Jean Paul Laurent

Jean Paul Laurent (born December 30, 1982, Port-au-Prince) Haitian-American social entrepreneur, Inventor, published author, keynote speaker, devoted humanitarian, TEDx Lead Organizer, and one of the leading global oral health experts of his generation in consultative status with both the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and The United Nations Department of Global Communications (UN DGC) to help monitor and implement the international Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals.
A graduate of New York University College of Dentistry, Jean Paul has received numerous awards and honors in recognition of his achievements in improving public health, including membership in an elite group of NYU alumni, known as Alumni Changemakers­ -as voted on by fellow alumni--who are considered visionaries working to build a better world. It is this vision that animates his work with Unspoken Smiles, whose mission is to promote healthy smiles worldwide through community empowerment.
Jean Paul has been a frequent speaker at global conferences, colleges and Fortune 500 companies. He avidly engages with his social media and has received the nation’s most prestigious award for volunteer service in 2016, the President’s Volunteer Service Award bestowed by the office of the presidency under President Barack Obama.
== Early life and education ==
Jean Paul was born in Haiti to a Seventh Day Adventist family and raised in Port-au-Prince until moving to the U.S. in 2004 with a suitcase and a dream to excel.  
A gifted student at some of Haiti’s most prestigious private schools, Jean Paul nevertheless succumbed to the ennui of middle-class adolescent life, which manifested itself in acts of vandalism and, later, bullying. His merits as a student shielded him from serious disciplinary action until one day, his luck ran out and was expelled from the institution. Further, his myriad infractions prevented him from gaining admission to any of the other private, secular schools in Port-au-Prince. But his father, a man of some means, was able to secure his place in a local private school. Jean Paul considers this to be a fortuitous event, as, in that moment, he vowed to turn his life around. 
By all appearances, life for Jean Paul was turning around when fortune smiled yet again: his uncle, who is based in New Jersey, was able to secure a Green Card for Jean Paul and his entire family. With limited english knowledge, Jean Paul attended Boces West Nyack then quickly moved up to level four within a year which allowed him to attend and graduate with a Liberal Arts degree from Rockland Community College.
Thereafter, he received a Dental Hygiene degree from New York University College of Dentistry.
Then a Bachelor of Science in Health Service Administration from NYC College of Technology.
He holds an Executive Masters in Public Administration from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.
Jean Paul is currently enrolled in a Doctor of Education program at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. 
== Career ==
Jean Paul has devoted his entire professional life leveraging capitalism and philanthropy — to direct attention to people who have been left behind. Jean Paul was inspired by the unwavering smiles of the small children playing amidst Haiti's earthquake rubble and chaos. Looking at these children, his passion was clear: he wanted to preserve the quality and health of those smiles, but make sure he did whatever he could to inspire them as well. It was the duality of this moment that would give Unspoken Smiles its name as he immediately realized “behind each smile, there’s a story waiting to be told.”
Since its inception in 2014, Jean Paul has grown Unspoken Smiles into a reputable and impactful nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting both long-term oral health and economic security in the world's most disadvantaged regions. By developing, supporting, and incubating those initiatives, Jean Paul has improved the oral health status of over 8000 children in 9 countries across 4 continents in India, Haiti, Romania, El Salvador, Guatemala, Iraqi Kurdistan, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and the United States.
== Unspoken Smiles ==
Unspoken Smiles is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing access to quality dental care to everyone, everywhere. Globally,3.58 billion people around the world lack access to oral health care, simply because they either cannot afford it or have never had access to a dentist in their entire lives. Unspoken Smiles is one of the leading dental organizations fighting to get oral health care to areas that have never before had access. With the assistance of dedicated team, partners, and over 120 volunteers globally, Unspoken Smiles volunteers spend over 650 hours per year in afterschool and summer instruction. we provide access to quality dental education and care to children, and dental training to women, to promote improved oral health outcomes, sustainable careers in dentistry, and economic security to disadvantaged communities.
