Cassandra Bissainthe

Cassandra currently serves as the Associate Director of Program Management for the Continuity of Learning project in Haiti. Before joining the University of Notre Dame, Cassandra worked with Catholic Relief Services – CRS as a Technical Advisor for Program Quality and Management as part of the Humanitarian Response Department with a particular focus in the Caribbean region supporting local partners in eight (8) countries in their emergency preparedness and response efforts.

Cassandra joins UND with over 10 years of experience working with international organizations, such as CRS and Trocaire, managing programs and supporting emergency response efforts in major emergencies such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, 2016 Hurricane Mathew in Haiti, 2019 Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas, 2021 La Soufriere Volcano response in St Vincent and the Grenadines and the 2021 Earthquake in Haiti. In her line of work, Cassandra is particularly passionate in the work with local partners, partnership and capacity strengthening with a focus on the “localization” approach, cross cultural learning, community engagement and Safeguarding. Cassandra holds a BA in International Relations and a Master’s degree in Disaster Management from Florida International University. She was also an intern for the office of the general counsel at CARICOM (Caribbean Community) in Georgetown, Guyana during the summer of 2010. Her language skills include fluency in French,
English, Spanish and Haitian Creole.