Our Directors

Annie Blackstone is the founder and CEO of Sionfonds for Haiti, and the mother of five children, two adopted from Haiti. Annie became involved in Haiti after visiting there in 2003. Meeting Guesno Mardy and staying at Foyer De Sion Orphanage, changed her life. With the support of her family, Annie has been working for the last 15 years for Sionfonds for Haiti and the communities the organization serves. She considers this work, helping Haitian families, to be her calling and feels incredibly blessed to have found it and to have such loving and supportive family and friends in the U.S. and Haiti, helping to make Sionfonds’ mission a reality.

Mandy, Treasurer of Sionfonds for Haiti, is a retired Admin Asst from Local 21, IFPTE, in San Franisco. She lives in East Oakland and “out of a need and desire to help” donates much of her time. She serves on the Economic Justice Committee of Kehilla Community Synagogue and is on the Board of Directors of Oakland Community Organizations. Ms. Bratt has two grown kids, both biracial and adopted. Mandy grew up in a very progressive household, one that was early on a strong advocate of women’s rights, labor unions, and civil liberties.

Mandy describes her continued participation on the Sionfonds Board of Directors as one part mission driven and one part absolute respect for Annie. “Haiti is in our hemisphere and the US has played a terrible role and we have a responsibility to help them by doing better ourselves. It is daunting, but it is clear that a little bit makes a big difference. “ As the Treasurer of the Sionfonds Board, Ms. Bratt is committed to ensuring the fiduciary responsibility of the organization to its donors.

After seeing the devastation of their country and observing the struggle my two granddaughters and other adopted Haitian children experienced after leaving Haiti to come live with loving families in the United Stated I was inspired to support and serve Sionfonds for Haiti. With the help of Sionfonds school, food & medical programs many Haitian families have been able to stay together with hope for the future.

After 27 years Ms Blackstone retired as Senior Vice President Sales of Bowne/RRDonnelley. She has served on the Advisory Council for the National Council on Aging and the National Investment Company Service Association (NICSA), and currently sits on the Board Of Directors of Catticus.

Karen Olson has a Bachelor’s degree from Boston College and a Master’s of Social Welfare from U.C. Berkeley. After practicing Social Work in the Bay Area for over 20 years, she decided to change careers and opened up a cafe in her hometown of Mill Valley, where she lives with her husband and three children. Karen made her first trip to Haiti as a college student in 1991. It was there that she fell in love with the country, the culture and the people. She has volunteered on several Sionfonds medical trips and believes strongly in their mission to help Haitians help themselves.