New Orleans CityBusiness 2015 Women of The Year

2
Ashley Merlin
2015
Woman of the Year
Clem
Goldberger
A S H L E Y
M E R L I N
SPONSORED BY
Loves growing things

in her garden.
OR
Has grown her garden shop into a

thriving landscape design company.
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2 Women
of Landscape_Ad_9x12.indd
the Year 2015
10/23/15 3:25 PM
Published by NOPG LLC

3445 North Causeway Blvd.,
Suite 901, Metairie, LA 70002
504-834-9292; Fax: 504-832-3534
Publisher: Lisa Blossman
Editor: Natalie Chandler
Managing Editor: Robin Shannon
Web Editor: Meghan Keen
Account Executives: Liz Baldini,
Jennifer Forbes, Cassie Foreman,
Coco Evans Judd
Designer: Michael Duntz
Photos by Ashley Merlin

Venue: Ralphs on the Park
Intro 3
Woman of the Year:
Clem Goldberger
6, 7
Kim Bergeron
9
Marica Mackenroth Brewster 9
Joy M. Bruce
10
Lynne Burkart
10
Tiffany Carter
11
Jacqueline Case
11
Cristi Fowler Chauvin
12
Christina Chifici
13
Patience Mackie Clasen
13
Bessie Antin Daschbach
14
Elia Diaz-Yaeger
14
Betsie Gambel
15
Aimee W. Hebert
15
Loretta O. Hoskins 16
Sally J. Kenney
16
Amelia Koch
18
Hannah Kreiger-Benson
18
Sandra Lombana Lindquist
19
Lynn Luker
19
Rebecca Crawford Metzinger 20
Courtney C. Miller
20
Michelle B. Moore 21
Cyndi Nguyen
21
Barbara Bourgeois Ormsby
23
Melissa Riehm Ory 23
Brandy A. Panunti
24
Else Pedersen
24
Marian H. Pierre
25
Charlotte Livingston Piotrowski 25
Tiffany Peperone Pitre
26
Marta-Ann Schnabel
26
Angie Scott
27
Liz Shephard
27
Deborah Hunt Simonson

28
Melonie Stewart
28
Carmen Sunda
29
Lynn E. Swanson
29
Tammy Louk Swindle
30
Lisa Tahir
30
Lorena Tejeda
31
Tania Tetlow
31
Katherine P. Theall
32
Kelly E. Theard
32
Keely C. Thibodeaux
33
Carrie R. Tournillon
33
Judy Taix Walker
34
Stephanie Wells
34
Suzanne Whitaker 35
Laurie A. White
36
Past honorees
38, 39
Congratulations
AIMEE W. HEBERT
New Orleans
CityBusiness
2015
Women of the Year

Recipient
400 Poydras St. , Suite 1812

New Orleans, LA 70130
504-522-1812
www.kellyhart.com
Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP
Austin | Fort Worth | Midland | New Orleans
Aimee W. Hebert, Partner, Oil & Gas/Energy
Women of the Year 2015 3
Clem Goldberger leads

community contributors
Clem Goldberger and the rest of the 2015
honorees comprise the 17th class of Women
of the Year. Their stories are in the pages that
follow, providing proof of their professional accomplishments and community impact.
An exemplary professional and devoted community leader, Goldberger has distinguished herself in the New Orleans region with more than 40
years of service through multiple channels.
Her role as senior specialist for development,
communications and external affairs at the National World War II Museum puts her in elite
company among women in the local public relations and tourism sectors, and her leadership
has allowed the museum to flourish in New Orleans, providing the institution and its visitors
much needed stability in the post-Hurricane
Katrina era.
While Goldbergers professional accomplishments alone are noteworthy, her civic pursuits
that benefit the businesses, women and children of New Orleans are what earn her special
recognition as the 2015 Woman of the Year.
This year, CityBusiness also welcomes two
honorees to our Women of the Year Hall of
Fame: Lynn Luker and Marian Pierre. They
join a select group whose members have been
honored three times as Women of the Year.
On behalf of the community, CityBusiness
expresses its gratitude for the contributions of
this years honorees.
Editor Natalie Chandler can be reached at
293-9255 or natalie.chandler@nopg.com.
Great marketing.
Great connections.
Great clients.
At Gambel Communications we connect our

clients with their goals through disciplined,
acountable, strategic planning while
connecting them with one another
through our unique relationship-centric
business model. When you work with us
youre in great company!
Banner Automotive Group Business Council

of New Orleans and the River Region City Year
New Orleans Entergy Greater New Orleans
Foundation Hotel Monteleone New Orleans
Ballet Association Preservation Resource Center
Reily Foods Company The Historic New Orleans
Collection United Healthcare Volunteers of
America Young Leadership Council
Public Relations Strategy Branding Marketing
Social Media Special Events Issue Management

Offices in New Orleans and Mandeville
504-324-4242, gambelpr.com
4 Women of the Year 2015
Gambel City Business 2015 WOTY ad .indd 1
11/1/15 10:52 AM
Hall of Fame
Honorees are inducted in the Hall of
Fame when they are honored three
times as Women of the Year.
2015
Lynn Luker
Marian H. Pierre
2006, 2014
2007, 2012
2014
Deborah Rouen
2003, 2010, 2014
2013
Jackie Clarkson
Donna Fraiche
Lizette Terral
Suzanne Thomas
2003,
1999,
2009,
2002,
2012
Patti Ellish
2001, 2008, 2012
2008,
2005,
2010,
2007,
2013
2013
2013
2013
2009
Debra Bowers
Kim Boyle
Mignon Faget
Angela OByrne
Kim Sport
2006,
2005,
1999,
2000,
1999,
2007,
2008,
2006,
2006,
2004,
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2008
Julia Bland
Donna Klein
Priscilla Lawrence
Carol Solomon
2000,
2001,
2006,
2004,
2006,
2006,
2007,
2006,
2008
2008
2008
2008
2006
P.K. Scheerle
1999, 2000, 2006
ion
t
a
l
u
rat
Cong
!
Lynn
For being chosen as
an honoree for the

2015 CityBusiness
Women of the Year
and being inducted in the
2015 CityBusiness Women of
the Year Hall of Fame.
Attorney at Law
Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford, LLC
504.523.1580
www.stanleyreuter.com
909 Poydras Street, Suite 2500 New Orleans, LA 70112
Clem
Goldberger
Goldberger, senior specialist for development, communications and
external affairs at the National World War II Museum, stands beside
a picture of her father, a World War II veteran, at the museum.
ABOVE: A 20-year-old Goldberger visits with actress Helen Hayes at a theatrical benefit in New York City. Goldberger won the trip in a writing competition in
1967. Photo courtesy Clem Goldberger
Clem Goldberger
National World War II Museum senior specialist for
development, communications, external affairs
Goldberger in the mid-1960s, when she was a senior

in high school. Photo courtesy Clem Goldberger
This year marked Clem Goldbergers 10-year anniversary of working for the National World War
II Museum. And in the decade since she came on
board, she has helped facilitate the $325-million
campus expansion that has quadrupled the facilitys
size and transformed it into a worldwide tourist destination.
Trip Advisor not only designated the museum as
the No. 1 attraction in all of New Orleans, but also
as the No. 3 museum in the country and the No. 15
museum worldwide.
Thats not just among history museums. We are
on top of even art museums, said Goldberger, who
serves as the museums senior specialist for development, communications and external affairs.
Fundraising is a large part of Goldbergers job,
and she is also involved with special projects such as
coordinating guest speakers.
Goldberger is a third-generation marketing and
public relations professional in her family. She spent
the longest part of her career working for Peter A.
Mayer Advertising Agency for 19 years. She went
on to start the first in-house marketing, public relations and fundraising department for the LSU
Medical Center, and then worked as an assistant
director for the New Orleans Museum of Art.
Goldberger created a signature fundraising event
for LSU, the Visionary Gala with the help of Broadway composer and lyricist Jerry Herman, who wrote
the music for Hello Dolly, Mame and La Cage
aux Folles. He was friends with a patient whose
vision was saved by LSU and agreed to do a benefit

performance for the LSU Eye Center.
Goldberger has been able to draw from that experience in working with the entertainment director for the National World War II Museums live
entertainment venue, the Stage Door Canteen. I
certainly gained an appreciation for what it takes to
put together live musical theater, she said.
Working for the museum holds special significance for Goldberger, since her late father was a
World War II veteran who served in the U.S. Army
and was awarded the Silver Star. His picture is featured in the museums Road to Berlin exhibit.
I think he would be very proud that Im here,
she said.
The museum is approaching the final phases of its
expansion. This December marks the opening of the
Road to Tokyo exhibit. And in 2016, the museum
will break ground on its capstone exhibition pavilion, the Liberation Pavilion.
Having started her first day on the job just 14
days before Hurricane Katrina, Goldberger says she
feels fortunate that the museum kept her on staff
and that she has been able to help transform the
facility into what it is today.
To be a part of something that has really helped
change not just the cultural landscape of New Orleans, but the cultural tourism economy of New Orleans, too, is so gratifying, Goldberger said. I will
be proud of this forever.
Autumn Cafiero Giusti
S P O N S O R S
PREMIUM
Kim Bergeron
Kim Bergeron Productions creative director
With an extensive background in government arts, culture and tourism marketing and public relations, Kim Bergeron can
add fundraising to her list of expertise.
Having started her own creative services firm, Kim Bergeron Productions, in
2013, Bergeron has been involved in some
form of marketing and advertising for the
past 30 years. A lover of the arts and community service, she has chosen to use her
professional strengths to help advance and
foster a relationship between the two.
For last years East St. Tammany
Habitat for Humanitys Seventh Annual
Art Auction, Home is Where the Art
Is, Bergeron acquired the signatures of
legendary Beatles Paul McCartney and
Ringo Starr, who donated their respective
autographs atop a 1908 Kingsbury Piano.
I always believe, shoot for the moon
and, even if you miss, you land in the stars,
Bergeron said. I thought, Why not try?
Researching the famed musicians
schedules, she learned McCartney would
be performing in New Orleans in time for
the auction, and Starr would later be in
Biloxi, Mississippi. A number of mishaps
threatened to derail the plan, including
missing McCartney and traveling 30 hours
to Kentucky a trip with vehicular break
downs, emergency mechanics and the un-
expected use of a U-Haul.

But Bergeron managed to not only
meet both McCartney and Starr and have
them sign the piano, but also was audience
to Starr playing the auction item.
The signed piano raised $99,000 and
helped build a new veterans home. For this
years auction, she drove to Georgia and obtained the signatures of all of the members
of Charlie Daniels Band on a fiddle.
Bergeron also is determined to help
local artists and is starting an organization
to connect them with art enthusiasts who
can back them financially.
Im such a huge supporter of artists and
musicians and all those people who make
our world a more joyful place and making
sure they are able to sustain a living while
they do so, Bergeron said. Artists are expected to donate to every cause, but were
bankrupting them.
Like her mission to obtain McCartneys and Starrs autographs, Bergeron is
inspired by challenges.
I believe in showing things are not impossible if your heart is in a good place and
you believe in what youre doing, she said.
How do you know it cant be done if you
dont try? If we cant dream big, what are
we doing?
- Whitney Pierce Santora
Marica Mackenroth
Brewster
Pelican New Orleans director of marketing
and communications
Marica Mackenroth Brewster loves the
challenge of making everything run like a
well-oiled machine at Pelican New Orleans, a local hospitality company.
PNO has been in business since 1997.
They offer swamp, city, plantation and
bike tours, walking excursions through the
French Quarter and cemeteries, limousine
services and rental items including strollers, wheelchairs and scooters.
Brewster has been with the company
for almost six years. As director of marketing and communications, she oversees
group sales on the North Shore and in
the New Orleans area. She manages the
IT department, 19 centers and concierge
desks and works with the companys special reservation software. She also handles
communications and social media for each
of the six companies that offer the hospitality services: Cajun Encounters Tours,
Audubon Limousine, New Orleans Visitors Center, French Quarter Bike Tours,
New Orleans Rental Services and New
Orleans Legendary Walking Tours.
My family has been here for five generations, so its fun for me to sell this city
and make a difference in the community,

she said. New Orleans is my inspiration.
The city is growing and our businesses are
growing right alongside it.
Her biggest challenge to date, she said,
was finding a reservation system for Cajun
Encounters that would do all reporting,
third party integration, dispatching logistics and interface with Pelican reservations.
We are multifaceted, so it took me
three years of talking to people and looking
around the world to find the right reservation system solution, she said. Weve
been customizing it for over a year now
and its working amazingly and helping
the company to grow.
Since she believes that community service is another avenue to work with local
people, she joined the French Quarter
Business Association five years ago. She
is active on the marketing committee and
helps with marketing initiatives for local
events. She also serves on the Louisiana
tax marketing committee. She has been
helping the group create a better marketing plan for just over a year.
- Kerry Duff
Joy Bruce
CASA New Orleans executive director
Joy Bruce always knew that she wanted
a career in horticulture. She loved the science, being outside, working with plants
and making the world more beautiful.
She earned a degree in horticulture and
contracted with a mid-level landscape company until the economy tanked and she lost
her job. Bruce decided to change careers
and took a position in the nonprofit sector.
Bruce is executive director of Court
Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of
New Orleans, an organization that provides trained community volunteers to advocate for the best interest of abused and
neglected children in court. She has been
with the organization four years, and has
since developed the first CASA program
that follows kids after the age of 18.
Anyone around kids knows, no one
who is 18 is grown up, so weve developed a program that works with the court
system, child welfare, etc., to help these
kids in foster care transition to adulthood,
find jobs and transportation, she said.
We know theyre less likely to go to college. In fact, it is rare and only 2 percent
achieve a bachelors degree. Foster kids are
an invisible population. No one wants to
think about it and most dont know how
it works.
What she likes most about her job,
she said, is seeing changes in the kids

from having people in their lives that care
about them.
It makes a huge change in a persons
trajectory to have one person in their life
that cares about them, she said. Bad
things happen and yes, we need to lessen
the number that happens to kids, but at the
end of the day, we are not going to eliminate that. However, we can provide support and one person that lets them know
they care.
The biggest day-to-day challenge,
she said, is making people aware of what
is going on and obtaining resources for
the kids.
When the executive director isnt running the mid-sized nonprofit, she devotes
her time to the executive leadership committee for EVACUTEER.org, a disaster
response nonprofit that developed an evacuation strategy in the event of a Category 3
or higher hurricane. She joined the organization four years ago, and is involved in
recruiting and training volunteers that will
help get people on buses, tag luggage and
keep families together during a disaster.
When I was growing up, our house
flooded 10 times, she said. That led me
to my career of helping people.
- Kerry Duff
Lynne Burkart
Postlethwaite & Netterville audit director
Lynne Burkart discovered a passion for
volunteering at the age of 20 while working as an intern at the New Orleans Museum of Art.
Crediting her first boss, Jackie Sullivan,
with instilling in her this lifelong activism,
Burkart said she enjoys working with many
groups. She has served as secretary for the
Crimestoppers board for the past two years
and also sits on the board of the Southeast
Council of the Boy Scouts of America,
among numerous others.
These groups have such a huge impact on the community, Burkart said.
Crimestoppers, where crime is concerned,
and the Boy Scouts instilling values, team
and leadership skills in the future leaders
in the area.
Burkart said she bases her volunteerism
on the communitys need for it.
Being a member of the community, I
try to contribute to where I live, she said.
Burkart applies this ideology to her
professional career as well.
Having served 15 years as an accountant at Postlethwaite & Netterville, Burkart spends her days as audit director for the
firm, working with a diverse base of clients
including financial institutions, nonprofits,
healthcare organizations, publicly-traded

