s p o n s o r e d b y - New Orleans City Business
s p o n s o r e d b y - New Orleans City Business
s p o n s o r e d b y - New Orleans City Business
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s p o n s o r e d b y
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2004 <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> Women of the Year<br />
Hallema and Ann<br />
SponsorOne<br />
Congratulates Virginia "Gini" Davis, P.T., M.A.<br />
One of <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong>’<br />
2004 Women of the Year<br />
Gini Davis founded Crescent <strong>City</strong> Physical Therapy<br />
over twenty-one years ago. Today, it is the city’s<br />
largest and most diverse private physical<br />
therapy/rehabilitation provider with five outpatient<br />
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pioneered an industrial/occupational/ergonomic<br />
services division that helps area employers<br />
manage the costs of work-related injuries and<br />
workers' compensation. Gini donates her time to<br />
the community too, serving as training director for<br />
the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Crescent <strong>City</strong> Classic and as<br />
medical liaison for major women's sporting events<br />
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Women<br />
2004<br />
of the Year<br />
• Respected Leader<br />
Table<br />
of Contents<br />
Women of the Year honorees<br />
Introduction<br />
Philomene “Missy” Allain<br />
Rita Benson LeBlanc<br />
Barbara C. Booth<br />
Lally Brennan<br />
Valerie Cahill<br />
Karen Carter<br />
Audrey Cerise<br />
Hallema Sharif Clyburn<br />
Dorothy M. Clyne<br />
Sandra Corrigan<br />
Elizabeth Coulon<br />
Virginia Davis<br />
Stephanie Dupuy<br />
Anita Gilford<br />
Dana Meeks Hansel<br />
Lane Hindermann<br />
Andrea Huseman<br />
Ellen Kempner<br />
Laura Lee Killeen<br />
Janice Kishner<br />
Dr. Susan Krantz<br />
Angelique LaCour<br />
Janet E. Larson<br />
Diane Lyons<br />
Carla Major<br />
Marilyn Maloney<br />
Lisa Maurer<br />
Mary L. Meyer<br />
Kathleen Mix<br />
Michelle Montz<br />
Carole Cukell Neff<br />
Dr. J. Coller Ochsner<br />
Stephanie Prunty<br />
Dr. Felicia Rabito<br />
Ann Rogers<br />
Gail Roussel<br />
Peggy Scott<br />
Tara Shaw<br />
Jaye Berard Smith<br />
Kathryn Smith<br />
Carol Solomon<br />
Kim Sport<br />
Liz Tahir<br />
Donna Taylor<br />
Fran Villere<br />
Ann Wallace<br />
Barbara B. Waller<br />
Bonnie K. Wibel<br />
Carol B. Wise<br />
Ellen Yellin<br />
5A<br />
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63A<br />
Congratulations, Kathleen,<br />
on being named one of 2004’s<br />
Women of the Year.<br />
Your colleagues at<br />
Delgado Community College<br />
are proud of you!<br />
• Dedicated Executive<br />
• Progressive Citizen<br />
Kathleen Mix, Vice Chancellor<br />
for Workforce Development and Education,<br />
Delgado Community College<br />
Photographer: Cheryl Gerber<br />
Published by the NOPG LLC 111 Veterans Memorial Blvd.,<br />
Suite 1440, Metairie, La. 70005<br />
504-834-9292; Fax: 504-837-2258.<br />
Publisher and president: D. Mark Singletary<br />
Editor: Terry O’Connor<br />
Junior associate editors: Tommy Santora and Greg LaRose<br />
Director of custom publishing and industry reports sales: Ann Bower Herren<br />
Art director: Lisa Finnan<br />
Production manager: Julie Bernard<br />
Advertising coordinator: Heidi Decker
Congratulations<br />
Philomene ‘Missy’ Allain,<br />
RPH, RXM, DDR<br />
On being chosen<br />
as one of <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong>’<br />
2004<br />
THE NEW ORLEANS HORNETS<br />
CONGRATULATE WOMAN OF THE YEAR<br />
Barbara Booth<br />
Mother,<br />
Wife,<br />
Hero<br />
From your loving family<br />
Kayla, Mark, Lucky
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Honorees<br />
1999<br />
2000<br />
2001<br />
2002<br />
2003<br />
2004<br />
Phyllis Adams<br />
Jan Boatright<br />
Patricia Denechaud<br />
Maura Donahue<br />
Betsy Dresser<br />
Lana Duke<br />
Nanci Easterling<br />
Midge Epstein<br />
Mignon Faget<br />
Donna Fraiche<br />
Patricia Habeeb<br />
Connie Jacobs<br />
Leslie Rosenthal Jacobs<br />
Alice Kennedy<br />
Ti Martin<br />
Judy Perry Martinez<br />
Elise McCullough<br />
Ruth Ann Menutis<br />
Siomonia Edwards Milton<br />
Phala Mire<br />
Margaret Montgomery-Richard<br />
Karyn Noles<br />
Ruth Owens<br />
Sharon Perlis<br />
Nellie Stokes Perry<br />
Leaudria Polk<br />
Kay Priestly<br />
Jan Ramsey<br />
Marguerite Redwine<br />
P.K. Scheerle<br />
Flo Schornstein<br />
Janet Shea<br />
Kim Sport<br />
Carroll Suggs<br />
Barbara Turner Windhorst<br />
Tonia Aiken<br />
Lauren Anderson<br />
Carol Asher<br />
Judy Barrasso<br />
Diane Barrilleaux<br />
Suzette Becker<br />
Elodia Blanco<br />
Julia Bland<br />
Cindy Brennan<br />
Maureen Clary<br />
Sally Clausen<br />
Dr. Elizabeth Terrell<br />
Hobgood Fontham<br />
Joni Friedmann<br />
Joanne Gallinghouse<br />
Brenda Garibaldi Hatfield<br />
Paulette Hurdlick<br />
Maureen Larkins<br />
Gay LeBreton<br />
Saundra Levy<br />
Londa Martin McCullough<br />
Linda Mintz<br />
Judith Miranti<br />
Angela O’Byrne<br />
Rajender “Raj” Pannu<br />
Kay Priestly<br />
Kat Rice<br />
P.K. Scheerle<br />
Eileen Skinner<br />
Bettye Parker Smith<br />
Sherry Walters<br />
Julie Condy<br />
Sherie Conrad<br />
Sheila Danzey<br />
Judy Dawson<br />
Ann Duplessis<br />
Patti Ellish<br />
Jean Felts<br />
Patricia Gray<br />
Beverly Gianna<br />
Sheilah Auderer Goodson<br />
Norma Grace<br />
Deborah Ducote Keller<br />
Donna Guinn Klein<br />
Roselyn Koretzky<br />
Corvette Kowalski<br />
Jennifer Magee<br />
Barbara Major<br />
Laurie Vignaud Marshall<br />
Suzanne Mestayer<br />
Nancy Morovich<br />
Barbara Motley<br />
Roberta Musa<br />
Iona Myers<br />
Rickie Nutik<br />
Tina Owen<br />
Sharon Rodi<br />
Wanda Sigur<br />
ChiQuita Simms<br />
Katherine Harlan Sippola<br />
Julie Skinner Stokes<br />
Ruby Sumler<br />
Nancy Bissinger Timm<br />
Ollie Tyler<br />
Pam Wegmann<br />
Ann Wills<br />
Ann Cassagne Anderson<br />
Annie Avery`<br />
Trilby Barnes<br />
Ginger Berrigan<br />
Dianne Boazman<br />
Donnie Marie Booth<br />
Christine Briede<br />
Kay Brief<br />
Stephanie Bruno<br />
Kimberly Williamson Butler<br />
Jane Cooper<br />
Shirley Trusty Corey<br />
Kay Dee<br />
Eugenie Jones Encalarde<br />
Alethia Gauthier<br />
Clem Goldberger<br />
Patricia Green<br />
Judith Halverson<br />
Barbara Johnson<br />
Barbara Kaplinsky<br />
Ruth Kullman<br />
Sharon Litwin<br />
Ana Lopez<br />
Barbara MacPhee<br />
Deborah Mavis<br />
Marguerite McDonald<br />
Cheryl Nickerson<br />
Danette O’Neal<br />
Jimmie Phillips<br />
Catherine Pierson<br />
Jane Raiford<br />
Rhonda Robichaux<br />
Julie Rodriguez<br />
Judy Shano<br />
Sandy Shilstone<br />
Susan Spicer<br />
Suzanne Thomas<br />
Deborah Villio<br />
Kay Wilkins<br />
Elizabeth Williams<br />
Donna K. Alley<br />
Dianne Baham<br />
Gaynell Bellizan<br />
Ruth Berggren<br />
Lolita Burrell<br />
Jeanette C. Butler<br />
Vanessa Claiborne<br />
Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson<br />
Elaine E. Coleman<br />
Katherine Conklin<br />
Lisa Crinel<br />
Susan G. D’Antoni<br />
M. Christine D’Antonio<br />
Sandra Dartus<br />
Camilla Q. Davis<br />
Catherine C. Dunn<br />
Carol Etter<br />
Peggy A. Feldmann<br />
Susan K. Fielkow<br />
Deborah Duplechin Harkins<br />
Deborah C. Keel<br />
Patricia A. Krebs<br />
Mary Landrieu<br />
Janet E. Leigh<br />
A. Kelton Longwell<br />
Charlotte Connick Mabry<br />
Laura K. Maloney<br />
Eve Barrie Masinter<br />
Elsie Mendez<br />
Eileen F. Powers<br />
Tonnette “Toni” Rice<br />
Deborah B. Rouen<br />
Dionne M. Rousseau<br />
Diane M. Roussel<br />
Kim Ryan<br />
Grace Sheehan<br />
Andrea Thornton<br />
Keeley Williams Verrett<br />
Dawn Wesson<br />
Charlee Williamson<br />
Philomene “Missy” Allain<br />
Rita Benson LeBlanc<br />
Barbara C. Booth<br />
Lally Brennan<br />
Valerie Cahill<br />
Karen Carter<br />
Audrey Cerise<br />
Hallema Sharif Clyburn<br />
Dorothy M. Clyne<br />
Sandra Corrigan<br />
Elizabeth Coulon<br />
Virginia Davis<br />
Stephanie Dupuy<br />
Anita Gilford<br />
Dana Meeks Hansel<br />
Lane Hindermann<br />
Andrea Huseman<br />
Ellen Kempner<br />
Laura Lee Killeen<br />
Janice Kishner<br />
Dr. Susan Krantz<br />
Angelique LaCour<br />
Janet E. Larson<br />
Diane Lyons<br />
Carla Major<br />
Marilyn Maloney<br />
Lisa Maurer<br />
Mary L. Meyer<br />
Kathleen Mix<br />
Michelle Montz<br />
Carole Cukell Neff<br />
Dr. J. Coller Ochsner<br />
Stephanie Prunty<br />
Dr. Felicia Rabito<br />
Ann Rogers<br />
Gail Roussel<br />
Peggy Scott<br />
Tara Shaw<br />
Jaye Berard Smith<br />
Kathryn Smith<br />
Carol Solomon<br />
Kim Sport<br />
Liz Tahir<br />
Donna Taylor<br />
Fran Villere<br />
Ann Wallace<br />
Barbara B. Waller<br />
Bonnie K. Wibel<br />
Carol B. Wise<br />
Ellen Yellin
2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
<strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> receives record 106 nominations<br />
One is a pharmacist who donated her kidney to her 5-year-old daughter.<br />
Despite being born without arms, her daughter now lives the life of a normal<br />
11-year-old girl thanks to her mother’s nurturing and encouragement.<br />
Another is a breast cancer survivor who dedicates her time to raising<br />
money for nonprofit organizations.<br />
Then there’s the young executive following in her grandfather’s footsteps,<br />
looking to one day own a professional football franchise.<br />
These aren’t your ordinary businesswomen.<br />
<strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> received a record 106 nominations for the 2004 Women<br />
of the Year; 50 were selected and recognized for their professional and<br />
community achievements.<br />
In another first, Philomene “Missy” Allain was named Woman of the<br />
Year, a historic distinction voted on by a five-person Women of the Year<br />
alumni panel.<br />
Allain, a pharmacy manager at Walgreens in the French Quarter, contributes<br />
most of her community time to I-CAN, the International Child<br />
Amputee Network that helps children born with limb defects adapt to a<br />
normal lifestyle. The organization also advises families on their challenges.<br />
Allain’s daughter, Kayla, was born without arms and her kidneys<br />
failed at the age of 5. Allain donated one of her kidneys to Kayla and it<br />
was a perfect match.<br />
Allain has since served as the coordinator of I-CAN’s national convention<br />
in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>, and Kayla recently received a Headmaster’s Award<br />
at St. George’s Episcopal School. She also plays the piano.<br />
Kim Sport, a volunteer and breast-cancer survivor of three years,<br />
became a two-time Women of the Year selection. She joins P.K. Sheerle<br />
and Kay Priestly, who have also twice won the award. Each woman has a<br />
chance next year to enter the <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> Women of the Year Hall of<br />
Fame for winning the award three times.<br />
The world of sports contributed two honorees to this year’s distinguished<br />
list — Rita Benson LeBlanc, <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Saints finance and<br />
business executive and the granddaughter of Saints owner Tom<br />
Benson; and Barbara Booth, the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Hornets vice president<br />
of finance and the only female chief financial officer in the National<br />
Basketball Association.<br />
Two of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>’ favorite pastimes — politics and fine dining — are<br />
also represented. Louisiana state Rep. Karen Carter heads into her second<br />
term in the Legislature, while Lally Brennan spends her days providing<br />
legendary <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> culinary experiences at Commander’s Palace.<br />
We thank all these women for their continued contributions to the<br />
city of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> and we thank the nominators for bringing them to<br />
our attention.<br />
Tommy Santora and Greg LaRose<br />
