Daniel Tillias
Chairman and Founder, SAKALA
Daniel Tillias from Port au Prince, Haiti, is the chairman of SAKALA, an acronym for “Sant Kominote Altènatif Ak Lapè,” which translates from Haitian Creole into English as “The Community Center for Peaceful Alternatives.” As a word, Sakala translates roughly to “approved by the community.” There currently are over 250 children and youths currently benefiting from SAKALA’s programs in athletics, agronomy, and education, which are operated at a community center that includes athletic fields and appropriate buildings in Cite Soleil, an impoverished section of the city which lacks police or sanitation services. Daniel co-founded what would become SAKALA in 2002 with 9 other young people in an effort to promote peace, reconciliation, tolerance and truth. The son of a pastor, Daniel grew up in Cite Soleil and witnessed violence himself before studying law and deciding to start his own community organization.