Rudy Moise

Moise was born into a middle-class family in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He attended Catholic secondary school in Haiti and then received a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. Moise relocated to Miami sometime during the 1980s, and had earned a federal grant for his medical studies where he devoted several years of practice to a community that saw a large influx of Haitian refugees, that had been underserved and lacked enough doctors who spoke Creole. ==Career==

Medicine To fulfill his requirements for a federal grant for medical studies, Moise worked for four years in a Miami clinic in a community with a large number of Haitian refugees, that had been underserved, and lacked enough doctors who spoke Creole. Business ventures Moise has used his profits to invest in more than twenty businesses that include an ambulance company and a movie production firm. The station went defunct in 2004. and has served on a number of boards. Politics After testifying and offering recommendations about Haiti's crisis before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2003, Moise was appointed in 2004 by Florida governor Jeb Bush to serve on an advisory group to help Haiti. In the 2010 election for Florida's 17th congressional district, among a stacked Haitian-American ballot, Moise essentially split the vote. Running for the state's 24th congressional district in 2012, Moise fell short again at a one-on-one chance against Frederica Wilson, who had been endorsed by President Obama. Moise put $1 million of his own funds into his campaign. In January 2026, Moise filed to run in the 2026 election to choose the next representative for Florida's 20th congressional district, challenging incumbent Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and several other candidates in the Democratic primary. == Philanthropy ==

Moise contributed $120,000 to complete a 2009 monument in Savannah, Georgia of a Haitian regiment known as the Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue that served as a reserve unit to the American and French forces against the British at the Siege of Savannah. ==Honors==

In October 1991, Moise was honored among "Dade County's Top 10 Black Businesses" by the Miami Dade Chamber of Commerce. In 1994, he won the Up and Comers Award by Price Waterhouse, and "Man of the Year" by the New Miami Group Inc. in May. In 1997, he was awarded "Black Business of the Year" by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, and was the winner of the "Entrepreneurial Excellence Award" by the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship in 1998. Moise was awarded the "Bill Colson Award" in 1994–1995 and the "Black Business of the Year Award" by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and the "Community Leadership Award" in 2004. In 2005, he was among the five finalists for "Best Physician of the Year Award" in South Florida by The Business Journal. In October 2016, Moise won the Pinnacle Award from the International Career and Business Alliance for achievement and excellence. He is the past recipient of the Silver Medallion MCCJ Humanitarian of the Year Award, the American Diabetes Association Father of the Year Award and the 2012 Dorothy Shula Outstanding Volunteerism Award from the United Way of Miami Dade County. In 2017, he was honored with a Humanitarian Award by Catwalk for Charity. In June 1988, Moise was among 28 bachelors featured by Ebony magazine. In July 2023, Moise received the President's Lifetime Achievement Award for cumulative volunteer service. ==Criticism==

Moise was criticized in 2009 for his likeness being used for the historical Haitian monument at Franklin Square in Savannah, Georgia. Other Haitian community leaders have voiced their displeasure, such as Phillip Brutus calling it "sacrilege" and "corrupting history". Brutus went on to say, "Haitians hold this very dear to their hearts. They take it very seriously, and when someone tampers with this, it unleashes all sorts of anger and anguish." The opposition vowed to get the statues replaced with more accurate facial depictions. Moise said he was approached by organizers about completing Savannah's Haitian memorial after a campaign to collect small donations for it had stalled. Moise agreed to the request for funds and mentioned that sculptor James Mastin had asked him to sit for the piece because of his past experience as a magazine model. ==Personal life==

Moise is married to his wife Mirjam, who is of German–Caymanian descent. He is Catholic. == Electoral history ==