junior associate editors<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong>
Women of the Year 7A<br />
The 2004<br />
Woman<br />
of theYear<br />
Philomene ‘Missy’ Allain<br />
Position: pharmacist/pharmacy manager, Walgreens<br />
Family: husband, Mark; daughter, Kayla, 11<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in pharmacy, Xavier University<br />
When Philomene “Missy”Allain began rearing her daughter,Kayla,<br />
who was born without arms, she knew she was in for a challenge.<br />
What Allain didn’t know was that the challenge lay in keeping<br />
up with the little girl’s energy.<br />
Today, Kayla is 11 and as active as any other fifth-grader,<br />
perhaps more so. She maintains high grades, plays piano,<br />
cheerleads and sings in the middle-school chorus. Kayla’s<br />
indifference to her own disability may be attributed to the fact<br />
her mother is also energetic and active within the community.<br />
Joanne Hilton, who nominated Allain for “Women of the<br />
Year,” met Allain through her godchild, who befriended Kayla<br />
when both were at <strong>New</strong>comb Nursery. The friendship has since<br />
extended to include the adults as well as the children.<br />
Kayla is now a successful student at St. George’s Episcopal<br />
School in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>.<br />
“To see the way Missy handles her child and the abilities her<br />
child has, it gives all parents an idea of what’s possible for their<br />
own children,” said Hilton.<br />
Allain contributes time to the International Child Amputee<br />
Network, a group that provides information and support to families<br />
with children having limb defects. She has also worked with<br />
the Children’s Miracle Network, the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Epilepsy<br />
Foundation and <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Council on Aging.<br />
For mother and daughter alike, it seems that one challenge<br />
would just lead to one more opportunity. For instance, when Kayla<br />
was 5, her kidneys failed due to a condition called dysplasia. While<br />
her child was being treated at Children’s Hospital, Allain met a<br />
child there who had leukemia. Coincidentally, she volunteered to<br />
raise money by participating in a “Team in Training” fund-raiser<br />
for a leukemia society and later learned the little girl would be an<br />
honoree of the event.<br />
“It gave me more inspiration to get through it all — to raise the<br />
money, to get across the finish line thinking about her and Kayla,<br />
thinking about what they’ve gone through — I can definitely walk<br />
for a couple hours. That was nothing compared to what they<br />
have to go through.”<br />
Allain’s latest endeavors include organizing a free informational<br />
session for diabetics at the main branch of the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> Public Library and helping Kayla learn to roller skate.<br />
“The thing that impresses me most about Missy is how well<br />
adjusted Kayla is,” said Margie Fell, a secretary at St. George’s<br />
and long time friend of Allain’s. “Kayla has so many difficulties,<br />
but she’s the nicest kid around.”<br />
By trade, Allain works as the pharmacy manager at Walgreens’<br />
French Quarter location. Allain has been a Walgreens’ employee for<br />
17 years. The French Quarter location is an environment she says is<br />
very enjoyable.“Everybody’s friendly.People who live in the Quarter<br />
come there, and tourists. So it’s a really friendly atmosphere. ... I like<br />
the interaction with people and being able to help them.”<br />
Allain also helps prepare college students for careers in pharmacy<br />
by contributing to the Xavier mentorship program, where<br />
students job shadow pharmacy professionals.<br />
“It’s a way to expose students to the great opportunities in<br />
pharmacy,” said Coti Gayles, director of the program at Xavier.<br />
Gayles said Allain was one of the first volunteers for the program.<br />
“She’s a positive influence for the students she works with,”<br />
Gayles said. “Some of the volunteers I had to kind of persuade<br />
them to do this but Missy jumped right into it, willing to be a positive<br />
influence and role model.”<br />
— Faith Dawson
Congratulations Carol Solomon on Your<br />
Selection as a <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> Woman of the Year!<br />
Tenet Choices salutes Carol A. Solomon as one of <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong>’ Women of the Year for 2004.<br />
Ms. Carol Solomon believes everyone deserves quality, affordable — dependable — healthcare.<br />
Her compassionate attitude supports the culture of caring demonstrated to our 300 employees and<br />
nearly 40,000 members. She has built the company to accommodate the individual needs and personal<br />
service seniors want from a health insurance company. Her leadership has developed Tenet Choices into<br />
the largest Medicare Advantage health plan in the area, with annual revenues close to $320 million.<br />
Through Ms. Solomon’s vision,Tenet Choices is committed to building a stronger, healthier community.<br />
Because our physicians and employees are a part of this community,Tenet Choices offers a unique<br />
perspective to its members.That’s why we support the things that make <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> unique... like<br />
the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Jazz & Heritage Foundation, the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Saints and the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Hornets.<br />
For your leadership, innovation and caring nature, thank you Ms. Carol A. Solomon.<br />
We are proud to work with such a dynamic business leader.<br />
Proudly honors<br />
2004<br />
WOMAN<br />
of<br />
the<br />
YEAR<br />
Lisa Maurer<br />
Celebrating women everywhere<br />
The Smart <strong>Business</strong> Decision.<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
643 Magazine Street | <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>, LA 70130 | Phone: (504) 586-1200 | Fax: (504) 596-2800<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> • Baton Rouge • Houston • Jackson • Cleveland • Monroe • Dallas • Albany<br />
www.mcglinchey.com
Women of the Year 9A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Rita Benson LeBlanc<br />
Position: finance and business executive, <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Saints; director of marketing and special events, <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Voodoo<br />
Family: single<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in Agri<strong>Business</strong>, Texas A&M University<br />
Growing up in the family business conjures up some<br />
familiar images: Youngsters climbing on a footstool to<br />
reach the cash register and grandparents passing along<br />
secret recipes to their progeny.<br />
For Rita Benson LeBlanc, childhood memories include<br />
behemoths shrouded in black and gold and scores of<br />
motorized metal machines in all shapes and sizes.<br />
As the grandchild of Tom Benson, LeBlanc was<br />
immersed in the diverse worlds of professional football<br />
and auto dealerships. That grounding has led the 27-yearold<br />
to a series of jobs that have prepared her to eventually<br />
take over the reins of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Saints.<br />
“It just seemed natural since birth,” she said. “I just<br />
always knew I wanted to be a part of it all — the team, the<br />
dealerships, everything we’re that we’re involved with —<br />
and make it grow.”<br />
LeBlanc’s career in sports entertainment began in 1998<br />
with a series of internships with the National Football<br />
League. Her stops included NFL headquarters in <strong>New</strong><br />
York, the NFL Properties Publishing Group in Los<br />
Angeles and NFL Films in Mount Laurel, N.J. She has<br />
spent the last four years with the Saints and was recently<br />
given a share of team ownership by Benson, who said his<br />
granddaughter was the only family member to show a real<br />
interest in working with the team.<br />
“I recognized that for some people there is a pressure<br />
to be in that role and the interest may not be there,”<br />
LeBlanc said about becoming the next Saints team<br />
owner. “For me it could never happen fast enough or I<br />
could never learn enough.”<br />
LeBlanc said her internships exposed her to places she<br />
always wanted to explore. But now that she is back in <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong>, she has come to appreciate the city’s character<br />
and people even more.<br />
“Everyone is very friendly,” she said. “The South is still<br />
a wonderful, friendly place.”<br />
Since the NFL requires its member teams to be<br />
involved in their communities, LeBlanc is eager to find<br />
ways in which the Saints can give back to the people who<br />
have supported them over the years. The NFL, in turn,<br />
has recognized the franchise for its efforts, placing it<br />
among the league’s top teams in terms of community<br />
involvement, LeBlanc said.<br />
“You have to have interaction with your fans beyond the<br />
football field,”she said.“I’ve worked in all the different sides<br />
of an organization and there are people who feel all you have<br />
to do is win on the field. I see the overall big picture that<br />
everyone has to be successful in their interactions with the<br />
fans, the sponsors, to keep us on that exemplary level.”<br />
— Greg LaRose
10A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Barbara C. Booth<br />
Position: vice president of finance, <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Hornets<br />
Family: daughter, Heather 15<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration, Berry College<br />
Seeing the number of zeros on the paychecks of the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Hornets’ stars would mesmerize most of<br />
us, and even though it’s a small part of the job, it provides<br />
a thrill for the team’s chief financial officer.<br />
“Writing the checks is unbelievable,” says Barbara<br />
Booth, the Hornets’ vice president of finance. “It’s<br />
amazing to see what some of these players are paid.”<br />
Booth began working with the Hornets’ financial<br />
operations department on a contractual basis in 1999<br />
when her boss, Ray Woolridge, bought a minority<br />
interest in the National Basketball Association franchise<br />
and was placed in charge of establishing the<br />
team’s financial operations in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> during the<br />
move from Charlotte, N.C.<br />
“The relocation from Charlotte to <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> was<br />
like starting a new business,” Booth said.<br />
Instead of enjoying the unique aspects of life in<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>, Booth’s indoctrination was filled with<br />
laying the groundwork for the team’s successful transition<br />
to a new home. “We worked 18-hour days on a<br />
regular basis and had a few where we worked 30-<br />
hours straight.”<br />
She said the experience was a lot of fun and one she will<br />
never forget. “We wanted to do everything to get off on the<br />
right foot and the city’s reaction has been phenomenal.”<br />
Her dedication was instrumental in the Hornets<br />
relocation, and she reaped the rewards of the team’s<br />
seamless transition. In January 2003, she was promoted<br />
to her current job becoming the only female chief<br />
financial officer in the NBA. Today, she oversees all<br />
Hornets’ financial and accounting functions, financial<br />
reporting, banking relationships, insurance, employee<br />
benefit plans and human resources.<br />
Booth said it feels good to be the only woman in her<br />
position in the NBA. “It’s a heavily male-dominated<br />
industry but I think I fit right in,” she says.<br />
Booth, a certified public accountant, was chief financial<br />
officer for Charlotte-based Big Play Entertainment,<br />
Atlanta based-Space Master International and a senior<br />
staff auditor in the Atlanta office of Arthur Young &<br />