Unspoken Smiles’ mission is to promote both long-term oral health and economic security in the world's most disadvantaged regions. Through public private partnerships, Unspoken Smiles works with strategic partners from the business, government, and nonprofit sectors to develop healthy behaviors, and attitudes in academically motivated middle school children to improve not only their oral health, and a fellowship pipeline for local women leading to a
sustainable career in dentistry. Unspoken Smiles sets itself apart through its focus on building long-lasting project missions that not only benefit women and children, but their communities as well. To learn more about how Unspoken Smiles is solving global oral health challenges to deliver lasting impact, please visit http://www.unspokensmiles.org/.
== Advisorships and Memberships ==
Jean Paul Laurent has been selected to be in consultative status with both the very prestigious and major United Nations pillar program the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) as well as The United Nations Department of Global Communications (UN DGC) since 2017.
In addition to being the Founding CEO of Unspoken Smiles, Jean Paul is on the Board of Advisors for the Health Science Department of the CUNY New York City College of Technology, All Good Work Foundation, and was a Youth Advisory Board Member of Easter Seals New York (Dec 2015 - Dec 2017). He is a Council Member of NationSwell, Forbes Nonprofit Council, Gerson Lehman Group (GLG).
Building the pipeline for more diverse dentists must start early, something that NYU Dentistry is committed to doing through a variety of programs. In this regard, Jean Paul has become the Dean Charles N. Bertolami Special Advisor and Consultant on various pipeline initiatives underway at the College.
In 2020, he joined the Concordia Summit as Patron Member, and he is a Young Professional Board Member of the Clinton Foundation 20/30 club.
== Personal life ==
Jean Paul lives in New York City. He also spends time in San Jose, Costa Rica where he hopes to expand his foundation’s work as well as in other Latin America and the Caribbean countries.
== Selected Publications and Presentations ==
Previously, Jean Paul served a contributing writer at HuffPost covering social impact, the future of philanthropy, and young global leaders. His work has also appeared in Forbes, Thrive Global, and the New York Times, among other places.
Currently, Jean Paul writes for Forbes Nonprofit Councils, and his work has been featured on News12, Now This, ABC, Yahoo News, Good Morning America, Huffpost, The Grio, and the New York Times, among other places.
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* Moderator, “The Use of Technology to Advance Social Changes”, November 2014 Web Summit, Dublin-Ireland.
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* Delegate, “Action For Youth,” May 2015 United Nations, High-Level Event of the General Assembly marking the 20th Anniversary.
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* Panelist, “Youth in The Lead,” May 2015 UN DPI-NGO Orientation, United Nations Headquarters.
== Honours, Decorations, Awards, and Distinctions ==
Widely recognized for his bold vision, and innovative approaches, Jean Paul’s philanthropic achievements have garnered recognition from a variety of prestigious organizations including: 
* IRG Top 100 Fellows 2020 | Institute For Real Growth
* 2020 Smile With Lay’s Finalist | Lay’s
* Trust Changemaker 2019 | Thomson Reuters Foundation
* Humanitarian of The Year Award 2019 | Said Institute (African Diaspora Award)
* The Most Influential People of African Descents 2019 (MIPAD Top 100 Lists Honoree)
* Top 15 nonprofit founders 2019
* TEDx Speaker 2019
* Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy, Humane Letter, December 2018
* NYU Alumni Changemaker of The Year 2018
* 40 Under 40 NYN 2018 Rising Star Award
* Clinton Global Initiative University – Honor Roll 2018
* The Pollination Project Winner 2017
* The Resolution Project Fellowship
* CGI U Commitment Maker 2015, 2016,2017 | Clinton Foundation
* Dental Professional of the Year 2015
* The Alla J. Wheeler Ethics and Professionalism Award | NYU College of Dentistry
* USA Dance National Bronze medalist 2011
* RCC Outstanding Student Service Award 2005, 2006, 2008
* American Express Emerging Innovator 2017
* President Obama’s Volunteer Service Award 2016
* Entrepreneur Award | National Society of Leadership and Success
==In the media==
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==References ==
== External link ==
* Official website
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Category:American nonprofit executives
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Category:Businesspeople from New York City
Category:Columbia University alumni
Category:New York University alumni
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