companies and those in the oil field.
Her greatest career achievement of
making partner came only after two years
with the company. I worked hard to establish myself, and I demonstrated that I
had the skills to achieve that level, Burkart said.
Burkart also said she loves the field of
accounting more today than when she first
decided this was what she wanted to do.
Now, I see how it is used in the real
world and in business, as well as its impact
on the community, she said. Its not just
about credits and debits. Its about business
growth and opportunities and managing
and running a business.
Keeping in line with her goals of serving the community that surrounds her,
Burkart participates in helping organize
and presenting at educational and training
seminars given by Postlethwaite & Netterville that bring together the firm and
community.
I hope to spend more time volunteering and a lot of time training and developing people here at Postlethwaite &
Netterville, Burkart said.
Tiffany Carter
Director, New Orleans Sewerage & Water Boards
Economically Disadvantaged Business Program
Tiffany Carter recently attended a ribbon
cutting ceremony for a female-owned business whose owner had just bought her own
building and was about to start leasing space
to other businesses. Its a big step up from the
business owners humble beginnings 15 years
ago in an office with just two cubicles.
Its also one of the many small enterprises that Carter has helped land city contracting work through the New Orleans
Sewerage & Water Boards Disadvantaged
Business Program.
It is so rewarding to walk in and be part
of an effort that you are leading for small
businesses to grow in your community,
said Carter, who directs the program.
Since Carter joined the utility a year and a
half ago, the S&WB has been able to negotiate 35 percent of all of its professional service
contracts to have participation from disadvantaged business enterprises, or DBEs. As
of January, the S&WB has awarded $14 million in contracting work to DBEs.
The S&WB maintains a directory of
more than 500 small businesses that the utility certifies throughout the year. The board
then finds parts of S&WB projects that can
be subcontracted out, potentially to those
businesses. If the utility has a $1 million
contract, for example, that involves some
demolition or painting, Carter helps to iden-
tify DBEs that offer those services and can

compete for a portion of the project.
Although Carters current role centers
on business management, her background
is in communications and public relations.
After graduating from the University of
New Orleans, she held marketing positions
with Lundy Enterprises, Methodist Hospital and the Department of Transportation.
When she learned that the S&WB was
revamping its small-business contracting
department and was looking for a director,
she threw her name into the hat.
I came at a perfect time because we
are really committed to rebranding this
agency, she said.
Carter is active in the community and
earlier this year was elected president of
the New Orleans Court Appointed Special Advocates board. She is also on the
board for the nonprofit Dress for Success
and served for several years as chairwoman
of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.
Connors volunteering has become so
commonplace that her 12-year-old son,
Connor who frequently joins her on her
charity endeavors has come to expect it
as part of their routine.
He wakes up and says, Where are we
volunteering this Saturday?, Carter said.
Jacqueline Case
Raphael Academy administrator/board chair
Jacqueline Case started her own architectural company, Praxis Design, in 2000,
specializing in the renovation of historic
homes and commercial buildings throughout the New Orleans area. But, according
to Case, this career path took a detour when
her son was diagnosed with autism.
When you have a special needs person
in your life, small things matter and big
things are like miracles, Case said. You
pay attention in a different way. Thats the
gift special needs people bring in your life.
This is not a burden; this is a gift.
After spending several years trying to
find an appropriate education setting for
her son while serving on the board of the
Waldorf School, she visited Glenmoore,
Pennsylvanias, Camphill Special School.
Camphill offered Waldorf School curriculum geared toward special needs people.
Case founded the Raphael Academy, a
Camphill initiative, four years ago.
We adapt Waldorf School curriculum
for students who need a more practice-oriented approach to academics because of
their special needs, Case said.
The nonprofit, which caters to middle and high school students with autism
spectrum disorder and other learning disabilities, also offers transition courses and a
young adult day program. Were addressing the need for when special needs people
age out of special needs programs.
Raphael Academys transition program

teaches its students to be independent by
learning how to cook, clean and complete
chores. The school works with local
companies to have students volunteer at
their businesses, such as the New Orleans
Boulder Lounge, a rock climbing and
fitness center, where students remove, sort
and clean climbing grips and help keep the
studios clean. The adult program brings its
students out into the community and visits
vocational sites. Academics focus on real
world issues, such as focusing on reading
and math, while learning to manage
finances.
Raphael Academy also specializes in
confidence building and creating opportunity and has recently secured property
on Jackson Avenue, a location Case plans
on building into an integrated-community
urban village for special needs people.
With special needs people, it doesnt
end with school, Case said.
Raphael Academy benefits from fundraisers run by the school, but it also benefits from Cases waiving of half her salary
to ensure funding for operational expenses.
Its more important the money goes to
directly influence the students and educate
them, Case said. Its more important for
the community to have more choices for
people with special needs.
Cristi Fowler
Chauvin
Fowler Rodriguez associate and

head of marketing
Cristi Fowler Chauvins family history
and roots are barely beneath the surface.
Both of her parents, George and Cristina Fowler, are Cuban refugees who left
that country as a result of Fidel Castro
coming into power in 1959.
For that reason, Chauvin is active in the
New Orleans Hispanic Heritage Foundations Azucar Ball, which raises money to
fund scholarships for children in need. The
foundation was created by her parents.
I think because of what happened to
them, having to leave their country and
losing everything, my parents have been
determined to do well in this country, but
also to help others, too, says Chauvin.
Initially majoring in architecture at Tulane University, Chauvin switched to law
because she says she likes to read, but also because she wanted to follow in the footsteps of
her father, who founded Fowler Rodriguez.
Her practice specialty is admiralty and
maritime law, which she says she especially
loves because I love anything having to do
with the water and ships.

To that end, she was part of the team
representing Royal Caribbean Cruises in
their $300 million suit against Rolls Royce
for technical problems with the cruise
lines pod-propulsion system.
Chauvin says she is not afraid to argue
a case in court.
But what I mostly do is help my father
in different cases, doing the exhibits and
prepping the witnesses, she adds.
Active in a wide variety of legal, civic
and business groups, Chauvin also serves
on the government affairs committee of
the World Trade Center.
Chauvin says that throughout her career she has been lifted by the support of
her family, but singles out her mother for
particular praise.
She is the one who has always helped
me remain positive and strong. She is the
strongest person I know by far, and never
afraid of anything.
- Garry Boulard
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Christina Chifici
LaPorte CPAs & Business Advisors directorin-charge, audit and assurance services
Christina Chificis proudest moment
occurred when she accepted an executive
position at Laporte CPAs & Business
Advisors.
Im the first woman to ever hold this
position in LaPortes history, Chifici said.
Im very proud of what our department
has done, how weve grown while still
managing the practice and being able to
be a part of senior leadership.
Named in 2009 as the firms director-in-charge of audit and assurance
services, Chifici leads the firms 50 employees in three Louisiana offices and one
in Houston who provide assurance and
business consulting services to more than
500 clients. Her department accounts for
nearly half of the firms earned revenue and
has grown 36 percent under her tutelage.
Weve grown that niche, Chifici said.
The number of employees has doubled
since Ive come in and the whole department has grown.
When she first joined Laporte in 2006,
it was to help lead the firms construction
practice.
With construction being a huge need
post-Katrina and with a lot of that segment of the business growing and developing, the firm was lacking in leadership
in that niche area, Chifici said. Common

affiliates and associates of the firm reached
out to me and asked me to spearhead its
construction niche project.
The construction practices 20 professionals serve more than 45 clients in Louisiana and Texas and account for 10 percent
of the firms total revenue.
Earlier this year, Chifici co-led the development of LaPortes Employee Benefit
Plan niche, in which benefit plans for the
more than 50 clients range in assets from
less than $1 million to $125 million.
Chifici said she is able to maintain her
client base and book of business and still be
able to help lead the firm.
As a leader, I understand the importance of the people in the firm and having
an open door policy and being a leader that
engages staff as professionals, she said. I
feel like Ive been able to support our firms
reputation of quality service and be part of
that success. Really being able to be a senior leadership person has been very satisfying for me.
Chifici also has served as a board member or committee member for the Susan G.
Komen for the Cure New Orleans Affiliate
for the past 10 years.
Patience Mackie Clasen

St. Andrew The Apostle Roman Catholic
School principal
The best part of Patience Clasens day
comes first thing in the morning when the
second-year principal leads the general assembly at St. Andrew The Apostle Roman
Catholic School in Algiers.
We gather in the gym every morning,
all 400-plus kids, teachers and staff, and
we just pray together for all our blessings,
recognize our accomplishments and end
every morning with our motto: Live Like
a Christian; Learn Like a Scholar; Fight
Like an Archer; Love Like No Other, she
said. Its an amazing feeling to see everybody come together like that and just puts
a smile across your face to start the day.
Clasen has more than nine years of experience teaching, coaching teachers and
writing curriculum in public and private
schools throughout New Orleans. She
joined St. Andrew, pre-K through seventh
grade, four years ago as curriculum coordinator before becoming principal in 2014
and helping build what she terms a faithfilled, academically-focused powerhouse.
In 2013, she helped the school achieve
academic recognition as a Blue Ribbon
Lighthouse School of Excellence, and for
the past three years Clasen has attended
the annual Blue Ribbon Schools Blueprint for Excellence Conference at Walt
Disney World to deliver a presentation on

St. Andrews best practices approach to
national school leaders.
She also helped St. Andrew achieve
Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools reaccreditation for quality assurance. St. Andrew also recently scored above
the national average on the ACT Aspire
Test for third graders, testing in the 85 percentile in English, compared to a national
average of 71, and 82 percentile in math,
compared to a national average of 50.
Its a tremendous feeling to bring
my experience to this school and help it
achieve the kind of academic success it has
had, and that is a testament to the hard
work of everybody here, Clasen said.
Clasen serves as the director of youth
ministry for St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, leading service projects such as feeding the homeless and partaking in clothing
drives with her students.
I have all my eggs in one basket, and it
has been an amazing blessing for me and my
family to be part of this journey of our school
and our parish, Clasen said. Its about giving back to my faith and roots by teaching in
the Catholic school and fully vesting myself
in the future of our community.
- Tommy Santora
Bessie Antin Daschbach

Jones, Swanson, Huddell & Garrison LLC member
Taking on 97 oil and gas companies as defendants in a lawsuit can be a career-defining
experience to say the least, especially when typical cases involve just three or four defendants.
For attorney Bessie Antin Daschbach, the
lawsuit represents an extraordinary moment in
time, both for her career and for her legal team.
She manages the environmental litigation practice for the law firm Jones, Swanson, Huddell &
Garrison LLC.
Daschbach spearheaded the work that went
into filing coastal land loss litigation in July
2013 on behalf of the Southeast Louisiana
Flood Protection Authority-East against the 97
oil and gas companies.
It felt a lot like landing planes in a control
tower, and trying to make sure the right people were
in the right places with the right tools to accomplish
the goals that we were all aiming at, she said.
Daschbach attended Duke University partly
because she and her father were uncertain how
to approach college applications, being in the
small city of Hammond.
We didnt have a guidance counselor or anything. So I picked up the U.S. News and World
Report and applied to the top 27 schools just to see
what would happen, she said.
Daschbach stumbled upon her law degree as
a senior. At the time, she was an English and
Spanish literature major, and her roommate was
headed to law school. She had been seriously
considering graduate work in literature, but was
puzzled by the prospect of what to do after that.
I really felt that I owed it to myself and my
parents to figure out a way to make it on my

own, she said.
One of Daschbachs greatest triumphs took
place while she was attending law school at Tulane University and working as a student attorney in the Tulane Immigration Law Clinic. That
year, an oil ship pulled into the dock with nine
Iraqi stowaways seeking asylum from Saddam
Hussein. She ended up successfully working on
those cases and recalls one client who moved to
Arizona after the ordeal and was able to apply
for his family to join him.
His entire life was different, and I felt like I
had a hand in that, she said.
Daschbach ended up moving to New York
to pursue a masters degree in international law
from Columbia University. She also worked for
the United Nations and moved to Asia after
graduation to work on a factory improvement
project with the International Labor Organization, a division of the U.N.
Daschbach eventually returned to New Orleans to work for the law firm of Sher Garner
Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert LLC before
joining Jones Swanson. Although challenging,
Daschbach says her experience with the coastal
land loss case emboldened and matured her as
an attorney.
I would not have traded that experience for
anything, at least not professionally, she said.
Outside of work, Daschbach likes to run
and spend time with her husband, Joe, their son
Henry and daughter Lola.
- Autumn Cafiero Giusti
Elia Diaz-Yaeger
Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin &
Hubbard shareholder
Attorney Elia Diaz-Yaeger has had her share of
achievements within the confines of the courtroom.
As a shareholder at Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck,
Rankin & Hubbard law firm, practicing in toxic
tort litigation and insurance defense, she has successfully defended thousands of occupational exposure claims, including exposure to asbestos products.
But its her work in the legal community,
and the community at large, that she says has
been the most rewarding.
Most recently, Diaz-Yaeger received the 2015
Human Rights Award from the Louisiana State
Bar Association for her work promoting diversity and inclusion of women and Hispanics in
the legal profession. She also has had an AV Preeminent Rating since 2007, the highest rating a
lawyer can receive from the Martindale-Hubbell
Peer Review Ratings. The honor is bestowed on
less than 5 percent of women lawyers.
She was also selected for the inaugural edition of the Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of
Preeminent Women Lawyers, created exclusively for female attorneys who have received
the highest possible rating in both legal ability
and ethical standards from their peers.
Diaz-Yaeger says being a female lawyer continues to be a challenge even today.
Although women are making some headway
in the legal field, we are still underrepresented at
the top ranks of the legal profession, she said.
Unfortunately, difficulties remain in our profession for female lawyers. Female lawyers, who
are valued for their opinions and litigation skills,
are still not always regarded or paid equally when
compared to our male counterparts.
Diaz-Yaeger is actively involved with the

