GHI’s  staff is comprised of experienced professionals with diverse backgrounds, including earthquake science, engineering, medicine, law, communications, finance and international development. 

Garmalia Mentor-William, M.D. is both a medical doctor and a disaster risk management specialist. Having experienced first-hand the chaotic health care demands after Haiti’s 2010 earthquake, she has devoted her considerable skills to improve Haiti’s disaster resilience in all levels of society. Her experience combines 15 years in public health and disaster risk reduction efforts in multiple contexts and countries. She coordinates our programs in Haiti, which address the significant earthquake and tsunami hazard, flooding, hurricanes, storm surge, and sea level rise. Current programs focus on helping families prepare for disasters, empowering youth to reduce disaster risk to themselves and their community, and disaster preparedness of schools and hospitals.

Her work includes hydro-meteorological hazards, seismic/tsunami hazard, and hospital resilience projects in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Chile, India, Nepal, Bhutan and USA. She regularly coordinates policy and program discussions with high level decision makers, stakeholders, and non-governmental organizations. She is adept at public education to ensure readiness for potential emergency situations and is well versed on the nuances of public health concerns in Haiti. She hosts a popular Haitian radio show about health and safety.

Ms. Mentor-William serves as a member of the Group of Experts for the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for Tsunami and other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Régions (ICG/CARIBE-EWS), a UNESCO agency. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she is assisting the Haiti Health Department Unit of Crisis Management. She is vice president of Foundation Mantalayati (Haiti Mental Health) which helps people cope via video sessions. She is a 2014 Housner Fellow of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.

Ms. Mentor-William received her medical degree from Escuela Latino Americana de Medicina (ELAM), Cuba, and an M.S. in Public Administration in Emergency and Disaster Management (MPA/EDM) from Metropolitan College of New York. A native of Haiti, she communicates in fluent Haitian Creole, French, Spanish and English.