Help us reinforce mutual respect and trust. This new movement begins with each of us.
Join UsWho we are
We include adults of all ages, all genders, all sexualities, all colors, and all political views. We are multi-ethnic and multi-cultural. What do we have in common? All of us refuse to watch helplessly as the lack of civil discourse damages learning, personal well-being, and opportunities to contribute.
#meetmeontheneutralground
Board Members
Stanwood Duval
Retired U.S. District Judge
Stanwood also serves as the Vice-Chair for KiPP New Orleans and as a board member of the Innocence Project. He previously served as Chairman for the Covenant House of New Orleans and as a delegate to the 1973 Constitutional Convention for Louisiana.
Blake Eckert
VP of Marketing at Eagle Industries
Blake is also on the Board of Directors and serves as the VP of Communications for the Young Leadership Council. He has previously volunteered and served on committees at the American Marketing Association, DePelchin Children's Center, Texas Children's Hospital, and The American Cancer Society.
Kevin Ferguson
Vice President of External Affairs and Membership for New Orleans & Co.
Kevin is also a board member of the Contemporary Arts Center and Habitat For Humanity. He is a Greater New Orleans, Inc. Next Gen Council Member and serves on the HBCU Legacy Bowl steering committee. He previously served as President of the Young Leadership Council and is a graduate of the Anti-Defamation League’s Glass Leadership Institute.
Lauren Hitt
Board Secretary, Retired from a career in Manufacturing, Education and Global Health
Lauren previously served as Secretary of KiPP New Orleans, Chair of Greater New Orleans Foundation's Impact 100 and Treasurer of Sankofa, CDC. She has also served Oglethorpe University & Millsaps College Counselor Advisory Committees and with the Southern Association of College Admissions Counselors.
Scott Howard
Retired Commercial Banker
In retirement, Scott pursues his lifelong avocation, painting. He is also Founder and Chairman of NOLA Parks for All and serves on the boards of the Center for Literacy and Learning, Sustaining Our Urban Landscape "S.O.U.L.”, and Raintree Children and Family Services.
Karyn Kearney
Board Vice Chair, Manager of Corporate Communications at Intralox, LLC
Karyn co-founded the New Orleans Proud to Call it Home campaign and Citizens for One Greater New Orleans. She served as a member of the Board of the Downtown Development District and is a former President of the Young Leadership Council. She has been recognized as a City Business Woman of the Year. As Managing Director of the Audubon Aquarium, she led the recovery and reopening of the Aquarium in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
John Landrum
Board Chair, VP for Product Innovation and Marketing at Intralox, LLC
John is also on the Board of Directors for the Bureau of Governmental Research. He has previously served as co-founder and President of Young Leadership Council, Board Chair of Lighthouse Louisiana, Board Treasurer of New Orleans Museum of Art, and Board Chair of KIPP New Orleans Schools. John is creator and host of Triple Win Workplace podcast series.
Charles Leche
Attorney at Deutsch Kerrigan, LLP
Charles also served on the Loyola University Institute of Politics, New Orleans Chamber of Commerce and Metropolitan Area Committee Leadership Forum. He was the former President of the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, former Adjunct Faculty at Loyola Law School as well as a founding member and former President of the Young Leadership Council.
Mark Mayer
Chairman Emeritus at PETERMAYER
Mark previously served on the boards of Ben Franklin Charter High School, the Business Council of New Orleans and was the Chairman for the Bureau of Governmental Research.
Lena McCloskey
Senior Vice President of Commercial Strategy Team at First Horizon Corporation
Lena previously served as President of the Board for the Young Leadership Council and Treasurer of the Board for the International School of Louisiana. She was also selected as an honoree for CityBusiness Women of the Year and Gambit 40 Under 40.
Tarik Sedky
President and Founder of Pure, Co-Founder of Drink Mockly
Tarik is also on the board and chairs the marketing committee of the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation. Previously, he was Chief Digital Officer of global ad agency Young & Rubicam.
Tod Smith
President and General Manager of WWL-TV/WUPL
Tod also serves on the Board of Trustees of Loyola University, New Orleans. He previously has volunteered and served on the board of Children’s Hospital New Orleans, Urban League of Louisiana, New Orleans Museum of Art, and Volunteers of America, Southeast Louisiana, among others.
Steve Usdin
Board Treasurer, Founding member of Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver, LLC
Steve also serves on the boards of the Bureau of Governmental Research, KIPP New Orleans and the Greater New Orleans Foundation.
