ACT mobilizes Haitians and friends of Ayiti to invest in Haitian-led innovations

Commissioner Jean Monestime strongly believes that there is no greater gift than the gift of service to others. Throughout his more than 30 years as a resident of Miami-Dade County, Monestime has worked hard to achieve the American Dream, becoming the first Haitian-American to serve on the Board of County Commissioners, where he has worked to expand opportunities for others, thus paving the way for future generations.

Monestime was first elected to represent District 2 on the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners on November 2, 2010. District 2 includes portions of the City of Miami, North Miami, North Miami Beach, Opa-locka, and the unincorporated areas of Liberty City, Biscayne Gardens and North Central Dade. He was overwhelmingly re-elected in August 2014 for a second four-year term, and in November 2014 chosen unanimously to serve as Chairman of the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners for two years. On February 20, 2015 Commissioner Monestime was selected unanimously by municipal, school board, and commission colleagues to preside over the Miami-Dade Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Governing Board.

Commissioner Monestime exemplifies an active life of service. He is a former City of North Miami Councilman and Vice-Mayor. He was a Delegate to the National Democratic Convention and later selected as a Florida Electoral College member for the 2012 U.S. presidential election, another prestigious and historic appointment!

Additionally, he is the President of JEMO Realty, Inc, a full-service real estate and insurance company, and JEMO Enterprises, LLC, a business consulting agency. Moreover, he is a former Miami-Dade County Public School teacher and worked as an adjunct professor of management at the University of Phoenix, South Florida campus.

As an advocate for equal justice and economic development, Monestime has lectured and presented dozens of seminars. He has been a guest on several radio and TV programs on issues related to community leadership, business and financial matters, as well as local government and civism.

Among his extensive civic involvements, Monestime has served as a member of the NAACP, National Black MBA Association, Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition, the African-American NON-GROUP Coalition, Turner Tech High School Academy of Finance Board, Haitian American Political Action Committee, Little Haiti Optimist Club, the Society of Haitian-American Professionals and Entrepreneurs, the Florida Governor's Haiti Advisory Group and the University and Community Zone Schools Advisory Committee. Commissioner Monestime has been an active member of Eden SDA Church since 1981, where he's served as Head Elder and currently as Choir Director.

The Commissioner has an MBA from the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University and a bachelor's degree in Finance from Florida International University. Mr. Monestime is also a graduate of the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

He is married to Kettia and they have two adult sons.