About the Board
Jim Whitcomb, President
Jim is a Managing Director at Westbury Group, an investment banking firm headquartered in Westport, CT. He has advised corporate clients on mergers, acquisitions, and corporate finance in markets around the world. Jim is currently a Director of the British Schools and Universities Foundation and a Director of Zurich-based International Corporate Finance Group. He served as Director, President, and Treasurer of The Southport Conservancy, a 501c3 organization dedicated to the preservation of an historic Connecticut village. Jim was educated in England at Rugby School, received a B.A. in History from Williams College and an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. He and his wife live in Westport, CT.
Joan O'Connell, Secretary
Joan O'Connell recently retired from a career in software sales and consulting. She is a Boston College alumnus and lives in Darien, CT, with her husband, Rick Agresta. Joan is a member of the Communications Marketing and Technology Committee of Project Redwood, spends too much time on a computer, and is often reading more than one book.
Dan Drake, Treasurer
Dan recently retired from a 45-year career with the nation’s largest general contractor. Over his career, Dan built new schools and renovated existing schools throughout Fairfield County. He also worked on major hospital renovations in Bridgeport, Greenwich, and Sleepy Hollow, as well as office renovation projects too numerous to list. One of his favorite projects was the renovation of the historic Ingalls Rink at Yale University. Dan served on the Building Committee at his church for over 10 years. Now that he has retired, he is happy to be able to spend more time with his three daughters and sons-in-law, as well as his four grandchildren. His hobbies include woodworking, astronomy, and repairing anything that is broken. Dan and his wife live in Darien, CT.
Gerard Azor, Jr.
Originally from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Gerry is a Core Account Manager for Cardinal Health. He is also the Vice-Chairman of the United Haitian-American Society of Connecticut and the Executive Director of the Haiti Relief Fund. He has been a leader in the Haitian-American community for over 30 years, organizing numerous activities in the tri-state area. He serves as an advisor to many Haitian-American media outlets. Gerry studied Business Management at Sacred Heart University. He lives in Fairfield, CT.
Virginia Lynch Dean
Virginia Lynch Dean has an extensive background in features, and documentaries, theater and television development and production at NBC newsroom, including most recently, co-producer/director of the short documentary: "Ghost Mountain, the Second Killing Fields" 2021. Author of Chief Crazy Snake: the Untold Story of Roy Hoffman & Chitto Harjo, 2021. She is an active fundraiser for non-profit organizations, serving on the executive committee for The Chapin School Capital Campaign, the Governing Board and the Sustaining Board of Memorial Sloan Kettering, and the Board of the YMCA/YWCA of Greater New York. Virginia is an active supporter of the New York City Mission Society and Project Learn, Bridgeport, CT; a founding member of non-for-profit Divine Mortgages, Bridgeport, CT; and organizer of Wings World Quest, NYC. She has also served as a consultant for the Howard Dean campaigns.
Abigail Franklin
​Abigail has 25 years of senior management experience in fundraising and marketing with organizations such as The New York Academy of Medicine, New York Common Pantry in East Harlem, NY, The Ms. Foundation for Women, Columbia University and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and holds a graduate degree from Yale School of Drama. She lives in New York City.
Edvardine Joseph
Edvardine is President and Founder of the International Student Aid Association (ISAA), which aids nonprofits that help underdeveloped countries become self-sufficient, starting with educating the youth. Under Edvardine’s leadership, ISAA has conducted three successful campaigns in Haiti: sending 50 textbooks to students in Jacmel, 50 COVID-19 hygiene kits to a medical clinic in Cazale, and organizing the first "Let's Start with the Youth!" Talent Show to fund full tuition scholarships for five accomplished students in Jacmel. Edvardine lives in CT and is of Haitian descent. She is a graduate of Greenwich Academy (Class of 2021) and is currently an undergraduate at the University of Chicago (Class of 2025).
Caroline Racine, Communications
Caroline has had a distinguished career in sales, business development, and property operations in the hospitality industry. She is also deeply involved in the Haitian-American art community in Washington, DC and in Haiti. She brings invaluable experience in marketing and communications to help HEI grow. Caroline lives in Washington , D.C.
Yvrose Romulus
Yvrose Romulus has over twenty years of experience in Higher Education and has been the Associate Dean/Associate Director of the School of Professional Studies & UB Online at the University of Bridgeport. She has been the President of Fraternité Valléenne of CT for 3 years. Yvrose has served as an Advisory Council Member for Family Economic Security Program (FESP) for Fairfield County’s Community Foundation at Housatonic Community College and as Senior Advisor for the Advising Department at Gateway Community College. In 2009, Yvrose was the Marilyn Gordon Woman of the Year Award recipient at the University of Bridgeport and the 2014 Purple Knight Partnership Award Recipient. Yvrose has a keen ability to assist, inspire, and guide others. She earned her M.A. in Counseling with a focus in College Student Personnel from the University of Bridgeport. She lives in Monroe, CT.
Susan Whitcomb, Ph. D., Founder and Director Emerita
Susan founded HEI in December 2010 after serving as a volunteer teacher with Global Volunteer Network in Jacmel. She taught English and French to adults recovering from the earthquake and also assisted in childcare facilities in the city. She has taught at Purchase College and the University of Saint Joseph, where she also directed the Honors Program. Susan served on the Board of Directors of the A Better Chance program in Ridgefield, CT and is a docent emerita at the Morgan Library in New York. She earned her B.A. from Wellesley College and Ph.D. in English Literature from Yale University. She lives in Brevard, NC.