Haitian-born studio exec launches professional development platform for immigrants

Growing up in Delmas 31, then a solidly middle class suburb of Port-au-Prince, Greg Maurice always felt like he was one of the lucky ones – “blessed,” as he puts it. 

His parents – Jean-René and Marie-Josée Maurice – were the head of a state agency and human resources for a major media company, respectively. As a boy, Greg began shadowing the TV studio crews at his mom’s job, immersing himself in the industry that later called to him. During the summer, while on break from the prestigious Ecole Saint-Jean l’Evangeliste, he and his brothers took vacations to America. Even when he moved to Haverstraw, N.Y. permanently in 1997, the culture shock was somewhat limited due to his repeated visits. 

Yet, as Maurice completed high school and college, played soccer, then started a career in film acquisition and distribution, something didn’t quite feel right culturally. It would take him decades to figure out what unsettled him so, aided by hard lessons learned in his Hollywood career and a certain derogatory statement by a former president about Haitians. 

“I used to be in the room where I was the only person of color. That always bothered me,” said Maurice, speaking on a virtual call from his Atlanta home.

In June, Maurice and co-founder Devika Brij, launched Zaka Connect, a professional development platform. The goal is to help immigrant professionals understand how to better navigate their careers. With their own funds, the married pair has assembled an array of resources that members can access for a monthly fee, ranging $9.99 to $39.99, launched a podcast featuring immigrant executives and have begun social media promotions.

Its launch coincides with the advent of numerous tools promoting inclusiveness in the workplace, even as diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has gotten caught up in the culture wars. It also precedes a long overdue national conversation about immigrants, thrust into the spotlight as Kamala Harris’s candidacy for president of the United States unveiled much ignorance about race and identity. 

“A lot of us think that having an immigrant background is a struggle, but it’s a signature strength,” said Maurice, now senior director of global acquisitions and co-productions at 1091 Pictures. “Being adaptable, our resourcefulness, our resilience… We have to use those as tools to brand ourselves. Companies are looking for people with those skill sets.” 

A precocious, competitive child 

As of mid-July, about 8,500 people had subscribed to the platform’s newsletter. An encouraging sign, Maurice said, after nearly five years of building the tool. To those who know Maurice best, his launching the platform is no surprise, given his competitive nature.

“He was always very precocious,” Maurice’s mother Marie-Josée recalled recently, on a phone interview from her home in Georgia. “He always wanted to be first at everything. He always said he wanted to do something for Haitians in this land, for immigrants to have some opportunity. At the time, I didn’t understand the idea [what he meant].”

Back then, in the 1990s and early 2000s, Maurice and his two brothers – Dimitri and Giovanni – were tasked with excelling in school. Greg Maurice also branched out, playing soccer at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. and Norcross Soccer in Georgia. Throughout, he made a point to learn about African American culture, especially through hip hop music.

“It was hard to be authentic to your culture back then, it was very binary,” he recalls, during a virtual interview with The Haitian Times from his Atlanta home. “I was always trying to find a way. I made the effort to learn about African American history.”

A series of eye-opening events

While cultural lessons helped Maurice acclimate in America, they did not prepare him for corporate culture. Since entering the film industry, Maurice has worked on the acquisition and release of more than 300 titles. 

About 10 years ago, while working as a Director of Acquisitions for a Hollywood studio, Maurice developed a comedy content distribution platform just as the industry was shifting from physical to digital channels. The tool was then sold off lucratively, with no financial reward to him, Maurice said. The experience burned, but delivered a critical lesson.

“Next time I have an idea for something I’m passionate about, I’ll fund it myself,” Maurice said. 

Later, Maurice gained an epiphany while visiting his parents’ church in Atlanta, who by then had moved there from Haiti. Many youngsters at the church were wowed by his title, California living and hobnobbing with such Hollywood celebrities as Kevin Hart, Ice Cube and NBA star Matt Barnes. That visit coincided with the “shi*hole countries” comment then-President Donald Trump made about Haiti, highlighting pervasive ignorance about immigrants.

“I was like, ‘Those kids probably don’t know they can be doing the same thing,’” he realized at the time. “‘You should just create a platform that can elevate the stories of immigrants doing well in America.’ That’s how it happened.”

“There’s a lot of us [immigrants] doing amazing things,” he continued. “We need to give them the right blueprint.”

Guidance and inspiration in one place 

The series of developments added to Maurice’s view that better education, tools and mentorship for professionals of color, immigrants in particular, were overdue. In 2019, he began working on the platform, in which he says he has invested between $150,000 and $200,000 to build. 

Brij, a Canada-born learning and development consultant with parents from Fiji and Guyana, understood the purpose. A former sales leader at Google, with stints at other tech companies, Brij had turned her focus on career advancement for people of color after being “unjustly fired,” she said. During the pandemic, as they worked from home side by side, the pair realized they should join forces to have more impact on both individuals and companies. 

Maurice, who serves as CEO, deliberately stayed away from investors whose equity stakes would not have been favorable to him. But, he has leaned on family and friends to help make connections with executives to feature or other resources to launch.

One advantage in spreading the word, Brij said, is that they don’t have to explain the platform much to the first-and second-generation immigrants who are its target audience.

“This is a safe community where you’re just seen,” said Brij, Zaka’s COO. “Our collective community just gets it.”

Besides providing a sense of community, Zaka – named after an enslaved Haitian – also prioritized providing education through its workshops, videos and other tools. Inspiration is also another key pillar, provided by featuring the career journeys of numerous immigrant-born top executives from around the country.  

Strategic partnerships in the making

Following its encouraging launch, Brij and Maurice said they are turning to strategic partnerships with large companies to better understand how immigrant employees may be different. 

That is, whereas many immigrants may be taught to be humble, American companies expect individuals to take credit for their work. Not taking credit, however, could mean “everyone is going to jump [over you],” Maurice said, adding that, “self-advocacy is an art and science.” 

That is just one topic that Zaka Connect delves into among its 100 hours of workshops, talking points and leadership profiles.

All told, Maurice said, from the research and personal experiences, one major advantage immigrants have is grit. In the face of new territory, no matter where they land, immigrants have built up their resilience, intelligence and hard work in the process of migration – all traits that can be applied in the workplace. 

Going by the birth of Zaka, it would seem that at least one Haitian has those traits in spades.

“I have been privileged,” Maurice said. “That’s what gave me the opportunity to save and to be able to do this. 

“For that, I’m grateful,” he said.

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Haitian-born studio exec launches professional development platform for immigrants was first posted on August 8, 2024 at 9:23 am.