Hispanic National Bar Association, currently
serving as deputy national secretary.
She has also served as president of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Louisiana and
monitors legal trends and proposed laws that
might affect the Hispanic community.
As a member of the A.D. Crossman Esperanza
Library Project, Diaz-Yaeger played an integral part
in facilitating the school librarys construction. She
coordinated the donation of computers and books,
as well as a painting and beautification project.
That was probably the most fulfilling thing
that Ive done as a lawyer, she said.
Diaz-Yaeger said one of her greatest successes
was co-chairing the Hispanic National Bar Associations corporate counsel conference and national moot
court competition held in New Orleans in 2011.
We were able to showcase New Orleans to
prominent general counsels from Fortune 500
companies, judges, in-house counsel and lawyers from across the country, as well as 30 teams
of law students from the nations top law schools
who wouldnt have otherwise thought to visit
New Orleans after Katrina, she said.
Diaz-Yaeger is a founding member of the
Candy Girls of New Orleans, a female marching
club and nonprofit that supports and provides
services to families in need. She is also an active
member of the Krewe Of Muses.
Thats something that I enjoy working with.
Its always fun, we give back to the community, and
it involves shoes and glitter, so to me thats always
a good time. Who doesnt love shoes and glitter?
Betsie Gambel
Gambel Communications owner
Now a 25-year veteran in public relations,
Betsie Gambel began her career auspiciously as
an 8th grade teacher at Academy of the Sacred
Heart in New Orleans, where she developed
both a passion for teaching and a penchant for
communications work.
When you volunteer, try something that
you dont already know, she advises, remembering how a voluntary post at ASH blossomed
into a brand new public relations position
within the school.
Gambel has also served as president of the
New Orleans Junior League and cites volunteering as one of the principal means of gaining experience and building success over the
long term.
What I advise young people I mentor is to
first of all volunteer- get involved in your community, and second, learn new skills when you
volunteer, she said. If you are in finance, volunteer for the marketing committee; if you are
in insurance, offer to be on the special events
committee. Not only will you round out your
skill set, but you may embark on a whole new
career as I did.
A true learner through and through, Mrs.
Gambel has taken every opportunity to deepen
her knowledge of her field and business at large,
a knowledge she greatly enjoys sharing with her
employees and colleagues.
Im all about putting people and ideas together, she says, and since she founded Gambel Communications in 2009 that has been her
driving motto. From businesses to nonprofits,

we are involved with some of the most distinguished brands in the region, thus allowing us to
have our fingers on the pulse of what is happening in our city and beyond. Making these great
connections is not only enjoyable, but it is an
important strategy for our clients and partners.
With Gambel Communications, her client base reaches both local and national levels, but she has always remained true to her
nonprofit heartbeat.
That is reflected in her community service.
Gambel has served on the boards of the International Association of Business Communicators; Louisiana Childrens Museum; Academy
of the Sacred Heart; the Archbishops Strategic
Planning Committee for Education; University
of New Orleans College of Liberal Arts; Louisiana Nature and Science Center; Friends of
City Park; YWCA; and Girl Scout Council of
Southeast Louisiana.
A strong proponent of Cause Marketing, she
believes that Doing good is good for business.
The most challenging aspect is finding the
balance between being a business owner and
immersing myself in day to day operations,
she added. As a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small
Businesses Scholar, I learned to work on the
business rather than in the business. Hiring a
second in command gave me the opportunity to
grow the company strategically while remaining
true to our mission and vision.
- Mark Allain
Aimee W. Hebert
Kelly Hart & Pitre partner
Being a lawyer was always part of the
plan for Aimee W. Hebert, partner at
Kelly Hart & Pitre.
As a child, I wanted to be a lawyer or an
actress. I guess the practical side won out.
Hebert has been practicing oil and gas
law since 1998. Her greatest inspiration
in law was her mentor, John McCollam,
a lawyer who taught basic mineral law at
Tulane University.
He was one of the finest lawyers that
ever practiced law in Louisiana. He was a
legend. He was the lawyer who mentored
me as a young lawyer and the lawyer for
whom I have the most respect.
Hebert realized she wanted to practice
oil and gas law after taking a basic mineral law class at LSU Law School. In her
first year, she had inherited some oil and
gas property and thought she could read a
mineral lease, but soon learned differently.
It might as well have been in Greek,
she said. The next year, I took basic mineral law with Pat Martin at LSU Law
School. Everything that I had done in that
agreement was suddenly made clear. I had
an invested interest in the subject, but I
just found the area of law absolutely fascinating. So when I took his class, I realized
thats what I want to do.
Hebert is an adjunct instructor of law
at Tulane Law School where, like her
mentor, she teaches basic mineral law and

attributes teaching as one of her biggest
accomplishments.
Trying cases is a rush and winning
cases is a rush too, but my greatest professional accomplishment comes from
teaching at Tulane. It is an embodied
achievement because you get to shape
legal minds and instill a love for the law in
young lawyers or soon to be lawyers.
Heberts advice for students interested
in a career in law is to surround yourself
with really talented people whose company
you enjoy. Thats something I have here at
Kelly Hart & Pitre.
Being an oil and gas lawyer, we have so
many varieties of legal issues that come up,
it is never boring. The intellectual gymnastics of it is fulfilling on a daily basis.
She also encourages a balance between
work and family, which isnt always easy.
Because you have to be accessible to
your clients and you have to be on call all
of the time. You have court deadlines and
you have demands of clients and those
things have to be met and they have to be
done well. But I also want to be a good
wife and a good mother. Im very lucky because I have a husband with a much more
flexible schedule than mine, so he really
helps support me to achieve that balance.
- Jennifer Nall
Loretta O. Hoskins
Chaffe McCall LLP partner
Loretta O. Hoskins has tackled multifaceted
commercial cases, complex health care claims
and major appeals. But its the simple tasks that
give her the most satisfaction from her work.
Its things like when I go and notarize
something for someone who says, Thank
you so much. I can go get a birth certificate now, she says. I feel like a fulfilling
career is made up of little successes that
accumulate over time.
As a partner with Chaffe McCall LLP,
Hoskins practices in the firms commercial
litigation and appellate practice sections.
She also handles matters involving railroad litigation, medical malpractice cases
and other health care issues.
Hoskins cases have run the gamut
from someone falling off a hospital bed to
a patient getting an infection and losing
an eye following medical care. She finds it
fascinating to read through contracts and
other documents and interview clients to
get to the nitty gritty of each case.
Almost all cases, even the ones involving paper or fighting over a contract, are
really just about people, she says.
Hoskins started thinking about law
during college at Washington University in
St. Louis, where she majored in anthropology and English literature. She wanted a job
that involved critical and analytical thinking, writing and creativity. In this field, Im
able to put it all together, she says.
During her last year at Loyola Law

School, Chaffe McCall offered Hoskins
a job right before Hurricane Katrina hit.
Hoskins was certain the offer was gone,
until the firms recruiting coordinator
tracked her down in Houston.
She said, Dont worry. Were coming
back. Your offer is still good. It was completely unexpected, Hoskins says.
Hoskins has also handled pro matters
through the Pro Bono Project and consistently volunteers with the Homeless Experience Legal Protection program at the
nonprofit Harry Thompson Center. She is a
board member of the Loyola Alumni Association and has served as chairwoman of the
Young Lawyers Legislative Subcommittee.
When shes off the clock, Hoskins likes
to try new restaurants and spend time with
family and friends. She stays active with
running, biking and soccer.
Not even a sports injury can deter
Hoskins dedication to her clients. She
recalls a time when she broke her wrist
playing soccer and was supposed to drive
a client to Mississippi the next morning to
conduct witness interviews. Even though
Hoskins spent much of the evening in the
emergency room, she showed up the next
morning wearing a splint and ready to roll.
She was so impressed, Hoskins says of
her client. I even showed up with coffee.
Sally Kenney
Newcomb College Institute of Tulane University
executive director, professor of political science
Whether fighting for more female judges,
tackling the problem of sexual assault on
campus, traveling across the globe to teach
leadership skills or developing service learning courses on domestic violence, Sally Kenney is constantly pursuing gender equality.
Kenneys gratification comes from when
either she or her students catch fire on a
cause and work until they make a difference.
Our job at Newcomb is to educate our
students to learn and think deeply on our
major issues and then become engaged to
solve problems and change peoples lives
for the better, said Kenney, who serves
as executive director of Newcomb College Institute of Tulane University and
has been a professor of political science for
more than 30 years.
Kenneys work has garnered national attention and brought her to the White House
twice in the last three years. In the summer
2013, she was at the ceremony announcing
President Barack Obamas appointments for
the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, including two women.
Kenneys book, Gender and Justice:
Why Women in the Judiciary Really Matter, was published in 2013.
I worked on this issue for 10 years, and
being in the Rose Garden for the announce16 Women of the Year 2015
ments of the appointments was one of the

most exciting things that ever happened to
me to see the hard work come to fruition.
Her research on women judges led to a
longstanding partnership with developing
the academic program when the National
Association of Women Judges held its annual conference in New Orleans in 2013.
Kenney returned to the White House in
May 2014 when she joined other national
campus leaders for the release of a national
report that she worked on as part of a task
force to protect students from sexual assault.
Kenney has worked with colleagues at
Tulane and nationally to fashion prevention strategies and to hold perpetrators
accountable.
Tulane is a leader in its bystander intervention program, Take Back the Night
march, student hotline and student conduct process. Newcomb students are currently planning a statewide conference for
student activists, she said.
Kenney has traveled to Tbilisi, Georgia,
to train women judges, and traveled abroad
to Pakistan and Kenya, teaching women
leadership skills.
It is vital that our leadership programs
include global citizenship, Kenney said.
- Tommy Santora
JUNIOR LEAGUE
OF NEW ORLEANS
FOUNDED
IN 1924
The Junior League of New Orleans is over 2,300 women strong
and remains committed to promoting voluntarism, developing
the potential of women and improving our community through
the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.
VISIT WWW.JLNO.ORG
OUR
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We focus our volunteer efforts on advancing the

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4319 Carondelet Street
(504) 891-5845
Mon-Fri 8:30am-5:30pm
Amelia Mimi
Koch
Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell &

Berkowitz, PC shareholder
Amelia Koch strives to maintain a satisfying and rewarding legal practice while staying
actively involved with community service organizations.
Better known to friends, family and the
legal community as Mimi, Koch said the
balance between work and volunteerism is an
important one.
I think lawyers are singularly well suited to
give back to the community, Koch said.
A shareholder with Baker, Donelson,
Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz PC, Koch
practices in the firms labor and employment
department as well as the anti-trust department. She said the two areas tend to incorporate one another while giving her a variety of
types of cases.
Having a few different kinds of cases
makes life a little more interesting, she said.
Borrowing from her skills and experience
as an attorney, Koch is a board member for the
Louisiana Civil Justice Center, an activity she
includes among her favorites.
[The Justice Center] is a nonprofit with
just a few employees and a small budget, but
its able to make a big impact in providing
assistance to low income and elderly people in
our community, Koch said.
With a telephone hotline, legal clinics and
help desks in both Orleans and Jefferson Parish

courthouses, the Justice Center assists those
individuals trying to manage their legal matters
on their own.
People should be able to do it by themselves, but its hard, she said. We help people
so they dont have to go the added mile of
hiring a lawyer.
While balancing the scales of career and
volunteerism, Koch further includes causes that
benefit the arts and culture of the city. She has
served as a past board member for the Garden
District Association and currently is involved
heavily with the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, for which she is a board
member. Taking part in the development of
the organization and assisting with quasi-legal
and contractual issues that may arise, Koch said
she also helps in fundraising.
It takes up a fair amount of my time, but I
really enjoy it, she said.
Koch said she concentrates on those areas
of giving back by focusing on the quality of her
community service rather than the quantity.
I try to take on what I can and try to do
a good job rather than signing up for everything and being a ghost, she said. Its about
balance.
Hannah KreigerBenson
Music & Culture Coalition of New Orleans

meeting facilitator and spokesperson
Hannah Kreiger-Benson loves music and
makes a good living playing piano full-time at
Pat OBriens in the French Quarter. When
she isnt tickling the ivories, shes focused on
building the Music and Culture Coalition of
New Orleans, a nonprofit organization she
helped launch in 2012 to bridge the gap between the needs of the cultural community
and legal/government policy in New Orleans.
The organization was founded after musician Kermit Ruffins called a meeting to
address a crackdown on small New Orleans
music venues. Hundreds of people showed
up for the meeting and continued to show
up week after week to discuss how laws and
policies affected local cultural practitioners.
We realized there was a serious need for
people in the music industry to discuss issues concerning the New Orleans cultural economy, said
Kreiger-Benson, MACCNOs meeting facilitator, media spokesperson and program coordinator.
Cultural practitioners such as musicians, street
performers, artists, craftmakers and small business
owners are a big part of the local economy and we
want to make sure they can make a living.
Although MACCNO has thousands
of supporters, they do not have an office,
so Kreiger-Benson and the organizations
7-member board are working together to

build the organization and develop funding.
Many of our people earn money on the
streets, she said. We need laws that will nurture
them and the next generation. As for the cultural
economy side, we are just beginning to explore
it this year. We are going to create a survey and
put numbers to our culture. Our people arent
counted in any other type of business data collection, so were going to create a data collection
project that gets meaningful results and is demographically reflective of the people were trying to
reach. The information will also be used to empower people working in the cultural economy.
The piano players love of law and policy
came from her parents, who are both lawyers.
Although she didnt want to be a lawyer, she said,
she enjoys legal discussions because they scratch
an intellectual itch for her and keep her balanced.
I care about this from all sides and
theres an incredibly deep need for what
were doing, she said. What I like most is
that were making real changes wording
of laws, getting ordinances withdrawn and
bringing discussions to light that have never
been talked about before. All these things are
heartening and satisfying.
- Kerry Duff
Sandra Lombana
Lindquist
New Orleans Chamber of Commerce vice

president of operation and membership
Sandra Lombana Lindquist has a knack for
bridging gaps and making great things happen.
Currently the vice president of operation and
membership for the New Orleans Chamber
of Commerce, throughout her career she has
worked across the state promoting business opportunities and boosting economic development.
Im very collaborative and enjoy working
with others, she said. Being able to meet people, determine what their needs are and connecting them to the right people makes me happy.
After graduating from the University of
Texas in Austin in 1992, Lindquist worked with
JEDCO where she was responsible for the business outreach department. In her six-year tenure, she was promoted several times to become
the youngest of six managers reporting directly
to the CEO and was instrumental in recruiting
and retaining businesses in Jefferson Parish.
Lindquist hasnt had to apply for a job since.
Every job change has been presented to me
as an opportunity, she said. I feel that I am very
fortunate to have my professional life guided to me
this way. Im a strong believer in following my gut,
and that is how I have made every career decision.
In 1998, after a national search, Lindquist
became the executive director of the Tangipahoa Parish Economic Development Foundation, where her expert skills in communication
helped unite the parish in a collective development strategy. In 2000, she oversaw the re-
cruitment of the Wal-Mart distribution center,

which was the third-largest project for the state
at that time. That same year Sandra returned
to New Orleans to work with Volunteers for
America and eventually The Idea Village.
It was a fantastic experience, she said. In
learning about social entrepreneurship, I also
learned the importance of the double bottom
line - making money in order to support a nonprofit mission.
From 2008 to 2011, Lindquist served as
director of membership and marketing for St.
Tammany West Chamber of Commerce before
joining the New Orleans Chamber at her current
post. Working with her CEO and a great team,
the chamber has grown from 200 businesses in
2009 to 1,200 member businesses today, and
the amount of services and events offered by the
chamber has grown as well. She greatly enjoys
producing Power Breakfasts and Power Panels,
which provide learning and networking opportunities for small business owners.
Lindquist has also tackled challenges in her
personal life as she tries to maintain a balance
between family and work.
I think all women struggle with this balance, she said. I didnt balance well in my 20s
and 30s. Now that I have a family, I really try
to spend quality time with them and therefore
truly understand the balancing game.
-Mark Allain
Lynn Luker
Of Counsel, Stanley, Reuter, Ross,
Thornton & Alford, LLC
Lynn Luker says that when she talks to
law students about the length and breadth
of her career she always tells them, If you
had known me when I was in my 20s, people might say, That girl shows real promise, someday she is going to be a manager
at Burger King.
Taking nothing away from all Burger
King managers, Luker says she tells the
story by way of illustrating that if she could
achieve such great heights in the world of
law, anyone can.
I really believe that as long as a person
is willing to work hard, they can succeed,
says Luker. Because there are no shortcuts
in this field, it is all a matter of preparation.
Lukers steadfast approach is seen in the
18 years she spent at Adams and Reese,
followed by the 16 years when she headed
up her own shop. This year she shook
things up again when she signed on with
Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford.
She made the move to the firm after
serving in 2014 as a judge pro tempore
in the Civil District Court.

