FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 14, 2025
Award Approved at Rebuild Dominica Inc’s 10th Anniversary Celebration and Formally Presented at December 2025 Christmas Community Celebration
WASHINGTON, D.C. & ROSEAU, Commonwealth of Dominica — [December 14, 2025] — Rebuild Dominica Inc. proudly announces that Professor Robert “Bob” Maguire is the recipient of its Leadership in Humanitarian & Development Award, recognizing his lifetime of service to people-centered development, humanitarian leadership, and the advancement of Caribbean communities, with a special and enduring commitment to the Commonwealth of Dominica.
The award was conferred by the Board and leadership of Rebuild Dominica during the organization’s 10th Anniversary Team Celebration on August 10, 2025, commemorating a decade of service to Dominica and the Dominican diaspora. The honor was formally presented to Professor Maguire on December 12, 2025, at the Christmas Community Celebration jointly hosted by the Law Offices of Gabriel J. Christian & Associates, LLC and The Colbert Firm, LLC, and led by Janelle Colbert, Esquire.
Both host organizations are recognized as longstanding boosters of Caribbean and diaspora-based civic, humanitarian, and development organizations, including Rebuild Dominica, and regularly support initiatives centered on education, community uplift, and service.
Professor Maguire’s connection to Dominica began as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer from 1969 to 1972, an experience that shaped both his professional life and personal devotion to the island. Shortly after his arrival, while living on Piveteau Street in Pottersville, Maguire composed the beloved song “Dominica – Land of Beauty,” now firmly embedded in the nation’s cultural memory and identity.
Over the ensuing decades, Professor Maguire has maintained close ties to Dominica and today resides part of each year at his home in the island’s interior, continuing to support development and environmental initiatives in collaboration with Dominican leaders, environmentalists, and practitioners, including Atherton Martin, former Minister of Agriculture of Dominica and Goldman Environmental Prize recipient.
“Professor Maguire represents the very best of what humanitarian and development leadership should be—rooted in humility, guided by service, and sustained over a lifetime,” said LaDàna Young (née Drigo), President of Rebuild Dominica. “It was fitting that this award was approved during our 10th anniversary year and presented within a beloved community celebration that reflects the values of service, partnership, and Caribbean unity.”
Professor Maguire is Director of the Latin American & Hemispheric Studies Program at the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University, and Professor of the Practice of International Affairs in the International Development Studies program. He also serves as Chair of the Haiti Advanced Area Studies Seminar at the U.S. State Department’s Foreign Service Institute.
His distinguished public service career includes nearly two decades (1979–1999) as the Inter-American Foundation’s Representative for Haiti and the Caribbean, service as an advisor on Haiti at the U.S. State Department, and the creation of the influential Haiti Program, a major research and policy initiative active at Johns Hopkins University, Georgetown University, and Trinity Washington University. He is a former Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace, has testified before the U.S. Congress, published extensively on Haiti and U.S.–Haiti policy, traveled to Haiti more than 100 times, and speaks Haitian Creole fluently.
Professor Maguire holds a Ph.D. in Geography from McGill University, an M.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of Florida, and a B.A. in Secondary Education from Trenton State College. His teaching and scholarship focus on poverty alleviation, grassroots development, post-disaster recovery, and development policy—disciplines deeply informed by his Peace Corps service in Dominica.
In a 2023 recorded interview, Professor Maguire reflected on his Dominican journey, his collaboration with cultural icon Alwin Bully, and the origins of “Dominica – Land of Beauty,”contributing to the preservation of Dominica’s cultural and development history for future generations.
“Rebuild Dominica is honored to celebrate Professor Maguire not only for what he has accomplished globally, but for the constancy of his relationship with Dominica and its people,” President LaDàna Young added. “His life’s work affirms that development is most powerful when it is rooted in respect, culture, and human dignity.”
About Rebuild Dominica
Rebuild Dominica is a humanitarian and development organization dedicated to strengthening communities, advancing sustainable development, and supporting people-centered recovery and resilience initiatives in the Commonwealth of Dominica and throughout the Dominican diaspora.
Media Contact:
Rebuild Dominica
c/o 3060 Mitchellville Road, Suite 216
Bowie, Maryland 20716
Phone: RDI contact form
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