Marc Alain Boucicault is a man with a mission: to leverage the power of technology to reshape economics in his native country of Haiti. His latest venture, Banj, is the nation’s largest coworking space — an enterprise that also serves as a tech startup accelerator partner of Google, Stellar, and Meta. 

Banj is the Creole translation of the word genius. “We named it Banj because it is a space that bring geniuses together, the best minds and hearts seeking to act as agents of change for Haiti,” says Boucicault. “Despite the enormous spirit of creativity that exists in Haiti, entrepreneurs still lack the logistical, technical, and financial support systems and networks to develop companies that can change the country's macroeconomic landscape. Banj offers modern workspaces capable of producing concrete results for entrepreneurs who want to increase their visibility and take their entrepreneurial experience to the next level.”

For 15 years, Boucicault has worked to establish grassroot organizations to spark change in Haiti—he launched one of his biggest projects, Elan Haiti, while he was still an AU student, bringing together the top Haitian “Under 30” leaders for the first time. He has also been a Fulbright Scholar, an economist for the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank, and a board member of the French-Haitian Chamber of Commerce and the Haitian Education and Leadership Program. 

Boucucault says he’s grateful for American University. “It shaped an entire stage in my life,” he says. “Elan Haiti propelled my leadership in Haiti and was critical in helping me to launch Banj. My leadership journey began in DC, and AU was the trigger that started everything for me.”