I decided to hit the reset button when
that was over and began to think about
what I wanted to do next, says Luker.
And what I finally decided was that I
wanted to practice with other people who
were doing the kind of exciting work that
I admired.
That reference to excitement is not accidental. Luker says she is at her happiest
when she is confronted with new challenges, learning new things and tackling
new cases.
What other kind of job offers opportunities from flying in some guys sea plane
to an offshore rig, to being on the inside
of a casino control room and watching all
the cameras, to going to an industrial plant
and looking at the way they process and
separate various chemicals? says Luker.
It is always interesting, and thats
what I like about what I do the best,
Luker adds.
- Garry Boulard
Rebecca Crawford
Metzinger
Chief of ophthalmology, Southeast Louisiana
Veterans Health Care System
Faculty member, Tulane School of Medicine
department of ophthalmology
Rebecca Crawford Metzinger, M.D. is a
faculty member of the department of ophthalmology at Tulane School of Medicine and chief
of ophthalmology at the Southeast Louisiana
Veterans Health Care System.
Metzinger, who grew up loving math and
science, was encouraged to pursue medicine by
her grandmother, a family practice physician
who always referred to Metzinger as doctor.
Metzinger has worked tirelessly to revitalize the
quality of eye care at the VA. Just six months after
she took the job in 2008, she was informed that due
to Hurricane Katrina and the citys loss of many doctors, New Orleans veterans had some of the worst
access to eye care in the country. Metzinger set to
work immediately, assembled a team and pushed
for a new eye clinic to better serve her patients.
She succeeded when The Vision Center of
Excellence for the VA opened in December
2010. She describes it as a world-class department with a number of great specialists.
With all this success, Metzingers goal for
the VA never wavered.
I wanted to bring back all of the veterans. To
show them that they can come to the VA and get
the best eye care, because I have some of the best

people here, she said. We do an average of 100
cases a month and perform state-of-the-art procedures and surgeries on our patients, with great
outcomes. Im very proud of that, because I feel
like the veterans, our nations heroes, are people
that deserve the best possible care, she said.
Although she has already helped the VA become a world-class institution, she is dedicated
to improving the hospitals future as the new
hospital in Mid-City opens next year.
I look at what were about to open for the
new VA, this site of innovation, and we really are
going to be the state-of-the-art hospital in the
region. Were even going to have technologies
that university hospitals dont have at this point,
and Im excited for that. I feel like our veterans
deserve every bit of that. I feel like Ive been a big
part of a really positive change for our veterans.
Metzinger also sees patients privately as a cornea
specialist and teaches cataract surgery for Harvard
Universitys resident training course. Furthermore,
Metzinger has worked with the Junior League of
New Orleans and the Southern Eye Bank Board.
- Lindsay Mack
Courtney C. Miller
Adams and Reese LLP partner
Courtney Miller remembers how it all
started. She had begun college as a premed major, but my first biology class
cured me of that, she laughs.
Then she attended a day-long seminar on
estate planning and suddenly realized it was
what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.
Its hard to explain, but I fell in love
with it, says Miller. By the time I went to
law school I already knew the type of law I
wanted to practice.
In the 11 years since she graduated cum
laude from Loyola University, Miller has
never regretted that decision.
My job is to try and work with people
through the (succession) process, trying to
make it easier for them; while on the estate
planning side, its getting peoples estate in
order, she says.
Successions that lead to litigation,
says Miller, are often nearly entirely
emotional in character.
I have been involved in successions
where people end up litigating over so little an amount of money, but are stuck on
the principle of itand that can be very
emotional for clients.
Ultimately, such litigation comes primarily from poor estate planning. People
often see dollar signs and act in ways that
they wouldnt have acted before, she says.
If they had just gone to a competent
estate planning attorney who could have
done their will properly, a lot of that sort
of thing could be avoided.
Born and raised in New Orleans, Miller
says she never had a second thought about
living anywhere else.
I have never once questioned staying
in New Orleans, she says. My family is
here, my friends are here, my life is here.
- Garry Boulard
Michelle Moore
Louisiana State University Health Sciences
Center clinical assistant professor
While studying theatre as a high school
student in New Orleans, Michelle Moore
was convinced that upon graduation she
would become an actor.
After moving to New York, where she
attended Marymont Manhattan College,
Moore came to realize something about
the theatre: She liked trying to understand
the motivation of a character she might
be portraying in a play, but she liked even
more trying to understand actual people.
I didnt want to just play a character,
she says. I wanted to be the person that
helped others understand themselves.
Moore decided to double major in theatre and psychology as an undergraduate,
but focused on child psychology in graduate school.
It was a decision that seemed like the
natural next step in her evolution.
I wanted to help individuals who are at
the youngest age possible in order to maximize their potential in life, she says.
For Moore, that has also meant working with and understanding the parents of
children.
Engaging the adults makes it more

likely that the entire family is on a path
for success and everyone is working together to improve the situation, she says.
Signing on as a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry with the LSU Health
Sciences Center in 2011, Moore has been
steeped in workshops, conferences, seminars and classroom teaching, all centered
on interactions with students.
I love training and teaching the next
generation of psychologists and mental
health professionals, Moore says, noting
that she hopes to hand on to her students
the inspiration and motivation she received
from her teachers.
I couldnt even imagine spending
hours alone in a lab, Moore says. That
would not be fulfilling to me at all. I love
being around others and being involved in
the community.
In what free hours are still left, Moore likes
to spend time with her family, caring for a
newborn, and playing outside with her oldest
son as she watches him explore the world.
- Garry Boulard
Cyndi Nguyen
Vietnamese Initiatives in Economic Training
founder and executive director
Returning to eastern New Orleans
District E after working in a Texas nursing home as a social service director, Cyndi
Nguyen picked up on something she had
not fully realized before.
The local Vietnamese community was
disconnected, she says.
She noted that residents of the districts
large Vietnamese community were often at
a disadvantage when it came to getting jobs
due to language barriers and a lack of formal education, and Nguyen wondered how
those same residents could be empowered.
The result was the Vietnamese Initiatives in Economic Training, or VIET.
I wanted to create an entity that would
connect people to resources, says Nguyen,
who launched VIET in 2001. The nonprofit today provides a wide array of services from tax preparations for low-income
residents, food stamp assistance, a seniors
fitness program and citizenship assistance
services.
Under Nguyens leadership, VIET has
also taken on contract work.
We use our skills, our native language,
and contract out with schools and different
entities to provide interpreting and translation services.
Nguyen originally landed in District E

after her family fled Vietnam in 1975. They
spent a brief period of time in Monticello,
Iowa before heading to New Orleans.
We heard that Vietnamese families
were moving to New Orleans, and that the
climate was complimentary to Vietnam,
says Nguyen.
An additional attraction to the city was
that her father, Nghia Nguyen, who fished
for a living, would be able to work.
In the fall of 2009, Nguyen surprised
the political world when she announced
her candidacy for New Orleans City
Councils District E race.
When she made her announcement, she
had just given birth to triplets, but managed
to run an energetic effort nonetheless.
I thought it was an opportunity for
new leadership to come in. I thought the
district needed to have someone different,
a new thinker, she says.
Nguyen ultimately placed third out of a
candidate field of six and says she has never
regretted the experience.
I gained a lot from it, Nguyen says,
adding that she has not totally ruled out a
future run for public office.
- Garry Boulard
Congratulations to two of our

outstanding attorneys on being selected
to the 2015 class of CityBusiness
Women of the Year!
Barbara B. Ormsby &

Civil Litigation
Commercial Litigation
Commercial Transactions
Construction Law
Kelly E. Theard
Labor & Employment Law
Marine & Energy Law
Professional Liability
Toxic Tort & Environmental Law
755 Magazine Street I New Orleans, LA 70130 I 504-581-5141
deutschkerrigan.com
Barbara Bourgeois
Ormsby
Deutsch Kerrigan LLP partner
Photo courtesy
Barbara Bourgeois Ormsby
Everybody usually has that one pivotal moment in life where things are put into perspective.
For Barbara Bourgeois Ormsby, that moment
came seven years ago when she delivered her
daughter, Octavie, while on a cruise to Mexico.
I always have that amazing story to tell
everyone, and when Octavie was born, my pivotal moment was coming into motherhood,
and working every day with the motivation of
my family and setting a strong example for my
daughter, Ormsby said.
The philosophy has motivated the toxic tort
and environmental law partner at Deutsch Kerrigan LLP to do more than just her legal practice, by adding volunteer work with community
and youth programs throughout New Orleans
and mentorship of young lawyers.
Ormsby chairs the Louisiana State Bar Association Diversity Committee and serves as
secretary of the Animal Law Section. She is in
the mentor program, volunteers at legal fairs
and formerly served on both the Approach the
Bench Committee and Law Day Committee for
the New Orleans Bar Association. She volunteers for her daughters school, Lyce Franais
de la Nouvelle-Orlans, and also for Jefferson
Performing Arts Society. Ormsbys family will
host a French intern student in January.
I believe in a balance. You work hard, but
you play harder, and your work within the community sets a great example for your children,
Ormsby said. You just have to get out there, do
what you love and contribute to society in every
way you can.
Practicing law since 2001, Ormsby represents local, regional and national manufacturing and sales companies in personal injury and
product liability litigation, defending against asbestos property damage and building abatement
claims and handling chemical exposure cases.
She earned her bachelor of science in accounting from LSU and originally pursued tax
law, but as she clerked for several firms, she decided she wanted to get out of the office more,
interact with people and practice law on site.
I just fell in love with environmental and
toxic tort law, and the more familiar I became
with the laws, the more I enjoyed doing that
kind of work, she said.
Ormsby serves as vice chair of the toxic
torts and environmental law committee for the
American Bar Association.
The ABA activity just opens the door to potential clients, working with other counsel and
networking across the country, Ormsby said.
It also helps me stay up to date on the latest
medical opinions relative to my practice area.
- Tommy Santora
Melissa Riehm Ory

Phillips 66 Alliance Refinery public affairs
representative
In her role at Phillips 66, Ory oversees
the philanthropy program and helps address community needs. She has helped
develop plans to build a walking track and
gymnasium at the YMCAs current Belle
Chasse facility. Ory is also passionate
about programs focusing on science, technology, engineering and math.
Ive worked closely with the Plaquemines Parish School System to develop
and institute initiatives, including butterfly
gardens and robotics academies, to promote
STEM interests in children, she said.
Ory credits several mentors who have
helped inspire her success. Karen Riehm,
her mother, was a kindergarten teacher for
30 years who stressed the importance of
an education and the desire to never stop
learning. She also taught Reihm to work
hard and treat others kindly.
Her presence in my life has foremost
contributed to me being the woman that
I am today, said Riehm. From the moment I was born, I was innately blessed
with a wonderful female role model.

While at FEMA, Ory worked with
Andrea Davis, the former FEMA director
of external affairs and current director of
crisis management and business continuity
at The Walt Disney Company.
In crisis communication, the one thing
that is always constant is change, and Andrea had a way of equipping her team to
prepare for change, said Ory.
Davis developed and implemented a
work-life balance initiative to support Ory
when she became a mother. This helped
Ory continue to grow professionally and
personally in her role.
I will spend the rest of my professional
life paying my time with Andrea forward,
she said.
Ory is married to Nicholas, her best
friend and middle school crush. The couple has three children. She strives to help
her children develop their own interests
and work hard to achieve their goals.
- Lindsay Mack
Brandy A. Panunti
Ochsner Medical Center endocrinology
department chair
When it comes to a chronic medical condition as common as diabetes, there are only so
many endocrinologists to go around to treat it.
Thats why Dr. Brandy A. Panunti has made it
her mission to provide care for this and other patient segments that arent getting enough of it.
Theres no way such a limited resource of
endocrinologists can care for people with diabetes when you talk about something that affects
10 percent of the population and doesnt go
away, she said.
One of the models of care Panunti has explored allows patients to receive specialized care
during regular visits with their primary care
doctors. In whats known as Ochsners Diabetes
Empowerment Program, endocrinologists and
the nurse practitioners that work with patients
see them for about six months and then discharge them back to the primary care doctor.
In the community, if you tried to see an
endocrinologist, the wait might be several
months, she said.
Panunti has also become a regional expert
and advocate for the transgendered community.
She is one of the Gulf Souths few providers of
hormone treatment for this patient segment,
and she developed curriculum on transgender
health issues for Ochsner, Tulane and LSU.
This community is still so underserved, and
theres still such a stigma out there about being
transgender, even though you would think in
todays day and age there wouldnt be, she
said. Patients are still being refused care, or not

given the best care.
Panunti joined Ochsners endocrinology
department shortly after Hurricane Katrina and
rose to the position of department chair in less
than a decade.
While she has enjoyed a successful career
in medicine, its an outcome that at one time
almost didnt seem possible. She grew up in a
working-class family in a coal-mining town
outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania. Having been
sick a lot as a child, Panunti decided at the age
of seven that she wanted to become a doctor.
I know a lot of kids say that, but I never
wavered from it, she said.
It just so happened that a doctor in Panuntis hometown had established a need-based
scholarship for children interested in becoming
a physician. Panuntis parents didnt have the
money to send her to college, so when she won
the full scholarship, it was a game changer. Panunti was able to study biology at St. Josephs
University in Philadelphia and later Georgetown University for medical school.
She moved to New Orleans to do her residency at Tulane University and ended up meeting her partner, Laurianne Wild, who is now a
physician at Tulane.
Ive been given so many opportunities along
the way that I decided New Orleans was the
right place for me, she said.
Else Pedersen
Bridge House/Grace House CEO
More than 23 years ago, Else Pedersen
found herself struggling with alcoholism.
She sought treatment from Bridge House,
and after a successful and ongoing recovery, she remains there today as its leader.
I came to Bridge House in 1992 and
never left, Pedersen said.
Formerly a day-treatment program, Pedersen now manages Bridge House/Grace
House as three separate facilities with a total
of 154 residential beds for long-term treatment. In the course of a year, Bridge House/
Grace House serves about 700 people.
Some of them are successful, some arent,
she said. We always welcome them back.
The facilities occupancy rates run well
over 90 percent year round, and its success
rate finds 70 percent of its clients are still
sober after a year.
Pedersen said it is the nonprofits claim
to fame that 70 percent of its budget is
self-generated from funds received via its
sales of used cars, thrift store profits and
its development department, which handles the organizations solicitations.
Thats kind of a big deal because it allows us to provide support for about 108
more clients than if we were not doing
those things, she said.
Pedersen earned her addictions counseling credentials with the encouragement
of former Bridge House CEO Richard

Buzzy Gaiennie. She quickly joined the
organizations clinical team and later became its director.
When it came time for Gaiennie to devise a succession plan for his position, he
was enthusiastic about her interviewing for
the position.
It was the fact that I am in recovery,
and, in any situation like this, you have to
have a passion for treatment and providing
services for people who cannot afford it,
Pedersen said. She was named CEO in
September 2011.
About two years ago, Bridge House/
Grace House expanded its program and
raised itself to national standards, earning
accreditation.
Weve continued to raise the standards
of care here and professionalism of the staff
as a whole, Pedersen said. Compared to
where we were 10 years ago, weve made
huge strides.
Today, Pedersen is 23 years sober and
takes great pride in being able to tell the
residents that she was a resident there
more than 20 years ago.
Its a good story to tell them, Pedersen said. They see that one day, this could
be them.
Marian H. Pierre
Crescent Guardian founder and CEO
Marian Pierre has been making her
mark in a field dominated by men for over
two decades. Thus, she believes the best
man for a job is a woman.
She is the founder and CEO of Crescent Guardian, Inc., a full-service guard
company for businesses in metro New Orleans and Louisiana. The company offers
physical security and technology solutions
for clients such as First NBC Bank, the
city of New Orleans, New Orleans East
Hospital and Trans Dev (formerly New
Orleans Regional Transit Authority). They
also do passport photos, fingerprints and
notary work.
Being the only woman-owned and
operated security company in Louisiana
for 21 years is quite a feat in a male-dominated field, she said. Back when I first
started, financing was a big challenge. I
realized that I did not need a bank, but a
banker that understood what I was doing. I
found one that believed in me and hes still
my banker today.
Crescent Guardian moved its office in
August to a new 5,000-square-foot building on Pontchartrain Boulevard and 14th
Street in New Orleans. The building was
originally designed for retail, Pierre said,
but they converted it to office space. They
also opened a second location two months
ago in Fort Worth, Texas. The founder

plans to be at that location two weeks out
of the month.
Were busy meeting with Fort Worths
economic development department to see
how to roll out our services, she said. We
chose this city because theyre in a rebuilding stage and they have money to redo
things around the city.
Pierre said Fort Worth is putting in
a new rail system, so she plans to show
transit officials the permission switch her
company created five years ago for buses,
streetcars and rail systems. The special
switch allows only drivers assigned to the
system by badge number to start it.
We created the permission switch
because we listened to what our clients
needed and came up with a solution, she
said. This type of technology has been
used in the large equipment industry for
years. We took their idea, got research and
development involved and came up with a
unique product.
Outside the office, Pierre serves on the
United Way executive board. She has been
on the board two years and helps approve
funding for different organizations. She also
seeks donations and serves on the legislative
committee that works on changing state laws.
- Kerry Duff
Charlotte Livingston
Piotrowski
Rent-A-Nerd, Inc. co-owner and director of
marketing and community outreach
Well into a successful career working
as a lawyer specializing in asbestos defense
litigation, toxic torts and products liability,
Charlotte Livingston Piotrowski experienced a life-defining moment.
I got fibromyalgia and then sciatica
after that, she says of the health issues
that eventually debilitated her.
I was housebound for several months,
says Piotrowski, noting that things got so
bad that her annual income dropped to
$11,000and $6,000 of that went for
medical bills.
Clearly, says Piotrowski, she needed to
change things up professionally by generating more income but with a more flexible schedule. Piotrowski went to work for
John Wade, handling the authors website,
blogs and social media.
I essentially turned myself into an editor
and became tech-savvy in the process, says
Piotorwski, who adds that her goal was to
learn how to handle any kind of software,
and always know what I was doing.

