Yves François, Founder of YCF Group, S.A.
YCF Group, S.A. was founded by Yves François, a Haitian- American, who was born in Haiti but spent most of his childhood in Brooklyn, NY. In 1986, he earned an architecture degree from the New York Institute of Technology. For 10 years he was manager of construction and design at Pepsico. He later held similar positions at Philip Morris and Cablevision.
In 2004, Mr. François began focusing his energy on Haiti, and in 2006 took steps to establish an architecture and construction firm in Port-au-Prince. In early 2009, he made the bold decision to fully relocate to Haiti to see if he could “make a difference” in creating a safer building environment.
In the wake of the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Mr. François continues his operations with a staff of 100 people, while also working as a consultant for Architecture for Humanity, and as an advocate for “building back better” with innovative earthquake-resistant design solutions in Haiti.