Co. prior to joining the Hornets.<br />
Away from balancing the Hornets’ books, Booth is<br />
involved in school, church and community activities,<br />
and enjoys tennis and golf, skiing and spending time<br />
with her daughter, Heather.<br />
— Chris Price
Women of the Year 11A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Lally Brennan<br />
Position: managing partner, Commander’s Palace and Café Adelaide<br />
Family: single<br />
Education: attended Southern Methodist University<br />
When Lally Brennan is asked.“What do you do for a living?”<br />
She responds, “I make memories.”<br />
“The restaurant industry is not a 9 to 5 job; I’m<br />
always working but I love what I do. It’s a lifestyle of<br />
meeting people every day, hearing their stories, spending<br />
time with them and making sure they enjoy their<br />
dining experience.”<br />
Lally, one of eight third-generation Brennans actively<br />
involved in the restaurant industry, serves as managing<br />
partner of Commander’s Palace and Café Adelaide.<br />
Brennan didn’t always know she would end up in<br />
the family business. She pursued a career in retail out<br />
of college.<br />
“My family wanted all of us to go off and do different<br />
things, and if we decided we wanted to be involved in<br />
the restaurant business, then we could come back,” she<br />
said. “I got involved in retail, but one day my father<br />
asked me to come back and I couldn’t say no to him.<br />
Apples don’t fall far from a tree and when you grow up<br />
and hear something all of your life, it’s instilled in you<br />
in a sense.”<br />
In 1979, Brennan was part of the Mr. B’s team<br />
when the restaurant opened in the French Quarter,<br />
and then in 1982, she began her 22-year stint as managing<br />
partner at Commander’s Palace.<br />
When not in the restaurant, Brennan said she is<br />
attending meetings and events to keep up-to-date on<br />
the restaurant industry.<br />
“The customers should get what they want. <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> is blessed with so many great restaurants, and<br />
part of your job is keeping up with the competition<br />
around you,” she said. Outside of her restaurant career,<br />
Brennan said she is most proud of her charitable work<br />
with Prevent Child Abuse.<br />
“You have to give as much time back as you can to<br />
charities that touch your heart, and children touch my<br />
heart,” she said.<br />
Brennan is also involved in Grace House and has<br />
aided the Audubon Institute, Longue Vue House and<br />
Gardens and the Contemporary Arts Center and was<br />
the co-founder of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>’ Les Dames des<br />
Escoffier, which promotes women’s achievement in the<br />
culinary profession.<br />
“It’s so important to give back to the community; our<br />
community has done so much for us,” she said. “This is<br />
home for me and my family, and we want to be in <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> and continue to help it be a special place.”<br />
— Tommy Santora
12A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Valerie Cahill<br />
Position: vice president, American Construction Management Services<br />
Family: single<br />
Education: attended <strong>New</strong>comb College<br />
Those who know Valerie Cahill’s story could say she creates<br />
her own opportunities.<br />
To hear her tell the story of how she became vice president<br />
of American Construction Management Services<br />
Inc., she modestly credits a chance meeting on an airplane.<br />
But Cahill actually played a major role in forming the<br />
company she helps run.<br />
About four years ago while flying to a business meeting<br />
in Texas, she struck up a conversation with Dwaine<br />
Foster, a Texas businessman. At the time, Cahill was<br />
working as a senior account executive for a major<br />
telecommunications company.<br />
On the plane ride, Cahill listened as Foster described<br />
his work as a construction consultant specializing in damaged<br />
buildings. She began thinking about her friends in<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> who owned commercial buildings, and “it<br />
occurred to me I would be doing my friends ... an enormous<br />
favor to introduce them to this dynamic ‘human<br />
resource,’” she said.<br />
Cahill, recognizing a golden opportunity, set up meetings<br />
between Foster and <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> area building owners.<br />
Out of those meetings, Foster started ACMS in 2000,<br />
and business in the metro area was bustling enough to justify<br />
making Jefferson the company’s headquarters rather<br />
than Texas, Cahill said.<br />
“He said he formed the company here because of the<br />
contacts I introduced him to and the volume of business<br />
that resulted, which was quite significant,” Cahill said. “As<br />
well, (the metro area) pleased him more than the many<br />
other cities he had and continues to do business in.<br />
“I knew that he and his team could fulfill a vital need of<br />
building owners and litigators, and I wanted to be a part of<br />
that progress and growth. The rest is history.”<br />
ACMS, a construction consulting firm that specializes<br />
in providing reports and expert testimony in commercial<br />
construction litigation, is branching out into Central<br />
America and Europe, Cahill said.<br />
Her responsibilities are numerous, including marketing,<br />
public relations, preparing estimates and documenting<br />
damages.<br />
She said her background in sales combined with a lifelong<br />
interest in real estate make her well suited for her<br />
position. She said she believes in the power of positive<br />
thinking, which can develop “an attitude of gratitude.”<br />
Cahill is the founder and vice chairwoman of <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> Homeless Pets. She also serves on the Junior<br />
League, Women’s Professional Council, Urban Land<br />
Institute, Commercial Real Estate Women, the World<br />
Trade Center of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> and Committee of 21.<br />
— Deon Roberts
Women of the Year 13A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Karen Carter<br />
Position: Louisiana state representative, District 93<br />
Family: single<br />
Education: Mercy Academy; bachelor’s degree in international business/marketing,<br />
Howard University; J.D., Tulane Law School<br />
When state Rep. Charles DeWitt, D-Alexandria, asked<br />
the House Ways and Means Committee to pass a halfcent<br />
sales tax increase as a “temporary bridge” to later<br />
reform, state Rep. Karen Carter, D-<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>, was<br />
ready with a response.<br />
“If this is a bridge,I’d better take a boat or swim,”she said.<br />
Known for taking strong stances against taxing lowerincome<br />
people, helping welfare reform and lending support<br />
to the <strong>Orleans</strong> Parish School System, Carter began<br />
her second term and fifth year as representative for District<br />
93 in January.<br />
Carter was named to the “100 to watch” list for state<br />
and local Democrats by the <strong>New</strong> Democrats Online<br />
Leadership Council and has also received the <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
Parish Legislator of the Year award from the Alliance for<br />
Good Government.<br />
“I like the legislative process, and everything that I’m<br />
fighting for I’m trying to make a difference in people’s<br />
lives,” she said. “There’s a real need in any community for<br />
leadership. It’s important for people elected to office to not<br />
just take public positions, but really make a difference.”<br />
In June, Carter pushed through House Bill 1659, which<br />
empowers the superintendent of any school system in academic<br />
crisis to act without his school board’s approval in<br />
most areas. The law also limits the authority of the school<br />
board to terminate the superintendent by requiring a twothirds<br />
vote of the elected members of the board. The discordant<br />
relationship between <strong>Orleans</strong> Parish Schools<br />
Superintendent Anthony Amato and dissenting School<br />
Board members led Carter to champion the measure.<br />
In April, Carter was appointed chair of the House<br />
Insurance Committee. In that position, she fought for contraceptive<br />
insurance coverage for women but the House<br />
killed the bill in May.<br />
On the welfare reform stage, Carter has promoted family<br />
stability and eased welfare recipients’ transitions from<br />
welfare to work by securing more state funds.<br />
In addition to holding public office, Carter has an independent<br />
practice as a bond lawyer.<br />
“Working for yourself gives you some flexibility to take certain<br />
cases you want to and fight for average people,” she said.<br />
Carter has also done community work with Dryades<br />
YMCA, where inner-city, low-income children have an<br />
option to public school systems.<br />
“I like community work because it gives me a chance to<br />
get out there and see what I need to fight for,” she said.<br />
“My agenda is for the betterment of the masses of the community,<br />
and I’m willing to take challenges and risks that<br />
help people.”<br />
— Tommy Santora
14A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Audrey Cerise<br />
Position: president and chief executive officer, ASI Federal Credit Union<br />
Family: sons Charles, 46, Frederick, 42, and John, 41; daughters Elizabeth, 45, Helene, 43, and Mary, 39<br />
Education: attended Loyola University <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>; certified credit union executive<br />
The story behind Audrey Cerise’s impressive career as a<br />
credit union chief begins with a series of interrupted plans.<br />
Cerise attended Loyola University in the mid-1950s,<br />
majoring in medical technology, but left after two years to<br />
get married. As her family grew to include six children, she<br />
said, “I wanted nothing more than to be a mom and a<br />
housewife.”<br />
But after her marriage ended, she took a part-time<br />
job at the Louisiana Public Health Workers Credit<br />
Union. When the manager resigned several months<br />
later, she was persuaded to stay on “temporarily” until<br />
a replacement could be found. She ended up staying<br />
10 years before moving on to run ASI Federal Credit<br />
Union in 1979.<br />
Under her leadership, ASI grew from five employees to<br />
217, from a single branch to 14, and from $5 million in<br />
assets to nearly $200 million.<br />
Originally formed to give Avondale Shipyard employees<br />
access to emergency funds, ASI had a total of 5,000<br />
members when Cerise took over. Realizing the company<br />
could not survive relying solely on this membership base,<br />
she decided to expand.<br />
Today, the credit union has more than 70,000 members<br />
who work for some 400 different employers. Much of that<br />
growth has come from mergers with other credit unions<br />
that were affiliated with local businesses that closed during<br />
the 1980s. ASI also added about seven low-income communities<br />
to its field of membership.<br />
At a planning seminar last year, ASI executives decided<br />
to adopt the Southwest Airlines slogan “Go nuts!” as a<br />
way to motivate employees. The concept, Cerise said, is all<br />
about “having fun, doing for the community, respecting<br />
each other.” One of the company’s favorite community<br />
projects is Habitat for Humanity.<br />
Cerise also devotes personal time to the Girls<br />
Hope/Boys Hope organization, which she says “takes<br />
children who otherwise would not have a shot at a good<br />
education and gives them that opportunity.”<br />
“I’ve seen children get into that organization and<br />
watched them as they graduated from college,” she said.<br />
Cerise said her greatest success has been raising her<br />
children. “I couldn’t be any prouder than I am of all my<br />
kids,” she said.<br />
In her leisure, Cerise enjoys playing bridge and spending<br />
