Director of outreach - yonel valme
Yonel Valme was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. In the early 70's,during the political unrest, his family immigrated to the United States and settled in New York where he completed his High School and College education. He was raised by a single mother of 7 children who worked as a choir conductor and a missionary. Yonel developed a great love for music at an early age and formed a Gospel musical band with his brother, becoming a recording artist while in college. He devoted most of his time in churches within his community, performing gospel music and joined in several conventions at the Madison Square Garden.
Yonel's fascination for aeronautics and the space program led him to study engineering. His first job was with Boeing in Seattle Washington where he worked as a research engineer for the 737 aircraft development, meteor burst communication and satellite communications. This earned him the necessary knowledge and experience needed to be offered a position within the Space Station Program at the Kennedy Space Center, NASA where he worked for 15 years. After the program ended, he moved to Atlanta Georgia and worked for Lockheed Martin As a System Engineer/Project Engineer, allowing him the opportunity to travel round the world representing LockheedMartin. Yonel was Area 11 Governor, District 47, Toastmasters International. He served as President and Educational Vice-President of the Edward H. White Toastmasters Club at Kennedy Space Center.
Since his retirement from Lockheed Martin, Yonel continued his humanitarian service, serving as board executive member of the Fernande Valme Ministries founded by his late Mother, helping the children in need and promoting education and healthcare around the world. He served as a Board of Trustee Member of Pleasant Grove Missionary Church, Marietta, Ga, served as LMLA-Marietta Professional Development’s Seminars Manager on First-Level Leadership. Yonel also worked as a director of Operations and Logistics for the Carter Center in Chad, working on the Eradication of Guinea Worm Disease in Africa. Besides music, Yonel enjoys traveling, playing golf, tennis and reading.