Bernard Fils-Aimé

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Bernard Fils-Aimé
File:2009 Secretary of State's Award for Corporate Excellence (portrait crop).jpg
Fils-Aimé in 2009
Born (1953-05-24)24 May 1953
Petionville, Haiti
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Miami, Florida, U.S.
Alma mater Florida International University
Occupation entrepreneur, activist
Spouse(s) Marise Piverger (m. 1980)
Children 3

Bernard Fils-Aimé (24 May 1953 – 8 August 2020) was a Haitian entrepreneur and activist. He was part of community assistance organizations for Haitians in America, cofounding the Haitian Refugee Center and serving on the board of the Haitian Education & Leadership Program. He also served as the managing director of Comcel Haiti from its founding in 1998 until its sale to Digicel in 2012.

Early life and activism

Bernard Fils-Aimé was the youngest of four children. His father, Camile Fils-Aimé, died soon after Bernard was born.[1] His mother, Uranie Gabriel Fils-Aimé, was the directrice of the Republic of Guatemala Primary School in Petionville.[2] She opposed François Duvalier, and was briefly arrested for criticizing his policies.[1]

Fils-Aimé and his family left Haiti for New York City in 1966.[1] He graduated from John Jay High School in 1971,[3] then studied at Columbia University for two years. He became involved in student activism, and remained active after he left the university. At a Haiti-related event for student organizers, Fils-Aimé met Marise Piverger; they married in 1980 despite her parents' disapproval, and moved to Miami.[1]

In Miami, Fils-Aimé co-founded the Haitian Refugee Center, which organized protests and litigated cases on behalf of detained Haitian refugees.[4]

Fils-Aimé later went back to school, completing his bachelor's degree[1] and a Master of Public Administration from Florida International University.[5] He worked in various administrative positions at Miami-Dade Community College: he was director of placement at the Wolfson campus,[6] and later served as the assistant dean of students.[7] Fils-Aimé was also a member of the Book Distribution Committee for the Miami Book Fair International in 1992,[8] 1993,[9] and 1995.[10]

Business in Haiti

In 1995, Fils-Aimé moved back to Haiti, although he would regularly visit Miami.[7] His first business venture was SabbAimé S.A., an importer and distributor of frozen chicken.[5] Around this time, a group of American investors wanted to start a wireless carrier in Haiti, and approached Fils-Aimé to serve as a local partner. He took part in the license negotiations with the Haitian government, and became the first CEO when the company was inaugurated in 1998 as Comcel Haiti.[1]

He recognized that Comcel faced unique hurdles as one of the few large private enterprises in Haiti. When subscribers complained of being unable to charge their phones, Fils-Aimé would let them charge their phones for free at Comcel headquarters.[11] He also directed Comcel's resources toward philanthropic initiatives; when the company changed its name to Voila, Fils-Aimé became the president of the Voila Foundation.[1]

From 2006 to 2007, he served as the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Haiti.[12]

Fils-Aimé retired from Voila's management after its sale to Digicel in 2012. He then joined the board of the Haitian Education & Leadership Program. He also served as president of the Trilogy International Foundation, which is associated with Comcel's US parent company.[13]

Political involvement

Fils-Aimé was a close friend of Haitian President René Préval.[14]

In the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Fils-Aimé was critical of the Haitian government's plan to appropriate land for building aid camps; he observed that many political conflicts in Haiti had been triggered by land disputes.[15] He also defended a private-sector-run opinion poll for the 2010–11 Haitian presidential election in the name of transparency, as previous such polls had not been publicly released.[16]

In 2019, Fils-Aimé published an op-ed in the Miami Herald decrying President Jovenel Moïse's responses to the 2018–2019 Haitian protests. The article was reprinted after the Herald erroneously attached a photograph of Reggie Fils-Aimé (the former CEO of the North American division of video game company Nintendo) instead of Bernard Fils-Aimé.[17][18]

Personal life

He and his wife Marise had three children: daughter Erica and sons Karl and Gerard.[1]

Fils-Aimé died from COVID-19 at the University of Miami Hospital in Miami, Florida, on 8 August 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida.[7]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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