time with her 14 grandchildren.<br />
“Every Saturday, you can find me at a soccer game, a<br />
softball game or a baseball game somewhere,” she said.<br />
— Sonya Stinson
Women of the Year 15A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Hallema Sharif Clyburn<br />
Position: senior account executive, Ehrhardt Group<br />
Family: husband, Floyd Clyburn; daughter, Jelani Bauman, 14; son, Floyd Jr., 3; step-daughter, Dasia Clyburn, 22.<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in mass communications, Xavier University<br />
Rare is the parent who takes on a full-time job to spend<br />
more time with her family but that’s exactly what happened<br />
to Hallema Sharif Clyburn. She gave up running<br />
her own business as an independent media<br />
specialist/public relations consultant, which entailed lots<br />
of out-of-town travel and an unpredictable schedule, for<br />
a position at the Ehrhardt Group, where she has been<br />
employed since August.<br />
“I was ready for more structure,” she said.<br />
The <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> native and Xavier University graduate<br />
had certainly built up an impressive résumé. She worked<br />
every summer since she was 17, never taking any significant<br />
time off to explore life outside of the working world. She<br />
graduated from Xavier with a bachelor’s degree in mass<br />
communications, and eventually her work in communications<br />
took her all over the United States to jobs in government,<br />
television, entertainment and other fields. Yet she felt<br />
the city of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> pull her back into its orbit.<br />
Clyburn said she considers it a blessing to have worked<br />
in so many industries and cities, but <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>’ culture,<br />
people and family-oriented environment cemented her<br />
decision to spend more time here.<br />
During her career, Clyburn spent seven years in television<br />
but discovered that she preferred working with<br />
clients and staying behind the scenes. Since then, she has<br />
worked in marketing, public relations and event planning<br />
for media giants such as Black Entertainment Television<br />
and ABC.<br />
Even though Clyburn is now busy with the demands<br />
of a career in which her areas of expertise include the<br />
medical, technology, entertainment and business fields,<br />
she still finds time to volunteer in the community. A<br />
member of several industry organizations, including the<br />
Public Relations Society of America, Press Club of <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> and the National Black Media Coalition,<br />
Clyburn also contributes time to the YWCA, specifically<br />
its “Parenting on Purpose” program, which teaches<br />
parenting skills to young people. She was named a<br />
YWCA Role Model in 2003. She said she especially<br />
enjoys working with programs that help young people.<br />
“There’s so many positive things going on here,” she<br />
said. “I want to reach out to high school and college students<br />
— pass the torch.”<br />
In the next year, Clyburn looks forward to completing a<br />
master’s degree in marketing from the University of<br />
Phoenix and to finding more challenges in her new position<br />
with the Ehrhardt Group.<br />
— Faith Dawson
16A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Dorothy M. Clyne<br />
Position: vice president and manager, wealth management, AmSouth Bank <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
Family: single<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in history, St. Mary’s Dominican College<br />
As a bank wealth manager, Dorothy Clyne says the most<br />
interesting aspect of her job is the variety.<br />
“Because we have clients from so many different industries,<br />
I tend to learn a little bit about how lots of businesses<br />
operate,” she said.<br />
The most important part of her job, Clyne said, is her<br />
relationship with her clients. Her goal is “to develop a good<br />
personal rapport, but more importantly to provide good<br />
customer service. That means being responsible, being<br />
available, living up to your word and making sure you do<br />
everything you can to make something work for a client.”<br />
Born on <strong>New</strong> York’s Long Island, Clyne grew up in<br />
Houston and San Antonio and came to <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> in<br />
1979 to attend college at St. Mary’s Dominican College. A<br />
history major, she entered the banking field at a time when<br />
many banks were eagerly recruiting liberal arts graduates.<br />
Clyne’s first job out of college was as a trust officer at<br />
First National Bank of Jefferson Parish, where she spent<br />
five years. She then went to First National Bank of<br />
Commerce, where she advanced to vice president for<br />
private financial services. After Bank One acquired First<br />
NBC, she spent two years under the bank’s new ownership<br />
as vice president and wealth manager. Since 2001,<br />
she has been in her current position as vice president<br />
and manager in the wealth management division at<br />
AmSouth Bank.<br />
In 2003, Clyne was named a YWCA Role Model in<br />
recognition of her extensive community service, which<br />
includes membership on the boards of Goodwill<br />
Industries of South Louisiana, the Louisiana State<br />
Museum Foundation and Longue Vue House and<br />
Gardens. Clyne also is a member of the Ochsner Clinic<br />
Foundation’s Cancer Board of Counselors and an executive<br />
member of the Alliance for Good Government. This<br />
year she is on the committee for the annual Goodwill<br />
Industries fund-raiser Rolling Down the River, which features<br />
music, a silent auction and other activities aboard a<br />
Mississippi riverboat.<br />
In her spare time, Clyne enjoys attending antique auctions<br />
— “I always love to look,” she said — with a special<br />
interest in 18th and 19th century English furniture. But<br />
after moving recently to the Warehouse District, with its<br />
more contemporary flavor, she also developed an eye for<br />
modern pieces.<br />
Clyne maintains a connection to her college major by<br />
reading a good history book now and then and she has<br />
worked on several <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> political campaigns.<br />
— Sonya Stinson
Women of the Year 17A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Sandra Corrigan<br />
Position: vice president, Regis Realty I; Louisiana real estate commissioner<br />
Family: husband, Kevin Corrigan; daughter, Shannon, 19; son Michael, 15<br />
Education: certification from the Society of Office and Industrial Realtors<br />
Sandra Corrigan has completed two-thirds of her<br />
appointment as a Louisiana Real Estate commissioner,<br />
and she said the position has given her a fresh perspective<br />
on real estate in Louisiana — not bad for<br />
someone who had already been in the business for<br />
more than 20 years.<br />
“The Real Estate Commission is the group that regulates<br />
the real estate industry in Louisiana,” she<br />
explained. “We help to protect the public; we review and<br />
evaluate laws and rules to make sure they’re adequate.”<br />
Gov. Mike Foster appointed Corrigan to the commission.<br />
This year, she acts as its secretary.<br />
During her “day job,” Corrigan works as senior vice<br />
president of Regis Realty I in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>, where she<br />
supervises more than 1.3 million square feet of office<br />
space in three downtown buildings and facilitates all<br />
third-party transactions, representing tenants and<br />
landlords.<br />
If it sounds tough, it is. But Corrigan, born in Lake<br />
Charles and raised in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>, said her job satisfaction<br />
outweighs any challenge it presents.<br />
“The great thing about my career is that I’ve<br />
enjoyed every minute of it,” she said. “Every transaction<br />
I do — I do about 50 to 60 a year — is entirely different<br />
from the last one. I don’t remember a time when<br />
I’ve ever been bored.”<br />
Corrigan has collected top sales awards and<br />
received honors from her peers, including the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> and Jefferson boards of Realtors. In 1995,<br />
Corrigan took the reins as president of the 3,000-<br />
member <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Metropolitan Association of<br />
Realtors. At that time the organization was only a year<br />
old, the result of a merger between the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
and Jefferson groups.<br />
She helped steer the nascent organization and the<br />
MLS expanded to include the North Shore during her<br />
tenure.<br />
Corrigan is also a member of the Society of<br />
Industrial and Office Realtors, an affiliation she has had<br />
for more than 15 years. In 1997, she served as president<br />
of its Louisiana/Mississippi/Alabama chapter.<br />
In her free time, Corrigan volunteers with several theater<br />
organizations and Jefferson Parish Little League.<br />
— Faith Dawson
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Women of the Year 19A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Elizabeth Coulon<br />
Position: co-owner, Louisiana Casting Database LLC<br />
Family: single<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in communications, University of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
At age 26, Elizabeth Coulon spied a niche in the state’s<br />
newly hatching film industry that was ripe for development.<br />
With her partner, Timothee Hammond, Coulon<br />
founded Louisiana Casting, an “incubator” project<br />
through which Coulon and Hammond help Louisiana<br />
film projects find extras among local citizens.<br />
“We’re a casting company,” said Coulon. “Production<br />
companies come in town and they hire us to cast featured<br />
extras and stand-ins for their films. We work closely with<br />
producers and directors to deliver the right look; each<br />
company is different.”<br />
Louisiana Casting also maintains an Internet database<br />
with names and profiles of aspiring extras, a step<br />
up from the reams of paper with stapled Polaroid portraits<br />
for actors’ files.<br />
The project snowballed from the partners’ work<br />
experience in the casting office of the Ray Charles<br />
movie, “Ray.” Though she was no longer officially affiliated<br />
with a specific movie project, Coulon said that<br />
film’s extras continued to approach her about additional<br />
work. So in August 2003, she and Hammond organized<br />
the leftover files from the movie; which served as<br />
the beginning of the Louisiana Casting office. Since<br />
then, they have established a core of people interested<br />
in film work and have helped those people understand<br />
the film industry — for example, that each production<br />
day can last from 12 to 16 hours.<br />
“Because we’re local we understand the look of local <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> people,” Coulon added. “We did ‘The Skeleton<br />
Key’— where they wanted ‘bayou faces.’...If you’re not from<br />
here,you don’t really know what bayou faces are.We can stay<br />
away from the cliches....We’ll go where we need to go to find<br />
the right type of people.”But,she said,Louisiana is special in<br />
that its residents offer a variety of looks.<br />
Coulon cites the tax incentives that production companies<br />
receive for filming in Louisiana as crucial to the<br />
success of her company. If there were no incentives,<br />
Louisiana would attract far fewer films, she said. But for<br />
the extras, the project is a labor of love.<br />
“People just do it — I mean, it’s fun. They’re obviously<br />
not doing it for the money; as far as extras go, you<br />
don’t get paid all that much,” she said.<br />
Louisiana Casting is housed in the Nims Center<br />
Studios at the Robert E. Nims Center for Entertainment<br />
Arts and Multimedia Technology in Harahan.<br />
— Faith Dawson
