About Us
PTAAH Global Initiatives was established in May 2018 to carry on the great, unfinished project of renewal and global progress.
Officially established as an operating, 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, the Organization is governed by a volunteer board of directors.
In the near future, the Organization will oversee the design and construction of the PTAAH Global Initiatives Center. When it’s complete, the Center will include a library holding the Organization archives, a museum focusing on the contribution PGI has made and issues of our time, and space for ongoing programs and initiatives that advance our mission.
Academic Profile
J. Richard Severin, PhD
Dr. Jean Richard Sévérin is a scholar, policy strategist, and founder of PTAAH Global Initiatives. He holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Public Policy and Social Change, and has completed advanced professional certificates through Cornell University. His academic and applied work spans political economy, sovereignty studies, post-colonial governance, Afrakan development frameworks, and institutional reform.
Dr. Sévérin’s scholarship integrates theory with praxis, emphasizing resource sovereignty, food systems, reparations, and alternative development models for historically marginalized nations, particularly Haiti. He has taught at the university level, including courses engaging Afrakan history, culture, and social structures, and is currently developing multi-disciplinary projects at the intersection of policy, economics, and regenerative nation-building.
His work is characterized by a critical, systems-level approach that challenges extractive global models and advances locally grounded, sovereign solutions.