From there it was an easy transition for
Piotrowski to sign on with Rent-A-Nerd,
Inc., a New Orleans company that provides
IT services to businesses. Piotrowski today
wears two hats at the company founded by
her husband, Darrin Piotrowski: She is coowner as well as director of marketing and
community outreach.
A dedicated community activist serving such groups as the Louisiana SPCA,
the Womens Guild of the New Orleans
Opera Association and the Junior League
of New Orleans, Piotrowski is also a
self-described New Orleans Saints fanatic.
I never miss a gameits the only time
during the week when I can forget that I
have pain, she says.
Life happens to everyone, but we can
choose to give up when a challenge comes
along, or figure out a way to move on, she
says. And for me, the choice was to move on.
- Garry Boulard
Tiffany Peperone
Pitre
TMG Consulting general counsel and policy analyst

Tiffany Peperone Pitre will always remember her career-defining work on the Fat City
redevelopment project in Metairie.
As a senior parish attorney for the Jefferson
Parish Attorneys office at the time, Pitre played a
vital role overseeing controversial and drastic zoning changes to Metairies entertainment district,
collaborating with the planning department to
implement legally defensible zoning ordinances
that tackled difficult issues such as amortizing
adult entertainment uses and nonconforming
signs, increasing regulations on night clubs and
creating a parking mitigation fund.
The ordinances were so controversial that
bar owners filed suit in federal court, alleging
the ordinance was an unconstitutional taking of
their property. But the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court
found that the ordinance aimed to promote
the health, safety and welfare of the community by shutting down bars during the hours
most closely associated with dangerously high
amounts of intoxication, drunk driving and violent crimes.
I knew I belonged in my field when that
project came to fruition, Pitre said. To see
something you work on that was so complex,
yet rewarding, take on a tangible effect and the
redevelopment take place, was worth it.
In 2011, Pitre joined TMG Consulting as
general counsel and public policy analyst with
her main focus on the oversight of the capital

projects, procurement and budget for the New
Orleans Regional Transit Authoritys multimillion-dollar transit management contract. Pitre is
an attorney with more than 15 years of experience in public law and land use law, and American Institute of Certified Planners certification.
Pitre said as a child she was always interested in policy and government. Her husband,
Loulan, gave her a book, The Geography of
Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of Americas
Landscape, that stirred her interest in studying
land use law.
Pitre recently evaluated redevelopment tools
for the award-winning Shreveport Common
Market Assessment to support revitalization of
the area. She was an active member of the committee to provide recommendations for major
revisions to the Louisiana Public Bid Law.
In the community, Pitre is a room parent at
Ecole Bilingue de la Nouvelle Orleans, a board
member of the Like Minded Ladies and was
recently elected to the Board of the Jefferson
SPCA. She has a rescue dog, Bonnie.
It makes me feel good to give back, and
being part of causes where you can make a
difference bring joy in my life, and thats what
I try to do through my community service,
Pitre said.
- Tommy Santora
Marta-Ann Schnabel
OBryon & Schnabel, PLC partner
Marta-Ann Schnabel came to New Orleans to study law at Loyola University and
has called the city home ever since.
As the daughter of a German-Jewish
immigrant father, Schnabel was inspired
by her fathers commitment to his adopted
country. He considered Tax Day, April
15, a day of celebration, and insisted that
Schnabel participate in his ritual of signing
the family income tax return and the check
that accompanied it.
He would tell me that it was a pleasure and
a privilege to contribute to a country which had
taken him in as a refugee at the age of nine. I
think I became a lawyer because his sense of the
justice system in this country was so acute that
he simply could not imagine a purer pursuit
than that of the law, said Schnabel.
Schnabel still finds strength in her own
family. She describes her husband Kevin
as at once supportive and leveling. He is
possibly the brightest intellect I have ever
known, and his mind works in a way that
often leaves me awestruck.
Her children are a source of inspiration
as well.
My son, Jeffrey: a stoic from birth
whose barometer for right and wrong
never falters. My daughter, Sara: Her vi-
brant enthusiasm masks both sides of cynicism and optimism.

It is difficult to overstate Schnabels
contributions to the New Orleans community. She was the first female president of
the Louisiana State Bar Association, and
she served during the immediate aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina, when she helped the
justice system recover.
She has volunteered for the past 15
years to develop and implement programs
to help those in need achieve access to the
civil justice system. To this end, Schnabel
has worked with the Louisiana Civil Justice Center. Furthermore, she has recently
been appointed to chair the Supreme
Courts Access to Justice Commission,
which attempts to open new opportunities
to assure that the public, and particularly
those with lower incomes, have legal representation in the civil court system.
Overall, Schnabel reflects upon her
great success with gratitude.
I have been grateful for the opportunities life has brought, including the opportunity, in one generation, to move past being
the daughter of a refugee to obtain a law
degree and a career as a lawyer, she said.
- Lindsay Mack
Angie Scott
Search Influence co-founder
When Angie Scott and her husband
Will founded Search Influence in 2006,
a spare bedroom was all they needed to
house the young company. From its humble beginnings, the digital marketing firm
has since grown to include 90 employees
and clients from all over the country.
Scott arrived in New Orleans in 1998 to
pursue an accounting degree from Loyola
University. When she finished in 2000, she
took a job with eWebSystem.com, a Metairie-based website development company
where she met her husband. After eWebSystem, Scott joined the team at Turbo
Squid, a position she held for five years. It
was toward the end of her tenure there that
Scott and her husband decided to branch
out on their own.
We run different parts of the company,
and it works because we have different
backgrounds, skills and areas of interest,
she said.
Scott is Search Influences chief operating officer and manages internal operations, including accounting, while her
husband handles outgoing relationships

such as sales and marketing. In 2013,
when he suffered a heart attack and missed
significant time from the office, Scott kept
the company moving forward with the
help of her staff.
Together Scott and her husband have
created both a successful business and a
company culture that supports its team.
Their first employee is still with the firm,
and Scott works hard to ensure there is opportunity for promotion and professional
career development for their employees
and their futures.
As we continue to grow the company, its important that we grow it together to create a better culture of doing
work, she said.
In a field that is constantly changing its
rules, Scott and Search Influence continue
to set the pace in New Orleans. With a
new product on the horizon, Scott reflects
that its a whole new process and almost
like starting a new business again.
- Mark Allain
Elizabeth Shephard
Life City LLC founder and chief
sustainability officer
For Liz Shephard, doing something she
believes in as a profession is a given.
I belong to a generation that is demanding careers that are mission-driven,
she says.
Even in college, from which she graduated magna cum laude, Shephard cared
about the world around her. She managed
a program called Farm House, which was
billed as a sustainable living interest house,
and did research in straw-bale insulation.
She also studied the culture of the ocean
through a stint with the study abroad program, during which she lived on a small boat.
I wondered then about throwing trash
into the ocean, but realized that this is what
people do every day in real life, she says.
I dont think people are waking up in
the morning and saying, Id like to destroy
the environment and contribute to the inequity in the world, she says. They are
waking up and doing whats convenient,
whats easy and what their friends do. So I
decided to make it easier for an individual
or a business to just learn what they could
do better.
The end result was the founding of Life
City, which Shephard launched in late
2010 and is dedicated to giving economic
growth a social and environmental value.
We now work with 3,000 individuals

and a couple hundred of companies, says
Shephard.
But before Life City became a reality,
Shephard got a grasp for the issues that
daily challenge New Orleans as a teacher
at the Thurgood Marshall Early College
High School from 2007 to 2008 for the
national Teach for America program.
It was a difficult but rewarding experience, and an eye-opener for me when it
came to the issues of race, inequality and
education in the city, she says.
Shephard subsequently served as a water
quality researcher and field manager for
Gulf Restoration Network before signing
on as interim executive director with the
Alliance for Affordable Energy in 2008.
All of her varied experiences, Shephard
believes, play out in her leadership at Life
City, where she oversees a staff of five.
I am not a great administrator. Luckily, I have good people who can help me
with things like that, she says.
Off hours, Shephard like to run, play
soccer, play guitar and go to church. I put
in long hours at work, but I also go home
at a reasonable hour, she says. I think
thats important.
- Garry Boulard
Deborah Hunt
Simonson
Ochsner Health System vice president,

pharmacy services
Theres a lot more to the pharmacy world
than dispensing pills and filling prescriptions.
As vice president of pharmacy services for Ochsner Health System, Deborah Hunt Simonson deals
with a host of practice areas, including research, education, patient care and medication safety.
I feel very passionate about what I do, she
said. If I can change someones life or make them
feel better, I think thats what gets me here.
Simonson oversees the pharmaceutical services and contracting for the entire Ochsner
system. She also works with pharmaceutical
vendors to develop products to sell not just to
Ochsner, but also to health systems worldwide.
I love to work with vendors to be able to
develop technology that makes health care safer.
And Im not a very shy person, so I definitely
give them good feedback, she said.
In working with vendors in this way, Simonson is able to help improve pharmacy products
for other hospitals and clinics. After other health
systems implement these products, Simonson
and her department follow up with those systems
to ask how the products can be improved.
We try to stay involved with this to make
health care better across the country, she said.
One of the biggest initiatives Simonson
worked on this year was on the retail pharmacy side with specialty medications. These are
medications that cost $600 or higher or have
a complex delivery method that patients have

trouble figuring out. They are often life-saving
medicines such as cancer drugs.
Ochsner now has its own concierge service
to explain to patients how they can afford and
obtain these medicines.
My job is to make sure that we can provide our
customers and insurers with the lowest cost of care
at the highest quality that we can provide, she said.
In April, the Intelligent Hospital Association
presented Ochsner with the award for Best Comprehensive Integration for 2014 for effectively integrating technology throughout its entire health
system. A big piece of that involved pharmacists
focusing more on direct patient care, technician-managed drug preparation and distribution
and advanced technologies to improve medication management and patient safety.
Simonson joined Ochsner shortly after pharmacy school, when the health system tasked her
with building a clerical pharmacy program. Since
then, she has worked her way through the ranks
in the more than 25 years she has been with the
pharmacy department. Its a job that she says
continues to motivate her year after year.
Every day I come in, and Im just excited
that day as I was the day before. We change
peoples lives, and the reward of that is just
amazing, she said.
Melonie Stewart
Entergy director of customer service
Melonie Stewart loves to roller blade
and considers herself a future derby girl.
When the skates come off, however, she
is director of customer service at Entergy.
Stewart has been with the power company her entire 30-year career. Shes been
in her current position for eight years and
is responsible for interfacing with elected
officials in 10 parishes in southeast Louisiana. She also oversees engineering operations and customer service for 650,000
Entergy customers.
I like helping customers and solving
problems, she said. I enjoy coming up
with practical solutions that are a win-win
for everyone.
Stewart has held a number of important positions over the years. Prior to her
current position, she was operations manager for 12 years, managing line crews and
directing engineers that planned reliability
of systems. During Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita, she worked in Baton Rouge at
the state command center for eight weeks,
handling more than 10,000 people in Entergy crews and making sure they had food
and housing. She also made sure trucks
had fuel, workers were safe and all materials were at the staging sites.
For me its more about the commit28 Women of the Year 2015
ment to the people Im working with than

the achievements, she said. Ive always
felt really good about being a person people can count on. Its about camaraderie
and being a valued member of a team. I
do not want to let anyone down and that
drives me. Its part of why Im in this business. What we do is important to others,
so when Im working hard during a storm
and every day, its important to our people
and the community.
Although many people through the
years have contributed to the directors accomplishments and success, she learned a
lot from her mentor Rod West, Entergys
chief administrative officer.
Rod taught me to be confident in my
decisions, she said. I also learned that
success is the result of hard work.
Stewart has been actively mentoring
others inside and outside Entergy for the
past 15 years. She enjoys helping professionals with their career path and learning
different perspectives.
I value different perspectives from less
experienced people who are at different
points in their career, she said. You can
learn a lot if you listen. Theres great value
in that dialogue.
-Kerry Duff
Carmen Sunda
Louisiana Small Business Development
Center director, Greater New Orleans and
Bayou Region, Loyola University
The Loyola University-hosted Louisiana Small Business Development Center,
Greater New Orleans and Bayou Region,
received top honors in 2013 out of about
1,000 centers nationwide, earning it the
U.S. Small Business Administrations
SBDC Excellence and Innovation Award.
Under the leadership of the centers director, Carmen Sunda, the group has become
the largest SBDC in Louisiana and the only
one in the nation that bears a collaborative
partnership between the SBA, the Louisiana Economic Development and four
university partners: Delgado Community
College, Loyola University, Nicholls State
University and Xavier University.
A Loyola University employee for the
past 13 years, Sunda said the centers mission is to assist small businesses across the
10-parish region and help them strategize,
grow, prosper and be successful.
Our sole purpose in life is to assist businesses to be strong economically, Sunda
said. In that, the economy grows and
prospers.
In the past 10 years, Sunda has stood at
the helm as the LSBDC GNOBR, which
has provided assistance to more than 8,700
small businesses, created 420 new businesses and 7,300 jobs and garnered more
than $145 million in capital formation. The
center was awarded the LSBDC Center Innovation Award in 2011 and 2013.
When we work with businesses, we do
three major things: advise, educate and help
them access and obtain capital, Sunda said.
We dont have the money to give you, but
we know where it is.
The LSBDC GNOBR works with lenders, big and small, commercial and nonprofit. It assists 1,000 to 1,500 businesses
each year.
When these businesses grow and have
access to capital, they can create jobs and
increase sales, which helps the surrounding
community, she said.
When youve got a strong, profitable,
small business, youve got economic growth
in your community and are providing economic viability.
Sunda, who owned and operated her
own marketing consulting company, Sunda
Marketing, for 18 years, said she has worked
with small businesses her entire career.
Ive been helping small businesses grow
and expand and do things better for the last
30 years, she said.
Shes also taught undergraduate courses
in marketing and entrepreneurship at the
University of New Orleans and Loyola
University.
Lynn Swanson
Jones, Swanson, Huddell & Garrison LLC
managing member
Lynn Swanson is the first to admit that
she likes her practice emphasis on non-formulaic, complicated business disputes.
There are two ways that you can go in
the law, she says. If you are doing real estate transactions and title work, you gather
documents together, do an analysis of the
title, and go to the same places every time
you are doing your work.
Theres nothing wrong with that, of
course, but I like the opposite side of the
coin, I like doing and learning something
new every day, she adds.
This means that Swanson might on any
given day be trying to resolve a complicated business dispute, while on the next
day may find herself steeped in the intricacies of tax strategies and the litigation
related to those strategies.
A lot of research goes into it, a lot of
research into the facts as well as the law,
a lot of investigation of underlying, interesting differences within different businesses, she says.
Yet for all of Swansons obvious enjoyment of her work, she says her greatest satisfaction has come in cases that have had a
positive community or social impact.