20A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Virginia ‘Gini’ Davis<br />
Position: president/owner, Crescent <strong>City</strong> Physical Therapy and Sports Rehabilitation Services Inc.<br />
Family: son, Bret Davis, 35; granddaughter, Avery, 8<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in physical education, University of California at Los Angeles;<br />
master’s in health science, Ball State University; certificate in physical therapy,<br />
U.S. Army Medical Field Service School<br />
Gini Davis followed a winding career path before starting<br />
a business in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>. After serving as a captain in the<br />
U.S. Army during the Vietnam era, she worked 15 years in<br />
the physical therapy profession around the country before<br />
settling in the Crescent <strong>City</strong>.<br />
“<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> has been a really wonderful place,” she<br />
said. “As a native Californian, this has been a place I really<br />
never thought I would have ended up, but it’s been a great<br />
place for me to have a business.”<br />
Davis established Crescent <strong>City</strong> Physical Therapy over<br />
21 years ago, and the business has grown into one of the<br />
area’s largest therapy practices with five outpatient locations<br />
in the Greater <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> area. She also owns a<br />
rehabilitation supply company and a shoe company,<br />
Perfect Fit Shoes, catering to women who are looking for<br />
comfort and style.<br />
Davis has also extended CCPT offerings to encompass<br />
prevention, wellness and fitness services such as Pilates,<br />
personal training and therapeutic massage.<br />
“We’re part of a profession that has something to offer<br />
everybody, from newborns ... until you’re close to death,”<br />
said Davis.<br />
As an advocate of exercise and an avid runner, Davis’<br />
name is well known among regular participants in the<br />
Crescent <strong>City</strong> Classic. She writes a training guide for the 10-<br />
kilometer race each year and offers fitness tips through various<br />
media outlets. Her volunteer efforts have helped numerous<br />
runners train for the event since its inception in 1979.<br />
“The Classic is one of the ways that people can start<br />
with some exercise on an easy plan over a number of<br />
months with a goal,” said Davis.<br />
After participating in a radio broadcast at the starting<br />
line of the 2004 Crescent <strong>City</strong> Classic, Davis walked in the<br />
race for the first time. In doing so, she was exposed to a<br />
new stratum of exercise enthusiast.<br />
“Those people in the back are having a great time,”<br />
she said.<br />
Davis views the Crescent <strong>City</strong> Classic as a prime<br />
opportunity for <strong>New</strong> Orleanians to begin an exercise<br />
regiment. She encourages walkers to cover a six-mile<br />
distance (nearly the length of the CCC) once a week<br />
and shorter distances twice a week. Davis believes<br />
everyone could still partake in the guilty pleasures<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> has to offer in moderation if they stuck to<br />
such a routine.<br />
“It’s wonderful to see people discover or rediscover<br />
later on in their life that they can do this,” she said.<br />
— Greg LaRose
Women of the Year 21A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Stephanie Dupuy<br />
Position: director of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Office of Film and Video<br />
Family: single<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in communications, Loyola University; master’s in drama-communications,<br />
University of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>; Ph.D. in art history, film history and intellectual history, University of Texas<br />
With 15 films now in production in the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
area, it’s a wonder Stephanie Dupuy has time to sleep,<br />
much less do anything else. But after two years of work<br />
in the Mayor’s Office of Film and Video, Dupuy is<br />
used to the craziness that accompanies her position. In<br />
fact, she loves it.<br />
“I’m a one-person office but I love my job,” said Dupuy.<br />
With more than 20 years of experience in the film<br />
business, Dupuy said she loves tackling new projects.<br />
A love of movies and architecture, instilled in her by<br />
her father from a young age, helps her scout locations<br />
and has aided her in wooing productions to the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> area.<br />
“Because I know the area so well, I’m able to scout<br />
locations and convince people to film here, whether the<br />
movie is set here or not,” said Dupuy. “I like snaking<br />
movies away. The Ray Charles movie that was just<br />
filmed here was all set to film in Georgia. Offices were<br />
open, people were hired, but I convinced them that<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> was a better choice.”<br />
Though her job comes with many perks, like making<br />
friends with celebrities such as Robert Duvall and<br />
Francis Ford Coppola, Dupuy said the biggest bonus is<br />
the thrill and satisfaction she gets from being able to<br />
help local talent break into the movie industry.<br />
“My job is a very direct way to bring fulfilling employment<br />
to <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>. I think the economic flourishment<br />
it brings is just as important as the artistic one,” she said.<br />
In addition to helping the artistic talent of the area<br />
thrive, Dupuy said she loves seeing things that bear her<br />
imprint on the big screen.<br />
When she’s not involved in the movie business,<br />
Dupuy donates her time to the Cystic Fibrosis<br />
Foundation, the Faulkner Society, the Creative Arts<br />
Council and the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Film Festival.<br />
Dupuy also spends her time renovating her 1870s<br />
house in the Garden District, an area of the city she<br />
says she’s very passionate about. She also collects<br />
works of “the great artists in the region” and “sharing<br />
the joy of life” with her Dalmatian and “domestic partner,”<br />
Balthazar.<br />
— Nicole Haase
22A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Anita Gilford<br />
Position: founder/executive director, Angels’ Place<br />
Family: husband, Marion Gilford; sons, Chad Busha, 32, and Marques Gilford, 22<br />
Education: R.N., Touro Infirmary School of Nursing; bachelor’s degree in nursing, Holy Cross College;<br />
master’s degree in nursing, University of South Alabama<br />
Anita Gilford was a surgical nurse at Ochsner Clinic<br />
Foundation Hospital for 14 years before moving to the<br />
home healthcare field. When her son, Marques, was<br />
diagnosed with cancer at age 11, she was forced to<br />
experience what she could not even bear to witness as<br />
a medical professional.<br />
“I always said I could never be a pediatric oncology<br />
nurse, a nurse taking care of children with cancer,” she said.<br />
Watching her son go through spinal taps, surgery<br />
and chemotherapy, Gilford recognized her calling. She<br />
made a promise to God to build a respite center for<br />
children with cancer and to spend the rest of her life<br />
helping seriously and terminally ill children.<br />
“When that happened, a complete feeling of peace<br />
came over me,” she said. “I knew I was going to be able<br />
to handle everything.”<br />
Gilford’s vision was Angels’ Place, an organization that<br />
provides end-of-life care for children with terminal illnesses.<br />
While working weekends in hospice care, she<br />
formed the non-profit entity and operated it out of her<br />
own home. Since 1993, Angels’ Place has provided families<br />
with support as they cope with caring for a gravely ill<br />
child. The assistance comes in the form of support services<br />
and links to community resources to meet the physical,<br />
emotional, social and spiritual needs of the family.<br />
Over the last 11 years, Angels’ Place has helped nearly<br />
300 children and more than 450 family members.<br />
The next phase of Gilford’s plan for Angels’ Place is<br />
the construction of a home to provide parents and children<br />
with a facility for respite care and services. She has<br />
worked with state lawmakers to pass one measure to<br />
establish such a site and another to set up procedures<br />
that will allow others to follow her example. It will be<br />
the first such center of its type in the country.<br />
Gilford has already persuaded others to support her<br />
vision. The annual “Trunk or Treat” fund-raiser at Zephyr<br />
Field and two CDs with compilations of local bands are<br />
just a sample of the backing Angels’ Place has received.<br />
Gilford said her faith has been at the core of her<br />
vision for Angels’ Place, and its embodiment is that<br />
Marques, now 22 years old, is alive and healthy.<br />
“I know what these parents are going through and I<br />
just want to help them in any way I can,” she said.<br />
— Greg LaRose
Women of the Year 23A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Dana Meeks Hansel<br />
Position: executive vice president, First Bank and Trust<br />
Family: husband, Steve Hansel<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in finance, Louisiana State University;<br />
master’s degree in business administration, University of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>; Series 7 license<br />
Banking in the 21st century is about a whole lot more than<br />
allocating capital and collecting loan payments. It involves<br />
building personal relationships and interpreting complex<br />
data, taking well-researched risks and acting as a confidant<br />
and adviser to businesses that rely on the bank. Dana Meeks<br />
Hansel, an executive vice president at First Bank and Trust,<br />
represents the new face of banking in these times.<br />
“I am responsible for commercial lending, loan closing<br />
and trust private banking,” she said. “In today’s world,<br />
banking is about developing long-term, profitable and<br />
mutually reciprocal relationships. With First Bank, we<br />
have found our niche in one-on-one consulting banking.”<br />
Hansel’s typical day involves a variety of meetings and<br />
oversight of customer calls with lenders. “I am busy with<br />
a lot of report reading and analyzing what the data means,<br />
specifically trend analysis and trying to assess how to<br />
maximize earnings and customer service,” she said.<br />
As a member of the executive management team,<br />
Hansel is responsible for helping shape the overall<br />
strategy of First Bank and Trust.<br />
“The key to success is, first and foremost, having a<br />
great team,” she said. “It is important to emphasize<br />
teamwork. I believe in empowering people that work<br />
for me so that they can maximize their strengths, and I<br />
can work with them from a mentoring standpoint.”<br />
This perspective can also be seen in Hansel’s<br />
involvement with volunteer organizations.<br />
“I have been involved in several organizations at<br />
ground zero and helped them grow. Then I am a firm<br />
believer in recruiting new people, mentoring them and<br />
stepping aside,” she said.<br />
Hansel helped develop Dress for Success — a not-forprofit<br />
organization that provides low-income women<br />
with business clothing, the Krewe of Muses and the local<br />
chapter of Commercial Women in Real Estate. She is currently<br />
the chairwoman for the Louisiana Museum<br />
Foundation’s upcoming gala and sits on the board of<br />
directors for the local Make-A-Wish foundation.<br />
Regarding Make-A-Wish, Hansel said, “Once you<br />
meet a child that you’ve helped make a wish come true,<br />
you are hooked for life.”<br />
Hansel has been with First Bank and Trust since<br />
1999. She is married and considers reading and travel<br />
two of her favorite hobbies. A recent trip to Brazil<br />
stands out in her mind as refreshing time well spent.<br />
— Billy Thinnes
