Jude Vaillant and Rock André, two longtime childhood friends, are the two founders of the Potiwa Pizza brand. They grew up together in the poverty-stricken neighborhood of Carrefour-Feuilles, where they spent most of their teenage years. Early one, both were very involved in all sorts of initiatives aiming at creating a safe place for other youth like themselves to foster a success-oriented mindset. The two teenagers were the driving force of a youth group called “Gens positifs” (Positive minds), where they used to meet every Sunday at the same venue to reflect on many societal issues, as well as solutions. In 2004, Jude left Haiti to start a new life in New York. In 2009, Rock departed Haiti for a three-year study in the US. The two friends met again in 2014 and decided to contribute to the wealth creation process in Haiti. Hence, they decided that same year to create Pot’iwa Pizza. The company was named after their hometown. Rock is originally from the town called Potino (in Cornillon/Grand-Bois), while Jude is from Les Irois (Iwa, in creole). They combined the two and that resulted in Pot’iwa.