She was appointed to coordinate the
Gulf Coast Claims Facilitys Outreach
Group multidistrict litigation on behalf of
claimants adversely affected by the 2010
Deepwater Horizon Disaster, and recalled
one meeting with a fisherman in Plaquemines Parish who didnt have the means
to hire an individual attorney, and had lost
everything.
But perhaps Swansons proudest moment came in representing children in
need of care through the Pro Bono Project. She was instrumental in seeing a
young boy who had been in and out of
foster care eventually successfully placed
with a stable family.
I would have to say it ended up being
my most satisfactory case, says Swanson.
Swanson says she regards herself as an
attorney who doesnt take things personally.
I get along with everyone I work with,
including opposing counsel, she says. In
my opinion, you are not fighting against
each other, you are representing your clientand thats how it should be.
- Garry Boulard
Tammy Louk
Swindle
Cancer Association of Greater New Orleans

executive director
Tammy Louk Swindle was once known
as the smoking lady among children who
recognized her from the years she spent
presenting smoking cessation and prevention education in schools.
Theres no better time to quit than
right now, she said, adding that free medication is available to help with the process.
As executive director of the Cancer Association of Greater New Orleans, her job is
to offer comfort to people facing cancer. She
has also helped the organization become
more efficient in lean times while maintain
a dedication to serving its community.
We dont tell the patient what they
need. They ask us for what they need. And
so we try not to turn down any reasonable
requests. And so thats just changed dramatically the amount of people that we
were able to help, she said.
Those requests can take many forms.
For instance, a man recently contacted
CAGNO because he lost his mechanical voice box and would have to wait two
years for Medicaid to cover the costs of
another one. Swindle and her co-worker
Paula bought the man a voice box for $200
and worked on the device so he could say

thank you through it.
It was amazing, said Swindle. Its
just those little things that kind of feel
good, make you have a good job.
Whether shes providing brochures for
breast cancer awareness, helping someone
with a wig fitting, partnering with Festigals or writing grants for CAGNO, Swindles passion for her work is evident.
I just think Im very lucky. I have a
dream job, I love it, she said. Its a fulfilling job because I get to help people.
She and her husband have a 17-yearold foster daughter whom they adopted
last summer.
Its one of those things where .. it was
unexpected, but now shes in our lives,
said Swindle. I guess it keeps us active!
Swindle learned about the foster care
system after working a health fair beside a
CASA booth. Its another concern that is
close to Swindles heart.
I always say, if I conquer cancer, and
get everybody going good, the next obstacle is the foster care system.
- Lindsay Mack
Lisa Tahir
NOLA Therapy founder and owner
Lisa Tahir says she cant pinpoint the
exact moment she decided to become a
therapist, but she remembers that even as a
child, she wanted to help people feel better.
I have just always liked problem-solving, says Tahir, who launched her own
practice in 2004. I get excited when I can
help people figure out how to grow and
change, even out of the worst things that
can happen in life.
Born and raised in New Orleans, Tahir
last year made the kind of life change
that she likes to see her clients make. She
opened a second office in Los Angeles for
the simple reason that she likes the city.
I love the beach and I love surfing, so
I thought why not? laughs Tahir, who
now travels between both cities to serve
her clientele.
When I am in Los Angeles I do Skype
or phone sessions with my New Orleans
clients, and vice-versa with the Los Angeles clients when Im in New Orleans,
says Tahir.
In either city, says Tahir, the problems
of her clients are the same.

As a culture, it is hard for us to stand
still and explore our pain. Our culture values moving forward, being great, being
happy at whatever cost, she says.
The challenge, then, is about healing
trauma in order to be truly happy instead
of buying something new and shiny, says
Tahir, noting that consumerism is more
valued than taking time to work on yourself.
The author of Surrender: A Psycho-Spiritual Healing Guide for Depression and Anxiety, Tahir has found her
own release in her off-hours as an artist.
When I was a student at Tulane, I
decided to take an art class, says Tahir,
recalling that her introduction to glass
casting was love at first sight.
She became good enough at it to see
her work, which includes glass walls, glass
curtains, and chandeliers, both exhibited
and sold. Perhaps inevitably for a person
accustomed to sharing, Tahir has also
taught glass casting classes.
- Garry Boulard
Lorena Tejeda
Intermarine, LLC office administrator
As the daughter of one of the first Honduran families to arrive in New Orleans, Lorena
Tejeda immigrated with her family in 1965
when her fathers employment with Standard
Fruit Company encouraged the move.
We came in a container vessel that
transported cargo and passengers, Tejeda
said. And now I work for a shipping company that delivers cargo to other parts of
the world.
Tejeda has worked with Intermarine, a
marine logistics and ocean transport provider,
from its start and for more than 25 years.
I answered an ad for a company that
needed a bilingual front office administrator, she said. Now I am the go-to person
for everything.
Tejeda serves as the bulk and cargo
companys office administrator. Intermarine charters vessels and moves breakbulk
to and from countries such as Venezuela,
Columbia and Trinidad as well as those in
West Africa. The company also services
U.S. Flag vessels.
Tejedas dedication to Intermarine lies in
her loyalty to its founder, the late Roger Cavanaugh, who started the company in 1990.
My legacy is to [him], she said. Before he died, he told me to take care of his
family and his legacy, which is to remain
hardworking and dedicated to Intermarine
and to make sure we are always the number

one breakbulk shipping company.
Tejeda has a near perfect attendance
record at work. Having only taken off two
weeks for her maternity leaves, she said she
likes to stay on top of everything.
I think the companys mine, but its
not, she said. You work for a company,
and you think of it as yours when the
owner asks you to take care of his legacy.
That means a lot.
Tejeda also manages her sons Louisiana Fire Juniors Soccer Club team and is a
member of the tournament committee, for
which she was honored as volunteer of the
year. She also makes an effort to help the
local Honduran community, assisting as a
translator and helping with immigration
and legal documents.
You dont have to be a part of an organization to do community service, Tejeda
said. Its an everyday thing for me.
Inspired by her father, who prided
himself on being the go-to guy in his
community, Tejeda encourages her fellow
Hondurans to call on her.
Whatever they dont know, they call
me, just like in the office, she said. Ill
find out who to contact and what needs to
be done to get the job accomplished.
Tania Tetlow
The Felder-Fayard professor of law and
associate provost for international affairs,
Tulane University Law School
From New Orleans to Rwanda, Tania
Tetlow is fighting domestic violence and
educating all parties involved lawyers,
police, judges, abusers, victims that the
system is broken, in need of changes, and
until problems are fixed, gender equality
will always remain a major issue, she said.
Domestic violence is as much of a problem here as it is across the nation and all over
the world, and we need to work every day to
put an end to it, said Tetlow, the former director of the Tulane University Law School
Domestic Violence Clinic for nearly 10 years
and currently The Felder-Fayard professor
of law and associate provost for international
affairs. Tetlows scholarship focuses on preventing discrimination by juries against both
defendants and crime victims.
Tetlows work on violence against women
has taken her around the world, providing
training and consulting with law school clinics
in China, Turkey, Rwanda and Egypt.
In Rwanda, she learned that a nonprofit
pays men to go into bars and tell other men
that beating a woman makes you a coward.
It helps me to learn the approaches in
other countries, placing shame on abusers
rather than on victims, she said.
In New Orleans, she trains police to better
respond to domestic violence and sexual as-
sault and she chairs a committee, appointed

by Mayor Mitch Landrieu, that has helped
hire two detectives and a supervisor to the
sex crimes and child abuse units, hire a third
lab technician to process rape kits at the Louisiana State Police crime lab and require 32
hours of training in addition to four hours of
training on sexual assault response.
Before joining the Tulane law faculty
in 2005, Tetlow practiced commercial litigation at Phelps Dunbar and worked as an
assistant U.S. Attorney, focused on violent
crime and narcotics cases.
In 2009, Tetlow received the Tulane
University Presidents Award for Excellence
in Professional and Graduate Teaching.
My passion is to help fix the system
and educate all those involved, Tetlow
said. When I hear from my clients that my
efforts helped save their lives, that inspires
me to continue to work harder.
In the community, Tetlow worked with
Women of the Storm, lobbying Congress
for recovery aid and coastal erosion assistance. She chaired the New Orleans Library
Board and the Library Foundation and
helped raise $7 million in funding, rebuild
two flooded branches and design and implement a new urban library system.
- Tommy Santora
Katherine Theall
Tulane University associate professor
Katherine Theall is passionate about
public health and improving the lives of
women, children and families.
As an associate professor at Tulane University, Theall teaches, conducts research,
advises students, mentors young professionals and oversees the Mary Amelia Douglas-Whited Community Womens Health
Education Center, which is part of the Department of Global Community Health and
Behavioral Sciences at the Tulane School of
Public Health and Tropical Medicine.
She has been at Tulane since 2010.
Before that, she was at the LSU Health
Sciences Center.
I love what I do and Im very enthusiastic about my field, she said. I wear
many hats and I love all of them.
In an effort to spark change and advance the equitable health and well-being of women and children, the professor
worked this past spring with State Sen.
Karen Carter Peterson on a bill that would
support paid family and sick leave.
She also is involved in a number of
studies. She has been following pregnant
mothers and infants through early childhood for over two years to study the impact
of stress before and after pregnancy.

We look at stress in the household and
stress in the community and how it impacts maternal health outcomes and child
health, she said. Its rewarding to know
my research is actionable and can be used
beyond the scientific community. Its what
I love about what I do.
She said the best part of her work is
seeing the transformation in her students
when shes teaching and mentoring young
professionals.
I love being a mentor, she said. Ive
been surrounded by wonderful female
mentors throughout my career, so I enjoy
inspiring others.
Although Theall has had many professional accomplishments throughout her
career, her greatest triumph has been raising triplets and successfully getting them
through the early childhood years while
obtaining tenure and staying on track academically.
Juggling family and work and giving
everything 100 percent has been a big challenge, she admitted. But I managed and
Im very proud of that.
- Kerry Duff
Kelly Theard
Deustsch Kerrigan LLP partner and assistant
department chair of construction department
When Kelly Theard sees her construction clients working hard to build New
Orleans into a premier city, she gets inspired to do a good job for them.
She is a partner in the law firm Deutsch
Kerrigan LLP and the assistant department chair of its construction division,
representing general contractors, architects
and engineers on commercial work. She
joined the firms construction department
in 2004 and about 75 percent of her legal
practice is construction litigation.
Her practice areas include construction
defects, design, professional liability and
third-party injury claims. She also handles
premise liability work for Copelands restaurants and Big Lots stores in Louisiana.
Prior to becoming an attorney, she
worked at WGNO-TV as a weekend assignment editor.
I wanted to move up to news director and run the newsroom back then, so
I thought getting my law degree would be
valuable and help propel my TV career,
she said. But once I finished law school
and started construction work, I couldnt
imagine being back in the newsroom.
Theard has been with Deutsch Kerrigan

LLP since she graduated from law school.
She made partner two years ago.
Many people leave and go to different
firms, but Ive worked my way up from law
clerk to associate to partner in a firm thats
almost 90 years old, she said. Being able to
achieve the success I have based on where I
started is a big professional accomplishment.
The young attorney learned to be a hard
worker from her parents. They both had a
strong work ethic and believed in putting
value in their work, she said.
I may not be the smartest person in the
room, but Im the most hardworking and
thats how my parents are, she said. I take
a lot of pride in doing a good job for my
clients and I like resolving issues without a
big fight in court.
Theard has been on the board of the
Louisiana Childrens Museum for five
years and assists with fundraising efforts.
She is also secretary for the Henry Aucoin
Foundation, an organization she helped
get started in 2012 to raise money for parents who have kids with heart defects.
- Kerry Duff
Keely Thibodeaux
Landmark Consulting owner
Keely Thibodeaux has the rare chance
to use lessons and techniques learned in
tragic times to aid and heal communities
during future disasters.
Thibodeaux founded Landmark Consulting after graduating from the Tulane
University School of Architecture in 1996
while working as a project manager for Orleans Parish schools. The business, which
she worked at part-time, focused primarily on consulting for cost assessment and
grant compliance.
It was a great experience, but I learned
pretty quickly that I would need an apprenticeship to really advance, she said.
She joined a Tulane staff project as an
architecture manager where she would
work until a maternity leave merged with
Hurricane Katrina.
In the aftermath of the storm, Thibodeaux remembers hearing a radio advertisement for FEMA that said something like
Hey we need architects, she said.
It wasnt long before she had worked
her way to deputy program manager where
she oversaw a staff of 50 in assessing damages and consulting on builds. The work
was often stressful, and a full-time return
to Landmark Consulting seemed like a
better fit as time went on.
In 2011, Thibodeaux revitalized Landmark and since then the firm has offered
myriad services in project management,
commercial architecture and federal compliance.
During Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Thibodeaux and Landmark Consulting were
instrumental to the regions recovery effort.
Using tools acquired during her time with
FEMA and Hurricane Katrina, Thibodeaux oversaw restoration of much of the
built environment.
It has been so amazing to be able to
use our system to help others recover in the
wake of tragedy, she said. Its something
that I am very proud of.
Alongside her career, Thibodeaux is
grateful for her family, her husband Albert,
and their children Drew and Aaron.
-Mark Allain
Carrie R. Tournillon
Kean Miller partner
As a partner in the New Orleans office
of Kean Miller, Carrie Tournillon has represented industrial manufacturing, refining and
related companies before the Louisiana Public
Service Commission. She has helped advise
companies with generation projects to ensure
their compliance with federal and state energy
regulatory law, has handled transportation
permit matters and has assisted telecommunications companies, local distribution gas
utilities and water and sewerage utilities in
regulatory matters and contract disputes.
When asked about her inspiration for success, Tournillon is quick to name her parents.
For the longest time, my dad has been
my greatest inspiration, she said.
After growing up in foster care, he was
adopted at the age of 12 and worked many
jobs in the service industry, sales and delivery.
Despite so many hardships in his life, he
always worked hard and is not only successful in business, he is truly one of the kindest
and gentlest people I know. His work ethic,
personal ethics, and lovingness as a person
and father truly inspire me to want to be
successful and to get there by working hard.
Tournillon, who lives with her husband
in New Orleans with their three children,
also values her mothers influence on her life.
As I have learned more about my mom
and am raising three kids of my own, however, my mother has become an equally
great inspiration to me. We grew up feeling
so loved and it seems that we got everything
we needed and wanted. But she still managed to teach us to work hard and most importantly she taught us how to study.
Her mother successfully transitioned
back to work after 20 years of staying home
and raising children.
She is still working full-time at almost
69 and also is the most devoted and helpful
grandmother out there to both my kids in
New Orleans and also my brothers kids in
Houston. She is a great inspiration to me,
said Tournillon.
While Tournillon certainly values hard
work, she also advocates taking time to see
the world.
To date, I think my greatest achievement is the time that I spent before starting
law school traveling by myself in foreign
countries, she said.
After working through college, she visited
Australia. Then, after working and saving
again, she took an eight-month trip around
the world by herself, venturing to Scotland,
Whales, Spain, France, Italy, India, Nepal,
Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.
I think the time that I spent traveling
by myself has given me strength to take on
challenges throughout my career, she said.
But, hopefully my greatest accomplishment is yet to come . . . If my three kids
grow up happy and are successful in their
personal lives and careers, that will be my
greatest achievement.
- Lindsay Mack
Judy Taix Walker

Retired teacher
Judy Taix Walker left home at the age
of 12 and joined the Dominican sisterhood, a Catholic order known for teaching. She became a teacher at 19 years old
and enjoyed a 40-year teaching career.
My greatest influence was my eighth
grade teacher, who was a Dominican sister, said Walker, who left the sisterhood
at age 22 because she wanted to marry and
have children. She was gentle and always
encouraging. I also heard a priest say when
I was 12 that at the end, God is going to
judge us. Not by how many times we went
to Mass, but our talents and how we use
them to help others. That pushed me to
use every talent God gave me to help others. I took my ordinary talents and did extraordinary things. Its what teachers do.
Walker started her career as a first grade
teacher, then taught English for 20 years
at St. Angela Merici middle school. She
developed the schools first Mac lab and
created the curriculum.
If you can teach middle school, you
can teach anything, she said. Its the
most challenging years for kids. Theyre
unique and trying to decide who they are.