24A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Lane Hindermann<br />
Position: owner, Real Estate Consortium<br />
Family: single<br />
Education: attended the former Soule <strong>Business</strong> College, <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>, the University of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> and<br />
Loyola University <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>; licensed real estate broker in Louisiana and Wyoming<br />
You get an inkling of the independent spirit that drives<br />
Lane Hindermann from her decision to expand her <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> real estate business to a location more than 1,400<br />
miles away.<br />
In 2001, Hindermann moved to Jackson, Wyo., and<br />
opened a branch of her company, the Real Estate<br />
Consortium.<br />
“I had fallen in love with the mountains and the way of<br />
life out there,” said Hindermann, who launched the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong>-based commercial brokerage firm in 1983.<br />
Hindermann stayed in Wyoming for more than a year,<br />
while her sister ran the day-to-day operations at the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> office. She returned to help the flagship business<br />
recover from the market downturn in the wake of the Sept.<br />
11, 2001, terrorist attacks.<br />
Since 1987, the primary business of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
office has come from the medical industry, although<br />
Hindermann also deals in retail and office space for other<br />
types of clients. The Wyoming office handles residential as<br />
well as commercial sales.<br />
Hindermann spent four years in the 1970s as a secretary<br />
for Lyons Hudson Architects, always envisioning a<br />
career change at some point. “I knew I didn’t want to be a<br />
secretary all of my life,” she said.<br />
After receiving her real estate license through the firm’s<br />
in-house real estate school, she was hired in 1978 as a residential<br />
agent for Wagaspack Pratt, one of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>’<br />
premier architectural firms at the time. In 1979, she went<br />
to work in the commercial division at Latter & Blum,<br />
working as both a salesperson and property manager<br />
before starting her own business.<br />
Hindermann is a member of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
Metropolitan Association of Realtors and the Teton<br />
County Board of Realtors in Wyoming. She also belongs<br />
to the commercial investment division of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
Board of Realtors, the Louisiana Realtors Association and<br />
the Wyoming Association of Realtors.<br />
A former art and art history student at Loyola<br />
University, Hindermann recently launched L&B Designs,<br />
an artistic partnership with a friend, Beth Christina, who<br />
also is a real estate broker. Hindermann concentrates primarily<br />
on the business end of the partnership, while<br />
Christina produces the art: oils on canvas with whimsical<br />
animal themes.<br />
Hindermann counts earning her first broker’s license<br />
and “being on my own for almost 25 years” as her most<br />
gratifying career accomplishments.<br />
“I’ve competed with the big houses ... and survived<br />
through a whole lot of cycles in this business,” she said.<br />
— Sonya Stinson
Women of the Year 25A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Andrea Huseman<br />
Position: commercial leasing and brokerage specialist, Corporate Realty Inc.<br />
Family: husband, Jeffrey; sons Alexander, 12, and Devon, 9<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in psychology, <strong>New</strong>comb College of Tulane University;<br />
Certified Commercial Investment Member<br />
At first glance, there may not appear to be a connection<br />
between Andrea Huseman’s college studies in psychology<br />
and education and her eventual career in commercial real<br />
estate, but the West Hartford, Conn., native used her college<br />
background to become attuned to each client’s personality<br />
and preferences.<br />
“I enjoyed working with businesses in determining their<br />
short term and long term needs,” she said. “By being in<br />
commercial real estate, one is able to work with individuals<br />
to successfully complete their objectives for investments.”<br />
Huseman’s father was also an influence, she said, as he<br />
was an investor in real estate holdings.<br />
Commercial real estate was a successful career choice.<br />
The Louisiana Board of Realtors honored Huseman with<br />
a Diamond Award in 1989 for the highest value of all commercial<br />
leases in a year. She has also won the Ruby Award<br />
in 1988 and 1990 for the largest number of commercial<br />
lease transactions in a year, and the Commercial Industrial<br />
Division Special Achievement Award in 1997 and 1998<br />
for the highest single lease value.<br />
“A broker is not just crunching numbers but also finding<br />
space that meets the needs of their clients,” Huseman says.<br />
Along with real estate attorney Marie Moore, Huseman<br />
co-founded the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> chapter of Commercial Real<br />
Estate Women network in 2002. The organization’s membership<br />
consists primarily of women in a variety of professions<br />
and industries that are involved in real estate. In<br />
February, as chapter president, she co-chaired the host<br />
committee when the national CREW winter delegate<br />
meeting came to <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>.<br />
Along with the networking opportunities her CREW<br />
affiliation provides, Huseman lauds the group’s commitment<br />
to community service.<br />
“What attracted me to CREW is that they believe not<br />
only in taking care of yourself but also in taking care of others,”<br />
she said.<br />
Each June, <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> CREW holds a major fundraiser,<br />
with proceeds for the past three years going to Dress<br />
for Success, a not-for-profit organization that provides<br />
low-income women with business clothing. During this<br />
year’s holiday season, CREW will hold a benefit for Girls<br />
First, a local organization that sponsors a summer camp<br />
and workshops for inner-city girls.<br />
Huseman is a board member of the <strong>New</strong>comb Alumni<br />
Association and past board member of Jewish Family<br />
Services of Greater <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>. In 1999, she and her sister<br />
started the Florie Gale Arons Poetry Endowment at<br />
<strong>New</strong>comb College, in honor of their mother’s 70th birthday.<br />
The siblings plan to use money from the sale of Florie<br />
Arons’ book of poetry, which was published after her<br />
death, to help fund scholarships for <strong>New</strong>comb students.<br />
— Sonya Stinson
26A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Ellen Kempner<br />
Position: vice president and management supervisor, Peter A. Mayer Advertising<br />
Family: husband, Lee Sucherman; daughters, Jamie, 19, and Emily, 14<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in communications, American University (summa cum laude)<br />
The personification of the credo “busy is better” can be<br />
found by locating Ellen Kempner. A vice president and<br />
management supervisor at Peter A. Mayer Advertising,<br />
Kempner uses words like “juggle” and “troubleshoot” and<br />
phrases like “great palate of activities” to describe the hectic<br />
professional and personal pace of life she embraces.<br />
“During my typical day I manage a group of eight<br />
account service people and a host of clients,” Kempner<br />
said. “On the account service side, we are the liaisons<br />
between our clients and the agency. Specifically, I meet<br />
with clients, help develop marketing plans, engage in<br />
team leadership and put out lots of lots of fires — both<br />
internal and external.”<br />
Kempner’s group typically manages eight to 10<br />
clients. In her role as an executive and supervisor, she<br />
coordinates the talent in her group — the media people,<br />
the creative folks, the traffic professionals and<br />
account services managers.<br />
“I like to develop a partnership relationship so that<br />
we are all (client and firm) working toward a common<br />
goal,” she said. “I treat people the way I want to be<br />
treated, with respect, understanding and kindness. I<br />
think I am good at developing relationships with clients<br />
in an environment that is mutually trusting and rewarding<br />
and at the same time I always want to represent the<br />
company that I work for in the best possible light.”<br />
Kempner’s work at Peter A. Mayer only represents<br />
about a third of her life. The remaining two-thirds are<br />
divided between family and volunteer work. She has<br />
two daughters, Jamie, who is attending Southern<br />
Mississippi, and Emily, a freshman at McGehee. Her<br />
husband of 23 years, Lee, receives heaping praise for<br />
his supportive role in her life.<br />
“I could not have done what I have done or become<br />
the person I am if it weren’t for Lee being here and helping<br />
me hold down the fort at home,” Kempner said.<br />
On the volunteer side, Kempner is on the board of<br />
trustees for the Louisiana SPCA and the Touro<br />
Synagogue. She is also active with the United Way and<br />
a past president of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Advertising Club.<br />
“Being very involved in the community through volunteering<br />
and giving something back, that’s just a part<br />
of my DNA,” Kempner said. “Doing things to help<br />
people or help animals, those are things that I am really<br />
passionate about.”<br />
— Billy Thinnes
Women of the Year 27A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Laura Lee Killeen<br />
Position: executive vice president of marketing and advertising, Beuerman Miller Fitzgerald<br />
Family: single<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in journalism, University of Georgia<br />
For Laura Lee Killeen,nothing is more significant than maintaining<br />
the highest ethical standards in everything she does.<br />
“That’s really important to me. If one person conducts<br />
themselves improperly, the whole industry suffers,”<br />
said Killeen.<br />
A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> native, Killeen grew up in the advertising<br />
business. Her grandfather, Joseph L. Killeen,<br />
helped found the original Fitzgerald Advertising Inc.,<br />
and her father, Buzzy Killeen, is a legend in <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> advertising.<br />
With Beuerman Miller Fitzgerald since 1990,<br />
Killeen has worked with such <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> clients as<br />
Tabasco, CDM Coffee and Chicory, Zatarain’s, Le<br />
Meridien Hotel and Lagasse Inc.<br />
Killeen is a member of the Advertising Club of <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> and was presented the American Advertising<br />
Federation’s Silver Medal for Lifetime Achievement in<br />
1999. She has also been named Top Executive of the<br />
Year, Account Executive of the Year and received<br />
numerous industry awards.<br />
In addition, Killeen is a past board member of the<br />
Contemporary Arts Center, the World Trade Center<br />
and the Better <strong>Business</strong> Bureau. She was also a creative<br />
consultant for the United Way of Greater <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
and volunteered her creative services to the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> Center for Creative Arts, Longue Vue Gardens<br />
and the United AIDS Task Force.<br />
According to Killeen, if someone asks her to volunteer<br />
and she has the time, she will do it. In Killeen’s<br />
nomination form, Sydney Besthoff, a contributor to the<br />
Contemporary Arts Center and former CEO of K&B<br />
Drug Stores said, “In my opinion, Laura Lee Killeen<br />
was one of the most dedicated volunteers that I was<br />
