Every organization has an origin story, and ours is deeply personal. Our founder, Marie Thadal, MBA, attended École Mère Louise (EML), an elementary school in Haiti, before moving to the United States, where she became the first in her family to earn a college degree. In 2017 she returned to Haiti on a mission trip, and on September 14, 2018, ITIAH Angels for Learning was formally established. EML is still at the heart of our work: student sponsorship helps cover tuition, supplies, books, uniforms and lunch so students can keep learning.
Marie’s vision also draws on those who came before her. ITIAH names Anne-Marie Javouhey, who founded the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny, and Sister Louise Wright, a member of that congregation who traveled to Haiti in 1864, among its founding inspirations. Javouhey’s words, “Leave your country and everything you hold dear, go and do good!”, are ones Marie has cited as her motivation.
The founder would be the first to say the credit belongs to the whole community. As she writes this month, ITIAH “belongs to every student, teacher, donor and volunteer who has poured themselves into it.” This Founder’s Month, we invite you to get to know the woman behind the mission, and to see through her story why the work we do together matters.
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