She moved to Mount Carmel Academy
in 2000 and taught English, literature and
computer technology to high school girls.
She was also the education technologist
that trained teachers. She taught at the
school 13 years, retiring two years ago.
I liked teaching high school the most
because it was easy to relate to the girls and
its one of the best schools in the city, she
said. Watching them get it in English
and literature and introducing books to
them was exciting to me. I was also inspired watching the girls. When I would
first meet them, they would be floundering
and then come into their own by the end of
the year. They also understood their place
in the community and that they need to
provide service to the community.
Many of her former students have since
become doctors, lawyers and teachers.
You cant ask for better than that, she
said. Its wonderful to know you had an
influence and made a difference. It gives
you satisfaction and warms your heart.
- Kerry Duff
Stephanie Wells
Ochsner Health System revenue cycle
vice president
Ochsner Health Systems Stephanie
Wells may just be the ultimate team player.
As Ochsners revenue cycle vice president,
she has developed a diverse career in health
care over the course of 20 years while nurturing a vibrant family life.
I feel incredibly blessed to have my
career and family, she says, counting the
support of her colleagues at Ochsner as
well as her familys support as pillars of
her success.
Wells earned a bachelors degree in
accounting from the University of New
Orleans in 1992 before obtaining her
CPA license in 1993 . She started her career with Deloitte and then in 1996 she
joined the Louisiana Specialty Hospital in
New Orleans, a smaller hospital at West
Jefferson where she served as chief financial officer and then CEO. Since joining
Ochsner, Wells has taken steps to help the

hospital achieve its goals internally and in
the community. Wells earned her professional coder certification in 2012.
I feel like the payer rules are always
changing which keeps things interesting,
she says. There are always new challenges
to overcome, and I couldnt ask for a better
team than I have at Ochsner.
Wells looks ahead to Ochsners vision
and growth plans and to Ochsners positive impact on patient lives. In her tenure,
she has been focused on lowering hospital
costs as well as increasing payment coverage for the uninsured.
At home, enjoys spending leisure time
with her husband Billy and her children,
Taylor Glorioso, Gracie Glorioso and Billy
Wells III.
- Mark Allain
Suzanne Whitaker
Peoples Health assistant vice president of
communications
Suzanne Whitaker has a hard and fast
rule for dealing with the media, in particular during crisis situations.
Keep it simple, keep it truthful, be
straight about it, she says.
But most important of all, If you know
the answer, give it; if you dont, say that
and let them know when you will have the
information, she adds.
That straightforward approach has
served Whitaker well.
Previously working in the 1990s for
both the banking and casino industries,
Whitakers skills were put to the test in the
days after Hurricane Katrina, when, as the
senior communications specialist for the
Entergy Corporation, she was tasked with
keeping anxious customers and reporters
up to date on when power was going to be
restored in the city.
I think I got to know everything there
was to know about crisis communication
efforts during Katrina, says Whitaker.
She fielded hundreds of calls during a
period in her career that she describes as
certainly an interesting and challenging
time that I will never forget.
Whitaker shortly thereafter joined
Peoples Health, in plenty of time for the
emergence of the Affordable Care Act,
legislation that has baffled reporters, health

care professionals and clientsall at the
same time.
It is complex, there is no doubt about
that, says Whitaker of the ACA. But my
thought from the start has been, if its complex for us, what must it be like for people
who are 65-plus trying to figure its out?
For that reason, Whitaker has made it
her mission to help communicate what it
is, so that they understand what it is, and
we understand it as well.
Whitaker brings to any communications challenge her own ethic, which centers on promoting something that I make
sure I understand all the particulars and
details about, and can answer with statistics and such. Its never about me, its
always about what the company is offering
the community.
In the hours when she is able to get
away from customer and media phone
calls, Whitaker enjoys spending as much
time as possible with her family, and also
quilting.
There is something very methodical
about cutting out the squares and sewing
the pieces together, she says. Its very
relaxing.
- Garry Boulard
Laurie A.White
Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge
When Judge Laurie A. White discovered in the third grade that her initials
spelled LAW, she was determined to become a lawyer. Once she did, and started
appearing in front of judges, her dream
evolved into becoming a judge.
I never thought I would be a judge, but
Im very proud of what I do, she said. My
biggest challenge is pacing myself, because
I feel I can move mountains sometimes.
White has been a judge for the Orleans
Parish Criminal District Court for eight
years. In January, her title changes to chief
judge. In that role, she will speak on behalf of
the court, appoint judges to committees and
oversee internal departments like information technology and personnel. It is comparable to being a CEO at a company, she said.
White started her legal career as a prosecutor in New Orleans. Then she was assistant city attorney for four years in the
police and civil litigation divisions. She
went into private practice after that and
did criminal cases for 16 years.
Since winning election in 2007, White
has been actively involved in starting new
programs and making changes to court
processes. She helped save the Department
of Corrections money, she said, by putting
prisoners on camera in front of a jury in-
stead of transporting them to court. She

also had Ai Smartbench, a case management system, installed at the courthouse.
Weve never had a case management
system, so its been a slow learning process, she said. When its up and running
full-time in a few months, its going to
save us time and give us information at our
fingertips so we can make better decisions
about posting bonds, issuing warrants or if
someone is a danger to the community.
White and Judge Arthur Hunter
started the Orleans Criminal Court Reentry Program in 2010 for defendants
that commit nonviolent crimes and are
sentenced to 10 years or less. Participants
stay in the program a minimum of two
years and are required to take courses on
subjects such as how to raise a family and
have a relationship. They also get help
finding a job and are monitored by a judge
for up to five years.
Lifers at the prison mentor these people, which is a big deal because no one
has ever used inmates to teach, she said.
Were seeing positive results and the recidivism rate is lower. Seven other parishes
around the state have also started using the
program.
- Kerry Duff
Woman of the Year Annual Winners
Pattoh
e
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n
e
l
l
e
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Join CityBusiness in celebrating the Women of the Year
honorees. Our new quarterly glossy magazine Path
To Excellence will feature their recent achievements
and focus on issues that affect women.
2015
Clem Goldberger
2014
Sr. Marjorie Hebert
2013
Lizette Terral
2012
Patti Ellish
2011
Ti Martin
2010
Rita Benson-LeBlanc
2009
Kim Boyle
2008
Carol Solomon
2007
Ilone Toni Wendel
2006
Doris Voitier
2005
Laura Maloney
2004
Philomene Missy Allain
Cassie Foreman cassie.foreman@nopg.com 504.293.9222

Liz Baldini liz.baldini@nopg.com 504.293.9213
Coco Evans Judd coco.judd@nopg.com 504.293.9288
Jennifer Forbes jennifer.forbes@nopg.com 504.293.9731
Past honorees
1999
Phyllis Adams
Jan Boatright
Patricia Denechaud
Maura Donahue
Betsy Dresser
Lana Duke
Nanci Easterling
Midge Epstein
Mignon Faget
Donna Fraiche
Patricia Habeeb
Connie Jacobs
Leslie Rosenthal Jacobs
Alice Kennedy
Ti Martin
Judy Perry Martinez
Elise McCullough
Ruth Ann Menutis
Siomonia Edwards Milton
Phala Mire
Margaret MontgomeryRichard
Karyn Noles
Ruth Owens
Sharon Perlis
Nellie Stokes Perry
Leaudria Polk
Kay Priestly
Jan Ramsey
Marguerite Redwine
P.K. Scheerle
Flo Schornstein
Janet Shea
Kim Sport
Carroll Suggs
Barbara Turner Windhorst
2000
Tonia Aiken
Lauren Anderson
Carol Asher
Judy Barrasso
Diane Barrilleaux
Suzette Becker
Elodia Blanco
Julia Bland
Cindy Brennan
Maureen Clary
Sally Clausen
Dr. Elizabeth Terrell
Hobgood Fontham
Joni Friedmann
Joanne Gallinghouse
Brenda Garibaldi Hatfield
Paulette Hurdlick
Maureen Larkins
Gay LeBreton
Saundra Levy
Londa Martin McCullough
Linda Mintz
Judith Miranti
Angela OByrne
Rajender Raj Pannu
Kay Priestly
Kat Rice
P.K. Scheerle
Eileen Skinner
Bettye Parker Smith
Sherry Walters
2001
Julie Condy
Sherie Conrad
Sheila Danzey
Judy Dawson
Ann Duplessis
Patti Ellish
Jean Felts
Patricia Gray
Beverly Gianna
Sheilah Auderer Goodson
Norma Grace
Deborah Ducote Keller
Donna Guinn Klein
Roselyn Koretzky
Corvette Kowalski
Jennifer Magee
Barbara Major
Laurie Vignaud Marshall
Suzanne Mestayer
Nancy Morovich
Barbara Motley
Roberta Musa
Iona Myers
Rickie Nutik
Tina Owen
Sharon Rodi
Wanda Sigur
ChiQuita Simms
Katherine Harlan Sippola
Julie Skinner Stokes
Ruby Sumler
Nancy Bissinger Timm
Ollie Tyler
Pam Wegmann
Ann Wills
2002
Ann Cassagne Anderson

Annie Avery`
Trilby Barnes
Ginger Berrigan
Dianne Boazman
Donnie Marie Booth
Christine Briede
Kay Brief
Stephanie Bruno
Kimberly Williamson Butler
Jane Cooper
Shirley Trusty Corey
Kay Dee
Eugenie Jones Encalarde
Alethia Gauthier
Clem Goldberger
Patricia Green
Judith Halverson
Barbara Johnson
Barbara Kaplinsky
Ruth Kullman
Sharon Litwin
Ana Lopez
Barbara MacPhee
Deborah Mavis
Marguerite McDonald
Cheryl Nickerson
Danette ONeal
Jimmie Phillips
Catherine Pierson
Jane Raiford
Rhonda Robichaux
Julie Rodriguez
Judy Shano
Sandy Shilstone
Susan Spicer
Suzanne Thomas
Deborah Villio
Kay Wilkins
Elizabeth Williams
2003
Donna Alley
Dianne Baham
Gaynell Bellizan
Ruth Berggren
Lolita Burrell
Names in bold were individual

Woman of the Year award winners
Jeanette Butler
Vanessa Claiborne
Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson
Elaine Coleman
Katherine Conklin
Lisa Crinel
Susan DAntoni
M. Christine DAntonio
Sandra Dartus
Camilla Davis
Catherine Dunn
Carol Etter
Peggy Feldmann
Susan Fielkow
Deborah Duplechin Harkins
Deborah Keel
Patricia Krebs
Mary Landrieu
Janet Leigh
A. Kelton Longwell
Charlotte Connick Mabry
Laura Maloney
Eve Barrie Masinter
Elsie Mendez
Eileen Powers
Tonnette Toni Rice
Deborah Rouen
Dionne Rousseau
Diane Roussel
Kim Ryan
Grace Sheehan
Andrea Thornton
Keeley Williams Verrett
Dawn Wesson
Charlee Williamson
2004
Philomene Missy Allain

Rita Benson LeBlanc
Barbara Booth
Lally Brennan
Valerie Cahill
Karen Carter
Audrey Cerise
Hallema Sharif Clyburn
Dorothy Clyne
Sandra Corrigan
Elizabeth Coulon
Virginia Davis
Stephanie Dupuy
Anita Gilford
Dana Meeks Hansel
Lane Hindermann
Andrea Huseman
Ellen Kempner
Laura Lee Killeen
Janice Kishner
Dr. Susan Krantz
Angelique LaCour
Janet Larson
Diane Lyons
Carla Major
Marilyn Maloney
Lisa Maurer
Mary Meyer
Kathleen Mix
Michelle Montz
Carole Cukell Neff
Dr. Coller Ochsner
Stephanie Prunty
Dr. Felicia Rabito
Ann Rogers
Gail Roussel
Peggy Scott
Tara Shaw
Jaye Berard Smith
Kathryn Smith
Carol Solomon
Kim Sport
Liz Tahir
Donna Taylor
Fran Villere
Ann Wallace
Barbara Waller
Bonnie Wibel
Carol Wise
Ellen Yellin
2005
Laura Maloney
Danica Ansardi
Anne Babin
Margarita Bergen
Wendy Beron
Elizabeth Boh
Jennifer Bollinger
Tracie Boutte
Delisha Boyd
Kim Boyle
Jaye Calhoun
Anne Cochran
Beth Cristina
Tina Dandry-Mayes
Gayle Dellinger
Rosemary James DeSalvo
Margo DuBos
Kim Dudek
Kirsten Early
Donna Fraiche
Carol Gniady
Ruby Bridges Hall
Dr. Jodie Holloway
Kathy Lynn Honaker
Tonja Koob
Mary von Kurnatowski
Michele Shane LHoste
Angelle LaBorde
Mary Helen Lagasse
Susan Laudeman
Belinda Little-Wood
Babs Mollere
Joan Mollohan
Leann Moses
Beverly Nichols
Julie Noto
Vera OBrien
Rajender Pannu
Lisa Roth
Diane Roussel
Martha Ann Samuel
Miriam Schulingkamp
Lynda Nugent Smith
Raylyn Stevens
Phyllis Taylor
Cheryl Teamer
Polly Thomas
Sharon Toups
Nancy Trosclair
Anne Witmer
2006
Doris Voitier
Donna Alley
Theresa Anderson
Florence Andr
Terry Birkhoff
Julia Bland
Virginia Boulet
Debra Bowers
Bonnie Boyd
Katie Brasted
Betsy Brien
Sister Camille Anne
Campbell
Karen Troyer Caraway
Tiffany Chase
Nancy Claypool
Virginia Ginger Crawford
Katherine Crosby
Klara Cvitanovich
Karen DeSalvo
Mary Ehret
Mignon Faget
Regina Hall
Yvette Jones
Donna Klein
Kathleen Laborde
Priscilla Lawrence
Patricia LeBlanc
Lynn Luker
Sandie McNamara
Suzanne Mestayer
Kerry Milton
Cindy Nuesslein
Angela OByrne
Diana Pinckley
Patricia Prechter
Kelly Ranum
Amy Reimer
Patricia Riddlebarger
Sally-Ann Roberts
Judge Karen Roby
Sandra Rosenthal
Pamela Schafer
P.K. Scheerle
Florence Schornstein
Holly Sharp
Adrienne Slack
Carol Solomon
Becky Spinnato
Stacey Stemke
Carol Wise
2007
Ilone Toni Wendel

Rachelle Albright
Carmen Baham
Debra Bowers
Jane Brooks
Simone Bruni
Naydja Domingue Bynum
Caitlin Cain
Sharon Latten Clark
Gina Cortez
Darlene Cusanza
Nancy Davis
Gayle Dellinger
Maura Donahue
Laura Drumm
Melanie Ehrlich
Jane Ann Frosch
Michelle Gobert
Jenny Hamilton
Paula Hartley
Marvalene Hughes
Natalie Jayroe
Jacqueline Carroll JonesSoule
Christy Kane
Molly Kimball
Rachel Kincaid
Stacy Horn Koch
Phyllis Landrieu
Priscilla Lawrence
Maureen Lichtveld
Rebecca Mackie
Elizabeth Magner
Sandy Ha Nguyen
Kristin Gisleson Palmer
Marian Pierre
Brenda Reine-Bertus
Ann Rogers
Denise Shinn
Dolly Simpson
Past honorees, cont.

