Mirlande Manigat is a constitutional law professor and candidate in the 2010 Haitian presidential election. Representing the center-right Rally of Progressive National Democrats party, Manigat prioritized expanding public education and reducing the country’s dependence on foreign institutions, especially in light of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Her early academic career brought her to Trinidad and Venezuela as well as France, before her return to Haiti in 1986. Since then, she has devoted the majority of her teaching and research to Haitian constitutional issues.

Manigat is the widow of former Haitian president Leslie Manigat and served as first lady of Haiti in 1988, when she was also the first woman elected to the Senate. She previously served as vice rector and as dean of the faculty of law of the Université Quisqueya. Manigat received a Ph.D. in political science with a focus on international relations from the University of Paris, and received her bachelor from the State University of Haiti.

Manigat was an event speaker at the Dialogue.