Kominote Lakay is more than a directory.
It is a declaration that we are here, we are building, and we are doing it together.
About
Our Story
It started at a gathering.
We were in a room full of Haitians. People who had known each other for years, some meeting for the first time, all connected by the same thread. And somewhere in the middle of it all, we started talking about a service we had been searching for. Someone nearby went quiet for a moment, then said: I do that.
We had been looking. The answer had been right there the whole time.
That moment stayed with us. Because it was not the first time. It was not even the tenth. How many times had we needed something and gone looking in the wrong places, not knowing that someone in our own circle, someone who shared our language, our culture, our story, was already offering exactly that? How many Haitian business owners were building something real, something good, and simply not being found?
Kominote Lakay was born from that question.
We are Marie and Eddy, two Haitians in the diaspora who decided that our community deserved a place to be seen. Not just businesses, but resources, gathering places, churches, organizations, everything that makes a community feel whole. We built the first version. But this was never just ours.
The response we have seen since we started tells us what we already suspected. The community was ready. People wanted this. They just needed somewhere to go.
We are the first spark. The rest is yours.
L’union fait la force
Unity is strength. It is the principle our ancestors lived by, the one that gave us the first Black republic in the world. We carry that same principle into everything we do here.
When you find a Haitian-owned business on this platform and you choose to support it, you are not just making a purchase. You are investing in a family, in a dream, and in a community that has always known how to rise.
Our Mission
We built Kominote Lakay because identity does not disappear when you cross a border. It travels with you. It lives in the food you cook, the language you speak at home, the pride you feel when someone asks where you are from. But for too many of us in the diaspora, the connection to our community and to Haiti itself can fade quietly over time. Distance does that.
Kominote Lakay is our answer to that distance.
Our mission is to reconnect the Haitian diaspora with its roots, its identity, and each other. Not just by making it easier to find a Haitian-owned business, but by helping you find everything that makes a community feel like home. The restaurant where everyone speaks Creole. The church that celebrates your faith the way you grew up knowing it. The community centre where your children can grow up proud of who they are. The organizations fighting for us quietly, without applause.
When you support a business on Kominote Lakay, something moves. Money stays in Haitian hands. An entrepreneur feels seen. A child grows up watching their parent build something real. And a portion of what this platform earns, through advertising and premium listings, goes directly back to Haiti. To community projects. To education. To the organizations on the ground doing the work that never makes the news but changes lives every day.
We are not just a directory. We are a declaration that the diaspora is organized, that we support our own, and that we have not forgotten where we come from.
Haiti gave us everything. This is one small way of giving something back. Because being proud of where we come from means more than wearing the flag. It means showing up for the people still there.
Who This Is For
This is for the Haitian nurse who moved to Montreal three years ago and still has not found a doctor she can speak Creole with. For the entrepreneur in Miami who built something from nothing and whose neighbours do not even know his business exists. For the mother in Ottawa looking for a Haitian hair salon where her daughter can see herself reflected. For the grandfather in Paris who wants to send money to an organization he can trust back home.
This is for the second-generation kid who grew up between two worlds and is still figuring out how to hold both. For the person who has been quietly wondering where our community gathers in this city. For anyone who has ever felt the particular loneliness of being surrounded by people and still not being able to find your own.
You are not alone. We are here. And now, so is this.