Who is in
- Jon Atkinson Chief Executive Officer, Idea Village
- Amjad Ayoubi Senior Associate Dean, Tulane University and Salesforce Higher Education Advisor
- Anne Banos Deputy Director, New Orleans Museum of Art
- Dana Beer Consultant and Executive Coach
- Clay Beery General counsel, Laitram
- Tony Boldurian Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh
- Todd Boyles Co-Founder and Lead Developer, Longshore Web Agency
- Chantell Brandt Diversity Equity and Inclusion Partner at Hancock Whitney
- Danny Bronfin, MD Retired head of Pediatrics, Ochsner Medical Clinic
- Patrick Chambers Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
- Karin Curley Director of Operations, Young Leadership Council
- Josie DeLaune Senior Vice President of HR, Smoothstack
- Jamela Dermish Special Educator, Renew Schools
- Blake Eckert Vice President of Marketing, Eagle Industries
- Katelyn Edwards HR, Laitram (North Carolina)
- Daniel Ersparmer Chief Executive Officer, Pelican Institute
- Ryan Estaris Principal, Estaris Medical
- Ron Faucheux President, Clarus Research Group
- Ludovico Feoli Director of Center for Inter-American Policy and Research, Tulane University
- Matt Fourney Vice President Research and Development, Intralox (Baltimore)
- Gurvinder Gandhi Former President of American Association of Indian Professionals, New Orleans and Business Development Manager, Intralox
- Norma Grace Board Chair, Bureau of Governmental Research
- Ed Graf Lifetime Educator
- Colleen Guidry Leadership Development Specialist, Hancock Whitney Bank
- Cathy Harris President, C. Harris Companies and Co-Founder, Each One Save One Mentoring
- Paul Hasney Change Leader
- Michael Hecht President & Chief Executive Officer, Greater New Orleans Foundation
- Patrick Hernandez Senior Capital Access Manager, Propeller
- Bobbie Provosty Hill Partner, Concordia
- Quin Hillyer News Columnist
- Jay Howard Director of Product and Business Development for Logistics Industries, Intralox
- Chris Johnsen Managing Partner, Washington Branch of Jones Walker Law Firm (D.C.)
- Kristie Kaaa Director of Customer Success, Digital Scale, Extreme Networks
- Andrew Koehler President, Young Leadership Council
- Martha Landrum Community Activist
- Ileana Ledet Economic Development Professional
- Brent Ledet Director of Marketing, Creole Cuisine Restaurant Concepts
- Madeline Lennox Marketing Strategist for Logistics Industries, Intralox
- Sandra Lombrano Lundquist President and Chief Executive Officer, New Orleans Chamber of Commerce
- Debbie Maniglia Global Director of Customer Service, Intralox
- Paul Matthews Chief Executive Officer, Port of New Orleans
- Ron McClain Executive Director, Institute of Mental Hygiene of New Orleans
- Yelena McCloskey Senior Vice President, First Horizon Bank
- Kristen McEntyre Vice President, Product Management, Simon Pearce (Boston)
- Marianne van Meter Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Legacy Capital and Idea Village Board Chair
- Pamela Meyer Director of the SHOP / Domain companies
- Zitsi Mirakhur Professor of Education, University of Kentucky (Lexington)
- George Morgan Senior Advisor, Ridgemont Equity Partners (Dallas)
- Rebecca Mowbray President and Chief Executive Officer, Bureau of Governmental Research
- Gamil Nassar Tech Executive and Artist (Philadelphia)
- Lieut. Nicole Nordlie F/A-18F Super Hornet Weapons System Officer, US Navy (Pensacola)
- Don Osborne Retired Senior Sales Manager, Intralox LLC
- Richard Pavlick Director of Risk Management, Laitram
- Cara Petersen Educator and Author, The Effortless Perfection Myth
- Shaun Rafferty Attorney
- Shana Relle Operations Strategy Program Manager, Intralox
- Mark Romig Chief Marketing Officer, New Orleans and Company
- Paige Sensenbrenner Senior Partner in Charge, Adams and Reese Law Firm
- Jessica White Shahien Strategic Projects Manager, Intralox and Founding Executive Director of 504ward (Savannah)
- Danielle Shannon People and Culture & Talent Strategy, Intralox (Charlotte)
- Nathalie Simon Policy director at Laitram
- Jermaine Smith Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities
- Caroline Snyder Collegiate Academies and Entrepreneur
- Rachel Strom Public Health Scientist, Johns Hopkins University
- Camille Sumner Executive Director Young Leadership Council
- Hank Torbert President, Alta Max and Founder of Frontier Conference
- Keith Twitchell Consultant and Author
- Christian Vardaman Vice President, Financial Consulting, Charles Schwab
- Kristen Vorhoff Wade Photographer and screenwriter (Atlanta)
- Joel Wade Psychotherapist and Author, The Virtue of Happiness (Aptos, CA)
- Semmes Walmsley Vice President, Hughes Walmsley & Co.
- Erika Rain Wilhite Development and Communications Director NCCJ, (Greensboro)
#icommit
I commit too