Our Team
Meet Our Founders
In 2013, Ismail and Bethany met for the first time as they served together in Haiti. Originally from Northern Haiti, Ismail’s vision has always been to help the people of Haiti discover their gifts and pour them back into the community. After her first visit, Bethany’s life was changed from the children and people she met. She felt led to continue the work in Haiti by assisting Ismail with his vision. As they worked together to build Dream Haiti, God confirmed that he brought them together for a bigger purpose: to carry out the vision together and they married March 12, 2016.
In 2017, the school was built in La Chapelle, Haiti and grew each subsequent year to serve around 200 students and employ 18 staff members. Unfortunately in 2024, the difficult decision was made to pause operations in Haiti due to the civil unrest that had plagued the nation. Currently, the organization has a scholarship fund set up to help assist Haitian college students in the U.S.
Board of Directors
Allison R. Garvey, Board Chair & Director of Marketing/ Fundraising
Allison serves as both the Board Chair and Director of Development for Dream Haiti. Her background includes 20+ years as a healthcare professional in elder/senior/long-term care, academia, as well as public health. Additionally, she has a master’s degree in Health Services Administration. Allison is passionate about serving Haiti and the growing ministry of Dream Haiti. She looks forward to changing the lives of generations of Haitians through education, leadership training, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Allen H. Chan, Treasurer
Allen Chan graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science. He specializes in stainless steel refining: co-authoring a chapter in the reference book “The Making, Shaping, and Treating of Steel (Volume 2)”; lecturing on the topic at industry seminars; and starting up processes in 10 countries. He has served on the boards of the North Suburban Symphonic Band (Pittsburgh, PA), Smith Valley Baptist Church (Greenwood, IN), Bethel Baptist Church (Getzville, NY), and theWell Buffalo (Getzville, NY). Allen joined the board of Dream Haiti, Inc. in January 2017 and continues to serve faithfully as the treasurer.