[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 103 (Tuesday, June 18, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E643]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING NATTACHA WYLLIE AS A DISTINGUISHED LEADER IN CENTRAL FLORIDA 
                      FOR CARIBBEAN HERITAGE MONTH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DARREN SOTO

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 18, 2024

  Mr. SOTO. Mr. Speaker, Nattacha Wyllie, also known as ``Fanm Lakay,'' 
meaning ``Traditional Woman,'' is a mother of three, a sister, a 
friend, a humanitarian activist, and a social-cultural-art ambassador/
activist. She is the founder/CEO of Haitian American Art Network, Inc., 
a not-for-profit community-based organization started in Brooklyn, New 
York, in 1998 with the mission to erase stereotypes and embrace 
diversity through ART. She currently resides in Orlando, Florida, 
serving a diverse community, with its main office in Orlando.
  Miss Wyllie strongly believes in the traditional ways but is a bit 
modernized. She currently serves on the Orange County Advisory Arts & 
Cultural Affairs and chairs the Diversity Equity and Inclusion 
Committee. Her past commitments were to the Greater Haitian American 
Chamber of Commerce, Orange County Unitary Status Board, Orange County 
Disability Advisory Board, and Seminole County School Board SAC 
president.
  Ms. Wyllie's educational background is in human services, early 
childhood education, and radio-television production. Ms. Wyllie hosted 
a TV talk show that she started on the radio in Brooklyn. When she 
moved to Florida, she signed up with Spectrum TV, formerly known as 
Brighthouse. Then, she landed on Tele Anacaona Television Broadcasting 
Studios, where she spent 12 years hosting a talk show, producing and 
organizing cultural events informing, educating, and feeding the 
community through a collaboration with Second Harvest and Farmshare. 
Haitian American Art Network, Inc., is ``A Cultural Mix; A Diverse 
Bunch'' ``Erasing stereotypes, and embracing diversity through Art.''
  From 2009 to 2024, Ms. Wyllie has produced the ``I AM'' movement, a 
women empowerment event of women celebrating women, honoring, 
recognizing, and celebrating women's achievements in different 
categories. Over 100 women in leadership have been honored and 
celebrated from the Sanford and Orlando areas, including international 
women from Haiti, Jamaica, Paris, and French Guyanne.
  Her calling started while working as a community health educator for 
a community-based organization that targeted the Caribbean community, 
specifically the Haitian community. She found her true purpose after 
her first trip to Haiti in February 2000 for a Haitian carnival. There, 
she discovered the desire to assist the less fortunate and fell in love 
with her Haitian culture all over again. Her motto is, ``While going up 
the ladder, I will pick up one person at a time.''

                          ____________________