Jacques Despinosse was born on December 30, 1945, in Port de Paix, Haiti. He completed his secondary education at Lycee Toussaint Louventure.

Despinosse immigrated to the United States in 1968, where he started a new life as a small business owner in Brooklyn, New York. He moved to Florida in 1977, and attended Miami Dade Community College, where he completed non-credit courses in international trade.

In 1979, Despinosse became a naturalized citizen, and has been an active member of the Democratic Party since. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004. Despinosse has served on a number of boards and committees in the City of North Miami, City of Miami and Miami-Dade County. He was a member of the Host Steering Committee for the Summit of the Americas in 1994, and a United States Presidential Observer Delegate to the Elections in Haiti in 1995.

Despinosse is the founder of the Haitian-American Democratic Club and the Haitian American Citizenship and Voter Education Center, Inc., where he is now Executive Director. He was also responsible for establishing the South Florida Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce (which is no longer in existence) and the Friends of Haiti National Foundation. Despinosse has made numerous trips to Washington and Tallahassee lobbying on behalf of the Haitian community.

He was elected to the North Miami city council, District 3, in May 2001. Despinosse has been married to his wife, Ruth, for more than 32 years, and is the proud father of four children.