won the Miss Teen New York pageant a few years ago. Then it was Miss Grand International right before Miss Haiti Universe, and who knows what might be next. It’s hard not to applaud her.

Kreyolicious: Congratulations by the way on having been Miss Universe Haiti, first off.

Thank You!

Kreyolicious: Even if you’ve already won pageants before, and have been winning them since you were a kid, some people don’t realize that it takes courage to enter each additional one.

It does. Most times the reason why pageant girls enter pageants is to gain or work on their self esteem. And then to finally make it and be conscious of the negative comments that are made about you takes a lot of courage to face. I was tell girls that they have to be sure that this is something that they want to do because it can definitely take you out of your comfort zone.

Kreyolicious: What was it like to compete for the Miss Universe Haiti in Vegas?

Competing for the Miss Universe pageant was a dream come true. I have been competing for some time now, so to make it to that very stage was very much accomplishing.

Kreyolicious: To me, you’re a winner for just having been there. Outside of your pageant triumphs, what are you most proud of?

I am proud of the person I have become. I love that I give myself a goal and no matter how difficult or how unfair my journey may seem, I still manage to make sure that I stay true to myself and do whatever it is my heart is set out on. In a world where it is easy to fall apart, I am glad I can find different ways to get past the negatives.

Kreyolicious: The last time I interviewed you, you had never been to Haiti. But since then, you’ve made trips. What was the first trip like? What has it been like since then?

My first trip I was eager to know what the actually country and people were like. Now, even though I am still learning, I feel like I am able to appreciate it from a cultural perspective rather than a touristic mindset.

Kreyolicious: You once told me that your definition of beauty is “being content with oneself.” But you can be content with yourself, but your mind and pysche are constantly getting battered and assaulted with comparisons…filtered images and all. I’ve read of cases where girls and women fell into deep depression or worse when they were looking at social media platforms of people their age, and being bummed out because they felt they couldn’t compare with the perfection that was presented by their peers.

I can relate. The media will always be there to sway our emotions left and right unfortunately. I think that having a healthy surrounding can also aid into one being content with his or herself. There will always be someone who looks better is doing better, but once you accept that your journey is different, then you doubt less. Having those group of people who has your best interest at heart really helps keep you driven.

Kreyolicious: It’s been said that a women’s biggest enemies are women themselves. Girls rule the world, so goes the maxim. And yet, some women have the lowest self esteem and self-image.

I feel like that will always be the case because we are human! It is not everyday we will feel like a million bucks. We will have out moments when we feel “wack” it’s called a bad day. As long as we don’t turn it into a bad life. As far as being each other’s biggest enemies, that can be the unfortunate truth these days because we want to win so badly at everything that we start shutting others that look up to us out. Generally speaking. I hope that can change although there are some women doing a great job at being each other’s mentors. If you do well, so will I.

Kreyolicious: I saw all these adorable photos of you and these little school children and Haiti. I think it’s cool that you do these school tours.

Kreyolicious: Are you involved with any philanthropic organizations or have thought of forming your own?

I am in the process of choosing one to work with. As for now I am enjoying being able to work with as many as my heart’s desires.

Kreyolicious: Lisa Drouillard is a name we’re going to be seeing over and over. What’s next for you?

A lot is happening for me thankfully. I am truly blessed. You may see the entrepreneur business side of Lisa, the philanthropic side, and the actress maybe. So many opportunities are coming my way and I want to cease the moment and enjoy them without biting off more than I can chew or getting lost in the hype!

CLICK HERE to keep up with Lisa Drouillard on Instagram. | LISA DROUILLARD ON TWITTER