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    <title>World Affairs Council of Rhode Island upcoming events</title>
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    <dc:creator>World Affairs Council of Rhode Island</dc:creator>
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    <pubDate>Tue, 28 Jul 2026 02:24:32 GMT</pubDate>
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      <pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2026 22:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <title>Ralph Francois presenting: "Re-imagining lasting social impact, community engagement and creative philanthropy in the era of global connection and the dominance of Algorithm" (Thursday, September 17, 2026)</title>
      <description>&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#005B7F" style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;Thursday, September 17, 2026&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font color="#373737" face="Open Sans" style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#005B7F"&gt;6:00PM&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p data-setdir="true" align="center"&gt;&lt;font color="#373737" face="Open Sans" style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#005B7F"&gt;At Crowne Plaza Hotel-Airport&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p data-setdir="true" align="center"&gt;&lt;font color="#373737" face="Open Sans" style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#005B7F"&gt;801 Greenwich Avenue, Warwick, RI 02879&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p data-setdir="true" align="center"&gt;&lt;font color="#373737" face="Open Sans" style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#005B7F"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p data-setdir="true" align="center"&gt;&lt;font face="Open Sans" style="font-size: 24px;" color="#005B7F"&gt;&lt;strong style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;"&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" style="font-size: 24px;" color="#005B7F"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font&gt;&lt;em&gt;Re-imagining lasting social impact, community engagement and creative philanthropy in the era of global connection and the dominance of Algorithm&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"&gt;&lt;font&gt;:&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font color="#005B7F"&gt;&lt;strong style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;"&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p data-setdir="false" align="center"&gt;&lt;font face="Open Sans" style="font-size: 24px;" color="#005B7F"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p data-setdir="false" align="center"&gt;&lt;font color="#373737" face="Open Sans" style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#005B7F"&gt;&amp;nbsp;Ralph Francois&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;strong style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#005B7F"&gt;&amp;nbsp;presenting&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p data-setdir="true" align="center"&gt;&lt;font color="#373737" face="Open Sans" style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#005B7F"&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.thewacri.org/resources/Pictures/IMG_7729.JPG" alt="" title="" border="0" width="283.5" height="284"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p data-setdir="true" align="center"&gt;&lt;font color="#373737" face="Open Sans" style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#005B7F"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Biography&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Helvetica Neue"&gt;I grew up in a disaster-prone area and I have seen real improvements when policies are inclusive, people have a voice, and program leadership is effective. Since then, I was convinced I wanted to campaign on issues of social impact, sustainability, climate change, community engagement, creative philanthropy, innovation, blue economy and social justice.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Helvetica Neue"&gt;I bring 15+ years of experience in the nonprofit industry, achieving over 15M on fundraising campaigns over the past 7 years.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;I served in executive #leadership roles, and #program direction positions.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Helvetica Neue"&gt;I excel in helping companies, ranging from #startups, to private, to non-profit, to develop innovative and creative solutions, to advance #policies and #practices that translate social impact into tangible results.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Helvetica Neue"&gt;I have a wealth of experience of diversified program and broad management roles in executive leadership, community engagement, program development, inclusive education, international development, fundraising, Non-profit management, disaster risk reduction, social innovation, and strategic partnerships.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Helvetica Neue"&gt;My educational background includes Sociology from Université d'Etat d'Haiti, an Integrated Risk Management, Climate and Technology Program Certificate from Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE), and a post-Graduate leadership Fellowship from Yale University.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Helvetica Neue"&gt;I am a fluent speaker of Haitian Creole, French, and English, and have a limited working proficiency in Spanish. My key skills include problem-solving, critical thinking, effective communication, flexibility, goal-oriented, collaboration, adaptability, and the ability to work autonomously and effectively in remote environments.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Helvetica Neue"&gt;I am a bridge builder by heart, by choice and by conviction, and I carry strong values of diversity, inclusion, and a sense of effective commitment.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;&lt;font face="Helvetica Neue"&gt;I love to explore new ideas and I get excited about opportunities that leverage creativity, passion, hard work for effective philanthropy approach, sustainability, and Growth.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font color="#373737" face="Open Sans"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#005B7F" style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;Members and Their Guests $50.00 per person&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font color="#373737" face="Open Sans" style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#005B7F"&gt;Non-members $57.50&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font color="#373737" face="Open Sans" style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#005B7F"&gt;Cocktails at 6:00 (cash bar)&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font color="#373737" face="Open Sans" style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#005B7F"&gt;Dinner served at 6:45&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p data-setdir="true" align="center"&gt;&lt;font color="#373737" face="Open Sans" style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#005B7F"&gt;Presentation following.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p data-setdir="true" align="center"&gt;&lt;font color="#373737" face="Open Sans" style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#005B7F"&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p data-setdir="true" align="center"&gt;&lt;font color="#373737" face="Open Sans" style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#005B7F"&gt;RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED by September 11th&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;font face="Times New Roman" color="#FF0000" style="font-size: 24px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;REGISTER&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.thewacri.org/event-6771098" target="_blank"&gt;HERE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
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