Frequently Asked Questions

Haiti Recovery and Development Company is a specialized non-governmental organization (NGO) pioneering a new concept known as Government Facilitating Organization (GFO) headquartered in Tampa, Florida with operations throughout Haiti.

HR&DC’s mission is to provide "dignity for the dead, and hope and opportunity for the living" for the Haitian people.

The first part of HR&DC’s mission, “dignity for the dead”, represents the company’s pursuit to construct a Haitian National Memorial and Peace Park (HNMPP) as a sanctuary and resting place for those that passed from the earthquake and were not given a proper ceremony for their burial. The HNMPP will pay tribute to those that have fallen in the past and hold them up as a reminder of the peace that must be carried by those that live for the future of Haiti.

The second part of the mission, “hope and opportunity for the living”, refers HR&DC’s broader mission for the creation and implementation of a comprehensive recovery and development program. The company goal is to instill hope in the living Haitian population by engaging them as capable partners in HR&DC-sponsored initiatives including helping to establish the footprint for five modern communities, strategically located throughout Haiti,the transition of multiple resettlement camps into such a community, and a pioneering H-Lab concept being conducted with Univeristy Lumiere.

HR&DC was founded in February of 2010 immediately after the earthquake that devastated Haiti.

HR&DC is based in Tampa, Florida, USA with numerous alliance partners and volunteers located internationally and in Haiti.

HR&DC does not have a long-term vision for Haiti. It is not HR&DC’s intent to craft Haiti's future independently; rather, the company hopes to contribute to the efforts of the Haitian people as they define their won future by offering partnership and resources to them as they prosper.

When a situation falls into pervasive stagnation, a new perspective is needed. Understanding this, HR&DC approaches the challenges of Haiti from the perspective of business to produce measurable outcomes that ensure accountability of all the resources that are utilized. HR&DC’s team includes business consultants from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds including turnarounds of insolvent organizations, marketing, public relations, project operations and social entrepreneurship in order to mold a interdisciplinary approach to Haiti's challenges. Learn more about the HR&DC team here.

Since its inception, HR&DC has been self-funded by Jim Lange and has not accepted donations.

For a list of current partners, please visit the “Our Partners” page.

We are always looking for smart people with a moral compass aligned with our own to move our initiatives forward. If you are one of them, we would love to talk to you. Visit our Get Involved page and complete the appropriate form to tell us more about who you are.

A government facilitating organization (GFO) is a specialized non-governmental organization (NGO) that assist nation-states by building capacity within its government through assistance with accountability and oversight operations of internal and external state affairs. Learn more about our Government Facilitating Organization (GFO) concept here.

HR&DC’s founder Jim Lange developed the GFO concept as an organizational innovation in reaction to subpar accountability in both the government and NGO landscape of Haiti.

A GFO acts an independent consultative arm of a given nation-state’s government to (a) assist with the identification of needs for sustainable internal growth and (b) hold accountable all government agencies, ministries, and external stakeholders and actors who contribute to the integrity of the nation-state. Learn more about our Government Facilitating Organization (GFO) concept here.

NGOs typically work independent of a nation-state’s government to provide critical product and service offerings to society that the government for one reason or another is unable to provide. As a result of their independence, NGOs rarely assist a nation-state’s government in scaling its internal capacity to provide the services that the NGO currently provides. This lack of NGO-government engagement results in inevitable dependency by the nation-state’s citizens on the NGO and its offerings.

Unlike most NGO's, a GFO seeks to build rather than replace or supplement the government's capacity. Learn more about our Government Facilitating Organization (GFO) concept here.

Based upon its classification, a GFO can be either a not-for-profit or a for-profit organization. Regardless of classification, GFO’s are prohibited from engaging as both a facilitator for the nation-state and as a recipient of governmental contracts. Learn more about our Government Facilitating Organization (GFO) concept here.

GFOs engage primarily with six types of organizations: (a) host country governmental agencies, ministries, and offices, (b) external nation-states, (c) international institutions and agencies, (d) NGOs, (e) not-for-profit organizations, (f) and other private firms.

GFOs engage with host country’s governmental agencies, ministries, and offices by providing assistance with capacity issues, accountability and oversight operations of internal and external state affairs.

GFOs operate as a liaison and auditor with external nation-states, international institutions and agencies with whom the host country has engage to provide transitional assistance.

GFOs engage with other NGOs by reviewing each organization’s in-country operations for transparent and accountable constructive action. GFOs also establish partnerships with some NGOs for specific initiatives.

Similarly, GFOs engage with other not-for-profit organizations and private firms by reviewing each firm’s in-country operations for transparent and accountable constructive action as well as establishing partnerships for specific initiatives.Learn more about our Government Facilitating Organization (GFO) concept here.

HR&DC differs from every other organization and company in our approach to the country’s development. We put the people of Haiti and their interests first by engaging them as the primary stakeholders in the decisions we make.

If you were to ask HR&DC’s founder Jim Lange to answer this question, he would say “Haiti chose me!”

Besides being drawn to a Haiti by the dead, Jim recognized Haiti’s unique historical and modern circumstances that make it an ideal first case to learn lessons that will allow GFOs to disrupt conventional economic development wisdom and move global development efforts in a fundamentally new direction.

Haiti doesn’t need “help.” Haiti, its governmental and its people, merely needs to gain the confidence that will empower them to improve their current state of being and head in a more prosperous and self-reliant direction.

HR&DC fosters this confidence through engaging the government of Haiti and each Haitian citizen as the primary stakeholders in every decision.

HR&DC engages others in Haiti through partnerships, summits, and conferences. Additionally, the Haitian Renaissance Delegations provide a forum for structured continuous engagement between Haitians and individuals from the international community.

Besides an improved sense of self, Haiti needs to develop a self-sustaining economy where it can create, consume and sell at a profit some of its own products.

One step in this process is to reintroduce agrarian pursuits throughout the country.

Another step is to responsibly develop numerous enterprise (manufacturing) zones similar to the one created between the borders of the United States and Mexico in Juarez.

Doing such would establish a manufacturing engine that could turn out construction and consumer-oriented products for Haiti’s own use and resale, and provide a forum for the creation and mentoring of a pool of skilled trades people.

HR&DC has established full disclosure rules, policies and restrictions that are to be followed by all entities with whom we engage. This will undoubtedly cause us to lose a number of funding opportunities and relationships, but it is necessary to maintain a foundation of integrity.

HR&DC's sole obligation and intention is to do whatever is necessary to ensure that every resource is directed towards the honest assistance of the Haitian people.

This reality, though counter intuitive to Haiti’s narrative, is quite discernible when auditing the trails of money that flowed into the country post the earthquake.

Regardless, HR&DC has established full disclosure and transparency rules, policies and restrictions to be followed by all entities that our organization engages with.

This will undoubtedly cause us to lose a number of funding opportunities and relationships. If it happens, so be it. HR&DC is here with the sole intention of helping the Haitian people.

It is our obligation to do whatever is necessary to assure that every resource is directed toward this sole purpose.

Since the 2010 earthquake, $5-6 billion dollars have been pledged for Haiti's recovery and development by the international community. However, much of the pledged funds never arrived; and those that did were often lost in translation.

HR&DC was built in large part due to this lack of accountability. Haiti's future development will likely continue to be funded by many traditional but also some new players. However, the way in which funding will be managed will be considerably different from historical accounts due to HR&DC's newly-established oversight.

If it is true that one bullet started World War I, why can’t one hopeful Haitian start a Haitian Renaissance?

HR&DC’s current projects can be found by visiting the “Initiatives” page.

HR&DC acts as a facilitator and project manager for each project.