privileged to bring into the CAC. Her objectivity, professionalism<br />
and commitment were a major factor in<br />
fulfilling the marketing needs of the CAC in its transitional<br />
years and long-term growth strategies.”<br />
Killeen also champions causes for mental retardation,<br />
an area close to her heart as her brother, Michael,<br />
is developmentally disabled.<br />
Killeen said her job is not for everyone.<br />
“You have to love it. I am kind of married to it. It<br />
really has been my life,” she said. “You get to see a<br />
result. You see sales go up or see a client get publicity. I<br />
really like that about my job.”<br />
— Nicole Haase
28A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Janice Kishner<br />
Position: chief operating officer and nurse executive, East Jefferson General Hospital<br />
Family: husband, Stephen; daughter, Robin<br />
Education: registered nurse diploma, Dawson College; bachelor’s degree in health and social service administration, McGill University;<br />
bachelor’s and master’s degrees in health arts, master’s degree in business administration, University of St. Francis, Metairie campus;<br />
Johnson & Johnson Fellows Program in Management for Nurse Executives, Wharton School of <strong>Business</strong>, University of Pennsylvania<br />
Janice Kishner, who comes from a family of nurses,<br />
came of age at a time when a woman’s most likely career<br />
choice was either nursing or teaching.<br />
Kishner chose the former course, and she has built<br />
an outstanding career in nursing and health administration<br />
that spans more than 30 years.<br />
Born in Montreal, Kishner first came to Louisiana in<br />
1983, spending a year in nursing at Bossier Medical<br />
Center in Bossier <strong>City</strong> before arriving in the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> area.<br />
She has been at East Jefferson General Hospital since<br />
1984, starting as unit director of pediatrics and pediatric<br />
intensive care. A string of promotions included<br />
becoming vice president/nurse executive in 2000 and<br />
senior vice president of clinical operations in 2003. She<br />
was appointed to her current position as chief operating<br />
officer and nurse executive in May 2004.<br />
Under Kishner’s leadership, the American Nurses<br />
Association awarded East Jefferson the “Magnet<br />
Hospital” designation for excellence in nursing in June<br />
2002, the first for a Louisiana hospital.<br />
“My job is to make sure that all of the tools, supplies<br />
and procedures run smoothly, so that all of the ‘white<br />
noise’ people sometimes face in trying to get the job<br />
done isn’t there,” Kishner said, alluding to the variety<br />
of glitches that can interfere with patient care.<br />
With a long list of educational credentials already<br />
under her belt, Kishner is now pursuing a master of<br />
nursing degree at Loyola University in order to comply<br />
with a new requirement for chief nurses at magnet facilities.<br />
She also plans to pursue a doctorate in organizational<br />
development at Tulane University.<br />
A certified personal trainer, Kishner works out daily<br />
and advises friends on their exercise regimens. She also<br />
enjoys bike riding and is gearing up for the “Tour de<br />
Cure” in support of the American Diabetes Association<br />
next spring.<br />
As impressive as Kishner’s achievements are, what<br />
matters most to her isn’t highlighted on her résumé.<br />
“It’s the day-to-day moments when people say, ‘I<br />
really appreciate your support,’ ” Kishner said. “It’s not<br />
the big moments. It’s the recognition people give me<br />
for having made something work for them.”<br />
— Sonya Stinson
Women of the Year 29A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Dr. Susan Krantz<br />
Position: dean, College of Liberal Arts, University of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
Family: single<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in English, <strong>New</strong>comb College, master’s degree in English,<br />
Mississippi State University, Ph.D. in English Renaissance literature, Tulane University<br />
Susan Krantz doesn’t list becoming the first female dean<br />
of the College of Liberal Arts and only the second female<br />
dean in University of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>’ history as her accomplishments.<br />
For her, the job she does is important because it helps<br />
create a time capsule of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>.<br />
“I see my role as someone who celebrates all the arts<br />
and culture of this city and helps the city by doing so,”<br />
she said. “The College of Liberal Arts of UNO is<br />
absolutely critical to the growth and development of this<br />
city. I see us as a real leader in jazz, fine arts, communications<br />
and film making, and we are vital to the perpetuation<br />
of the heritage of the city of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>.”<br />
Krantz says UNO is a leader in these areas and her job<br />
is to ensure it stays that way.<br />
“A place like <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> that’s so rich and has so<br />
much heritage — we’re (UNO) right out there. I hope to<br />
keep us at the forefront,” she said.<br />
With UNO since 1987, Krantz is involved in many<br />
facets of on campus life. She began teaching at UNO in<br />
English and Women’s Studies. In addition to being a professor,<br />
she has served as a member of the UNO Executive<br />
Committee, the Academic Deans Council, and the<br />
Committee on <strong>New</strong> University Center as well as coordinator<br />
for Retention Initiatives and Student Persistence. Prior<br />
to being named dean, she served as vice chair of the<br />
University Senate, associate chair of the Department of<br />
English and chair of the Faculty Council Committee on<br />
Student Publications.<br />
In addition to her service to UNO, Krantz has served<br />
on the Louisiana Unit Advisory Board that advises the<br />
Board on Elementary and Secondary Education on colleges<br />
of education accreditation. She was an examiner for<br />
the Louisiana State Board of Examiners for Higher<br />
Education and a liaison for the UNO College of Liberal<br />
Arts with the Louisiana Blue Ribbon Commission on<br />
Teacher Quality.<br />
Honored as a Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Honoree by the<br />
UNO Chapter in 2001, Krantz has also received the UNO<br />
Summer Scholar Award and the UNO Alumni Award for<br />
Excellence in Teaching.<br />
Krantz is well published, having had her research on<br />
areas as varied as Renaissance drama and culture, stage-tofilm<br />
adaptations, Shakespeare and curriculum and gender<br />
issues published in various books, magazines, reviews and<br />
newsletters. She also authors and edits many of UNO’s inhouse<br />
publications.<br />
— Nicole Haase
30A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Angelique LaCour<br />
Position: president, Discover Films Inc.<br />
Family: daughter Lauren Lastrapes, 24; son Mark Lastrapes, 22<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in elementary education, Loyola University<br />
Educational filmmaking was not what Angelique<br />
LaCour planned to do with her professional life. After<br />
earning her degree in education in 1976 from Loyola<br />
University, she taught parochial school for three years.<br />
Then, as a stay-at-home mom, she began working as a<br />
freelance journalist.<br />
While researching a story for The Times-Picayune<br />
about rape, she made an unexpected discovery. She<br />
noticed there was a high incidence of cases in which the<br />
victims knew their attackers.<br />
“This was the late ’80’s,” she said, “and no one really<br />
was talking about acquaintance rape.”<br />
After more research, LaCour said she felt the need to do<br />
something about it. She set on a new life course, one that<br />
would marry her interest in finding a new profession with<br />
her commitment to the community and the well being of<br />
children in particular. She made a short film on the subject.<br />
After a run on PBS, LaCour began submitting the film<br />
to the educational market. When more than 20 companies<br />
wanted to distribute the film to high schools and colleges,<br />
she realized she had embarked on a new career. In 1993<br />
she made another film, “What’s Wrong with Tobacco,”<br />
and saw immediate growth.<br />
“We took off from there,” she said.<br />
Today, Discover Films Video, LaCour’s <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>based<br />
production company, makes educational videos<br />
designed to target at-risk children from all social strata.<br />
LaCour has produced more than 25 films for national<br />
distribution tackling difficult issues from tobacco and<br />
drug abuse to rape and sexual abstinence.<br />
While LaCour has found unexpected success in promoting<br />
education through Discover Films Video, she is<br />
also committed to nonprofit educational work. She is the<br />
founder and chairwoman of the Children’s Health<br />
Initiative, which has the mission of promoting healthy<br />
lifestyles for youth and their families through prevention<br />
education and cessation awareness.<br />
LaCour said her motivation in her professional and<br />
community service ventures springs from the same place<br />
— “making a difference.”<br />
She adds that one thing important for young women<br />
just starting a career is to “never let our work, career or<br />
whatever you call what you do for a paycheck totally<br />
define you. If you do what you love, the money will come.<br />
It always works out that way.”<br />
— Matt Jones
Women of the Year 31A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Janet E. Larson<br />
Position: neonatologist, staff scientist, director, Ochsner Children’s Research Institute<br />
Family: husband, Craig; son, Isaac, 10; step-daughters, Amy, 33, and Karen, 27<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in anthropology, University of Nebraska;<br />
master’s degree in neonatology, University of Nebraska College of Medicine<br />
“Out of control” was the name of a sailboat Dr. Janet<br />
Larson and her husband, Craig, used to race.<br />
The name fit, said Larson. “We sailed out of control.”<br />
Though Larson and her husband have long retired<br />
from their fast-paced hobby, she is still at the helm of<br />
another activity she loves: caring for babies, inside and<br />
outside the womb. Larson is the head of Ochsner<br />
Children’s Research Institute.<br />
Among other contributions, Larson is credited as<br />
the co-inventor of in-utero gene therapy, which was<br />
patented in 2002.<br />
“We realized that babies in the womb could breathe<br />
and swallow,” which makes them prone to cystic fibrosis<br />
disease, said Larson. “It’s primarily a lung disease<br />
and is inherited. It is the most common lung disease,<br />
and one in 20 people is a carrier.”<br />
By inserting the healthy genes into the amniotic fluid,<br />
the baby takes them in through the lungs, said Larson.<br />
Larson has published 25 original scientific articles<br />
and has been featured on Dutch Education<br />
Television, Discovery Health and programs about<br />
cystic fibrosis therapy.<br />
Larson attributes her success to a balance between<br />
constant researching and practicing clinical medicine,<br />
which she said are complimentary.<br />
“Because I do research, it helps me take care of my<br />
patients. It makes me a better physician and doctor,”<br />
she said. “I also find that I’m always questioning<br />
things, rather than going into things blind. And<br />
because I do clinical medicine, it helps me do research<br />
and become a better researcher.”<br />
Larson has received the National Institutes of Health<br />
Clinical Investigator Award and a National Institutes of<br />
Child Health Research Grant, and was named<br />
Louisiana Technologist of the Year.<br />
Larson isn’t the only family member involved with<br />
medicine. Her husband is a professor of medicine at<br />
Louisiana State University’s Health Science Center.<br />