Lisa Stockton
Shelly Stubbs
Michele Kidd Sutton
Elizabeth M. Teague
Cecile Tebo
Suzanne Thomas
Denise Thornton
Sarah Newell Usdin
Laurie White
Catherine Wilbert
Sara Woodard
2008
Carol Solomon
Jacqueline Alexander
Heather Alleman
Sandra Andrieu
Therese Badon
Jesyka Bartlett
Lauren Baum
Penny Baumer
Dottie Belletto
C. Lynn Besch
Julia Bland
Kim Boyle
Cindy Brennan
Christine Briede
Debbie Brockley
Nancy Cassagne
Jacquelyn Clarkson
Michelle Craig
Bernie Cullen
Elizabeth Dannewald
Nancy Scott Degan
Dell Dempsey
Johnette Downing
Patti Ellish
Cathi Fontenot
Elizabeth Futrell
Jocelyn Greely
Samantha Griffin
Jayne Gurtler
Kristine Hatfield
Laura Held
Donna Klein
Priscilla Lawrence
Deborah Lea
Nancy Marshall
Anne Milling
Cheryl Mintz
Beverly Nichols
Michelle Nugent
Beth Payton
Tara Richard
Jade Russell
Elizabeth Scheer
Rachael Schorr
Stacy Seamon
Pamela Senatore
Kristin Shannon
Jessica Soileau
Charlee Williamson
Rachel Wisdom
Ellen Zakris
2009
Kim Boyle
Carol Asher
Magdalen Bickford
Debra Bowers
Caitlin Cain
Mary Len Costa
Angela Daliet
DeAnna Davis
Lori Dean
Renette DeJoie-Hall
Marguerite DoyleJohnston
Mignon Faget
Mary Genovese
Megan Guy
Deborah Harkins
Nakia Jones
Sun Kim
Amy Kirk
Ann Koppel
Susan Krinsky
Angela Lacour
Annie LaRock
Rose LeBreton
Kathy Lowrey
Carla Major
Eve Masinter
Grasshopper Mendoza
Kristi Mirambell
Tess Monaghan
Marie Moore
Jeanne Nathan
Kathy Nieland
Angela OByrne
Kira Orange-Jones
Patricia Powell
Eboni Price
Mary Beth Romig
Cheri Saltaformaggio
Monica Sanchez
LaVerne Saulny
Aimee Smallwood
Kim Sport
Dana Stumpf
Lizette Terral
Mignhon Tourne
Colleen Toye
Wendy Waren
Denise Williams
Ellen Yellin
Ana Zorrilla
2010
Rita Benson-LeBlanc
Charmaine Allesandro
Jennifer Bordes
Dawn Brackett
Susan Brennan
Patricia Brister
Holly Callia
Brenda Case
Phyllis Cassidy
Martha Castillo
Andrea Chen
Lucy Chun
Ann Cohen
Kelly Commander
Lisa Conescu
Christine Ebrahim
Valerie Englade
June Fallo
Kathleen Finnerty
Debra Fischman
Shari Fisher
Monica Frois
Yvelyne GermainMcCarthy
Kathy Hebert
Angela Hill
Kathy Lynn Honaker
Liljana Johnson
Yvette Jones
Darlene Kattan
Leslie Keen
CJ Ladner
Marie Lamb
Mary Landrieu
Phyllis Landrieu
Annette LeBlanc
Patricia LeBlanc
Laurie McCants
Marjorie McKeithen
Deborah Moench
Alina Olteanu
Carol Osborne
Yvette Pacaccio
Sonia Perez
Debbie Rouen
Gayle Sloan
Dottie Stephenson
Lizette Terral
Lacey Toledano
Nicole Tygier
Lara White
2011
Ti Martin
Peggy Adams
Glenda Allen-Jones
Stephanie Barksdale
Janet Bean
Jennifer Bechet
Haley Bittermann
Christe Brewton
Dominique Bright-Wheeler
Carolyn Chandler
Vivien Chen
Jaimme Collins
Belinda Constant
Marsha Crowle
Karen DeBileux
Monique Gougisha Doucette
Bernadette DSouza
Lisa Easterling
Heather Evans
Melissa Gibbs
Christine Guillory
Leslie Hepting
Alicia Irmscher
Kathy Keene
Karen Kersting
Katie LeGardeur
Saundra Levy
Carol Luttrell
Debbie Maniglia
Rhonda McMilan
Peggy Mendoza
Rebecca Metzinger
Anna Monhartova
Pauline Patterson
Rachel Piercey
Lisa Plunkett
Rita Reed
Patty Riddlebarger
Cheryl Rodrigue
Elizabeth Roussel
Norma Jane Sabiston
Marci Schramm
Kelly Schulz
Helen Siegel
Kathryn Smith
Susan Talley
T.J. Thom
Jacqui Vines
Sharonda Williams
Bonnie Wyllie
2012
Patti Ellish
Rachelle Albright
Rhonda Bagby
Dianne Baham
Susan Bailey
Barbara Beckman
Ashley Belleau
Charlotte Bollinger
Valerie Cahill
Karen Coaxum
Names in bold were individual

Woman of the Year award winners
Jennifer Cooke
Jennifer Couvillon
Erin Cowser
Lisa Crinel
Pauline Dides
Melissa Elliott
Elaine Fitzpatrick
Betsie Gambel
Johanna Gilligan
Jil Greene
Millie Harris
Jan Hayden
Patsy Kanter
Ellen Kempner
Sally Kenney
Aundrea Kloor-Daly
Dawn Laborie
Diane Lyons
Missie McGuire
Mi Mi Montagnet
Dena Olivier
Willie Paretti
Cindy Paulin
Marian Pierre
Jan Ramsey
Jan Robert
Michele Robert
Melissa Sawyer
Amy Scafidel
Karen Shipman
Christina Sistrunk
Danielle Sutton
Lynn Swanson
Lauren Thom
Mary Von Kurnatowski
Penny Walker
Judy Weitz
Lisa Winningkoff
Jane Wolfe
Laurie Young
2013
Lizette Terral
Paula Adamcewicz
Michelle Avery
Madlyn Bagneris
Emily Bellaci
Kim Bergeron
Susan Broussard
Nannette Jolivette Brown
Jade Brown-Russell
Eileen Byrne
Katy Casbarian
Vanessa Brown Claiborne
Jackie Clarkson
Arnel Cosey
Katie Crosby
Martha Curtis
Tracey Dodd
Kelly Fouchi
Donna Fraiche
Rebekah Gee
Alexa Georges
Cheryl Grevemberg
Barbara Guerard
Dana Hansel
Janet Howard
Gizelle Johnson-Banks
Kerri Kane
Leslie Lanusse
Katie Lasky
Maureen Lichtveld
Maria Pabn Lpez
Gina Lorio
Catherine McRae
Jennifer Medbery
Carey Menasco
Elizabeth Meneray
Nikki Moon
Jackie Palumbo
Phyllis Peoples
Anne Simms Pincus
Jennifer Lee Poulin
Heidi Redmond Raines
Trudy Robichaux
Janet Fabre Smith
Linda Soileau
Susan Talley
Phyllis Taylor
Suzanne Thomas
Evelyn Wolford
2014
Sr. Marjorie Hebert

Therese Badon
Robin Barnes
Toya Barnes-Teamer
Judy Barrasso
Kathlyn Perez Bethune
Susan Brennan
Mindy Brickman
McKenzie Lovelace Coco
Michele M. Daigle
Nancy Scott Degan
Meghan Donelon
Beth Carter Drury
Julie Livaudais George
Melissa Gibbs
Debra Gould
Michele Guerin
Stephanie Haynes
Donna Renton Hildebrand
Jane Scott Hodges
Leah Berger Jenson
Renee Landrieu
Larissa Littleton-Steib
Ann Kay C. Logarbo
Lynn Luker
Tonja Koob Marking
Katherine Mattes
Susan L.F. McLellan
Andreanecia M. Morris
Lavonzell Nicholson
Suzi Swoop OBrien
Donna ODaniels
Julie Wise Oreck
Deborah Rouen
Beth Sacco
Leah Sarris
Theresa Schmitt
Stacy Seicshnaydre
Dana Shepard
Lisa Sins
Julie S. Stokes
Dorothy Tarver
Denis Thevenot
Anna K. Tusa
Amy Uddo
Sarah Vance
Voris Roberts Vigee
Amy Walters
Conlee S. Whiteley
Diane Yeates
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AS SEEN IN
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THE BUSINESS NEWSPAPER OF METROPOLITAN NEW ORLEANS

THE BUSINESS NEWSPAPER OF METROPOLITAN NEW ORLEANS
Best Places To Work 2014
Digital Engineering and Imaging

quest seats to cheer for their hometown teams.
In addition, the company hosts annual
crawfish boils and the occasional happy hour
after work on DEIs dime, of course.
We like to make investments in our people, Liang said. We
know going to a Saints
game isnt cheap, but
we do that to give back
to the people who
make us a successful
company perks that
help show our appreciation.
After Hurricane Katrina and the levee failures ravaged New Orleans in 2005, the company shut down along with the rest of the area.
But for a couple months after the storm, the
owners of DEI still covered payroll out of their
own pockets, even though not a penny was
coming in.
They could have said, Too bad, too sad,
Liang said. The owners took it upon themselves and said, Your bills are still going,
youve moved, etc. It was very generous.
Sam Tabachnik
Geovanni Velasquez
Nature of business: Engineering consulting

Headquarters: Kenner
Employees: 36
Average starting salary: $54,000 staff, $70,000 engineers
Median salary: $64,000 staff, $80,000 engineers
Average time of employment: 15 years
Health care benefits: 100 percent, dental, vision, prescriptions
Wait time for benefits: 60 days
Other perks: Flexible hours, continuing education, telecommuting,
half-day Fridays, professional community memberships paid
Paid days off: 26 days
Website: deii.net
another company. No, they look to pass it off

to their employees because the employees are
the future of this company.
That ability to move up the ranks is extremely exciting for employees, said Cheri
Boudreaux, director of finance.
I was so happy when I
came to see two guys who
started from the ground up
and worked their way to the
top, she said. I thought
that was the best thing. It
gives you motivation.
While many companies encourage their
employees to go back to school or obtain additional certifications, DEI takes that sentiment a step further.
If someone in the office wants to earn a
masters degree, DEI will pay for it in full. The
company recently covered one employees
Ph.D. degree.
This investment in employees extends outside the educational and professional realm.
DEI holds season tickets to the Saints and Pelicans, giving employees the opportunity to re-
2 0 1 4
When Frank Liang began working at Digital

Engineering and Imaging as an entry-level engineer right out of college, he never dreamt he
might become an owner. But 20 years later, he
has seen that unlikely dream become a reality.
At DEI, employees can look at management and see firsthand examples of personal and professional advancement.
Theres room for growth here, Liang said.
Thats how this company is run. Its not one
guy sitting in an office saying, Im passing this
down to my kids, or Im gonna sell it off to
2014
October 31 - November 13, 2014
Joel F. Duran
Sunbelt Business Brokers of

New Orleans Owner
Joel Duran is passionate about business and helping people
live the American dream. Whether a small coffee shop or
large energy company, he brings together buyers and sellers
of businesses.
Duran owns Sunbelt Business Brokers of New Orleans.
He bought the 30-year-old company almost three years ago
and has since overseen transactions of more than 300 companies totaling $25 million in value. He manages six salespeople,
day-to-day activities and an extensive advertising campaign
aimed at 35,000 buyers in Louisiana. Sunbelt works with all
types of businesses and currently has more than 150 listings
with new ones coming online all the time. The company also
brokers commercial real estate.
The most popular businesses for sale are bars and
restaurants, but we deal with a broad variety including oilfield services, hospitality and health care, Duran said.
When I bought the business, it was losing money. This year
we are on track to double sales. Many sales environments are
cutthroat, but here we have fantastic people with great attitudes who are extremely knowledgeable and professional.
Duran helped Leora Madden buy Cork & Bottle in MidCity, which she turned into Pearl Wine Co., a liquor store and
wine bar.
When Leora initially talked to me, she wanted to buy a
different kind of business that included wine, he said. But
after we talked about it, she settled on Pearl Wine Co. and
her business has absolutely flourished. It received national
press and was part of a national radio show. Its deeply satisfying and fun to help someone achieve their dream.
Outside of work, Duran is a guest lecturer for University
of New Orleans. His topics include the importance of business plans and managing resources as a business owner. He
also volunteers with the Bridge House/Grace House Fore
Recovery Golf Tournament, helping organize the event and
find sponsors.
Kerry Duff
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ADWomen of the Year Miller 2015_Layout 1 10/28/15 1:38 PM Page 1
OUT I N F R O N T
Congratulations!
To Our Partner
Courtney C. Miller
Women of the Year Honoree
New Orleans CityBusiness, 2015
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Woman of the Year

Loves growing things

Has grown her garden shop into a

Wealth Management | Investments* | Retirement | Solutions for the Real You

*Investment, Insurance and Annuity Products:

Published by NOPG LLC

Photos by Ashley Merlin

Deborah Hunt Simonson

Women of the Year

400 Poydras St. , Suite 1812

Austin | Fort Worth | Midland | New Orleans

Aimee W. Hebert, Partner, Oil & Gas/Energy

Women of the Year 2015 3

Clem Goldberger leads

At Gambel Communications we connect our

Banner Automotive Group Business Council

Public Relations Strategy Branding Marketing

Social Media Special Events Issue Management

4 Women of the Year 2015

Gambel City Business 2015 WOTY ad .indd 1

2003, 2010, 2014

2001, 2008, 2012

1999, 2000, 2006

For being chosen as

an honoree for the

909 Poydras Street, Suite 2500 New Orleans, LA 70112

Women of the Year 2015 5

6 Women of the Year 2015

Goldberger in the mid-1960s, when she was a senior

vision was saved by LSU and agreed to do a benefit

8 Women of the Year 2015

expected use of a U-Haul.

and make a difference in the community,

she said, is seeing changes in the kids

10 Women of the Year 2015

healthcare organizations, publicly-traded

tify DBEs that offer those services and can

Raphael Academys transition program

Fowler Rodriguez associate and

with the water and ships.

Weve got the

Daily Journal of Commerce

Be the first to know about new projects and bids

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in that niche area, Chifici said. Common

Patience Mackie Clasen

Disney World to deliver a presentation on

Bessie Antin Daschbach

parents to figure out a way to make it on my

Diaz-Yaeger is actively involved with the

driving motto. From businesses to nonprofits,

mentor, she teaches basic mineral law and

During her last year at Loyola Law

ments of the appointments was one of the

We focus our volunteer efforts on advancing the

4319 Carondelet Street

Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell &

help desks in both Orleans and Jefferson Parish

Music & Culture Coalition of New Orleans

7-member board are working together to

Issue Date or Event ____________________________ Page # _