Larson began practicing yoga and meditation a couple<br />
of years ago, and said it’s still a work in progress.<br />
She also pursues kayaking enthusiastically.<br />
She is also involved with the Southern Society for<br />
Pediatric Research and the Pontchartrain Yacht Club.<br />
But she insisted that she and Craig are finished with<br />
racing. “We like to watch our son, Isaac, race.”<br />
— Chris Anderson
2 eyes,<br />
2 ears,<br />
12 perfect toes.<br />
And he even has his mother’s horn. Meet Satchmo, the<br />
baby rhino. He’s just one of the new arrivals here at the<br />
Zoo. We’ve got jaguar cubs, a sea lion pup, and a whole<br />
host of other newborns. So bring your kids to meet<br />
ours and see how wild childhood can be.<br />
auduboninstitute.org<br />
Audubon Zoo<br />
A Facility of Audubon Nature Institute<br />
On December 13 <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong><br />
will explore critical areas of the<br />
legal industry and ask question<br />
that will impact the future of<br />
our legal market.<br />
L E G A L<br />
S E R V I C E S<br />
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• How can current legal professionals get ahead?<br />
• How is technology affecting the practice of law in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>?<br />
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• How does the public view the law business?<br />
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We will answer these questions and more<br />
in this important supplement to <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong>.<br />
FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION CALL CHARLOTTE BENTON AT 293.9735
Women of the Year 33A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Diane Lyons<br />
Position: president, Accent on Children’s Arrangements<br />
Family: husband, John; sons John III and Thomas<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in education, Louisiana State University<br />
Diane Lyons, president of Accent on Children’s<br />
Arrangements, parlayed <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>’ reputation as a<br />
top convention destination into a vacation opportunity<br />
for families.<br />
Lyons had worked in the destination-management<br />
industry since 1977. But in 1990 she decided to target<br />
conventioneers with children in tow, children who often<br />
had no plans or activities to keep them busy.<br />
Today, Accent on Children’s Arrangements employs<br />
10 people full-time and services children of conventioneers<br />
in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> and outside the city as well. Her<br />
business has been profiled in The <strong>New</strong> York Times, USA<br />
Today, the Wall Street Journal and on “Good Morning<br />
America.” But before the burst of positive press, Lyons<br />
said her own experience as a working, traveling mother<br />
encouraged her to create Accent.<br />
“You shouldn’t have to choose between family and<br />
work. You should be able to combine both. There should<br />
be more balance,” Lyons said.<br />
When other harried parents began to approach her —<br />
often having doled out plenty of money for tickets and<br />
tours to occupy their children while they were in seminars<br />
— it became clear to Lyons that on-the-go child care<br />
was needed in the community.<br />
Lyons said it has always been important to her to<br />
exceed state standards for child care. When security concerns<br />
surfaced among travelers after the Sept. 11, 2001,<br />
terrorist attacks, Lyons said she had already addressed<br />
some of those issues.<br />
“We have to do a fire drill. We have to know where we’re<br />
going to take those kids should we have a fire drill, a bomb<br />
threat,whatever....We were way ahead of the game on that.”<br />
Some conventions attract as many as 1,000 children,<br />
such as the recent McDonald’s convention in Orlando,<br />
Fla. Accent’s staff kept the youngsters busy for three days.<br />
“That’s like running a whole school of kids you don’t<br />
know,” Lyons said, adding that during the same trip she<br />
rode a roller coaster with thrills that wilted in comparison<br />
to her job of keeping the McDonald’s children organized.<br />
Because her travel prevents her from making longterm<br />
commitments to the community, Lyons arranges<br />
charitable programs in conjunction with her schedule.<br />
She took a group of inner-city children to the zoo during<br />
a meeting planners convention and asked conventioneers<br />
to have their children bring a copy of their<br />
favorite book to give away to a children’s hospital or a<br />
battered women’s shelter.<br />
— Faith Dawson
34A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Carla Major<br />
Position: director of Human Resources, Community Relations and Workplace Initiatives, Harrah’s Entertainment <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
Family: daughter Keesha, 28; son Kyle, 19<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in management, University of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
The most important and rewarding part of Carla Major’s<br />
job is being able to give back to her hometown. Born and<br />
raised in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>, Major sees her job as one way she<br />
can effect change at home.<br />
“My job is important because it makes a difference to<br />
the community that I’ve lived in all my life. The employment<br />
and promotion of locals gives many the opportunities<br />
and advantages that they’ve never had before,” she<br />
said. “We also give back to the communities themselves<br />
through grants. Every one of our employees and volunteers<br />
participate in our HERO (Harrah’s Employees<br />
Reaching Out) program. We make a difference and that’s<br />
important to me.”<br />
Major actually holds two positions at Harrah’s and<br />
each has specific responsibilities and goals.<br />
“As the director of human resources, my job is to<br />
recruit, train and retain the top talent in our community<br />
and our industry. As the director of community relations,<br />
it’s my job to ensure that we maintain Harrah’s as a great<br />
corporate citizen,” she said.<br />
Though Major might simplify her job to a few sentences,<br />
Lois Anglin said of Major in her nomination form,<br />
she “is responsible for the day-to-day operations of<br />
Harrah’s Human Resources Department (and) administers<br />
and manages the procedures, policies and community<br />
activities of HERO and all employee workplace initiatives<br />
to maintain employee morale, increase employee satisfaction<br />
and (organize) recognition programs.”<br />
Major fronted the push that led Harrah’s to be named<br />
one of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> top 10 “Employers of Choice” by<br />
<strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong>.<br />
Major volunteers and serves on the boards of many<br />
local organizations.<br />
Most recently, Major has become part of the<br />
University of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Board of the <strong>New</strong> Charter<br />
School and the UNO Foundation. In addition, she is the<br />
chairwoman of the city of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Board of<br />
Zoning, vice chairwoman of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Economic<br />
Advisory Board and a member of the UNO Education<br />
Advisory Board, the Chamber of Commerce Education<br />
Committee, the Greater <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Education<br />
Foundation, the Xavier University <strong>Business</strong> Advisory<br />
Council and the Black Heritage Festival Board. She is<br />
also on the executive board of the Council for a Better<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>/Metropolitan Area Committee.<br />
Major was a founding member of the Women’s<br />
Leadership Institute of the United Way and is a member of<br />
the Class of 2005 of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Regional<br />
Leadership Institute.<br />
— Nicole Haase
Women of the Year 35A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Marilyn Maloney<br />
Position: attorney/partner, Liskow and Lewis PLC<br />
Family: husband, the Rev. Paul F. Longstreth; son Paul David Longstreth, 33; and daughter Kimberley Longstreth, 30<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in political science, Louisiana State University (magna cum laude);<br />
juris doctorate, Paul M. Hebert LSU Law Center<br />
Marilyn Maloney admits that it was “almost a fluke” that<br />
she went to law school. When she graduated in 1972,<br />
there were few women in law school. In her class of 300,<br />
there were 10 women.<br />
While she saw many of her fellow political science<br />
graduates working as file clerks, she knew she wanted<br />
something more challenging.<br />
“There was not a lot of upward mobility,” Maloney<br />
said. “The political science department at LSU worked<br />
closely with the law school and I decided to apply.”<br />
Maloney’s career path led her to the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
law firm Liskow and Lewis. Today, she is a partner in<br />
charge of its business section.<br />
“I was the first woman at this law firm and I’ve always<br />
been treated well,” Maloney said.<br />
Maloney said her mother was the most influential person<br />
in her early life. “She was one of those ladies who did everything,<br />
volunteering to the hilt. She was a role model for me.”<br />
That is where Maloney developed her own love of<br />
volunteer work.<br />
“I volunteer a lot with my church. I also do pro<br />
bono work.”<br />
One project that she is particularly pleased to be<br />
involved with is the Ulster Project, a group which brings<br />
young people from Northern Ireland, both Catholic and<br />
Protestant, to the United States for a month.<br />
“It’s a way to build bridges in a country that is so<br />
divided,” Maloney said.<br />
Maloney said her most challenging task has been balancing<br />
her career and her family, especially with a career<br />
in law, which is not a “9 to 5 job. It’s an ongoing struggle.”<br />
Maloney is a member of the American College of Real<br />
Estate Lawyers. She is also vice president of the<br />
Louisiana State Law Institute. The institute consists of<br />
lawyers who donate time to create major legislation.<br />
“We’re helping to rewrite the law. The Louisiana Code<br />
was originally written in the 1800s and we are revising it<br />
bit by bit,” Maloney said.<br />
Maloney is active in the Louisiana Bar Foundation,<br />
which she called the charitable arm of the Bar<br />
Association. The group donates time and money to legal<br />
services around the state. “We don’t as a society provide<br />
legal services to everyone who needs it but the Bar is<br />
helping to bridge that gap. It’s a way to make a difference,”<br />
Maloney said.<br />
— Angela Johnson
36A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Lisa Maurer<br />
Position: partner at McGlinchey Stafford PLLC, Public Finance<br />
Family: single<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, Louisiana State University;<br />
juris doctorate, LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center<br />
If the idea of building a new riverfront stadium for the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Saints ever develops into fruition, Lisa<br />
Maurer wants to be involved.<br />
Maurer, who has been with McGlinchey Stafford for<br />
nine years, works in the public finance arena and has 16<br />
total years of experience in public law. With a full range<br />
of duties from the development and administration of<br />
bond programs for political subdivisions and other<br />
governmental units to acting as bond counsel, underwriters’<br />
counsel and bank counsel, Maurer has put her<br />
thumbprint on multiple <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> public projects.<br />
“It’s a type of practice where you can see a successful<br />
outcome,” Maurer said. “Over the years, the practice<br />
area has grown so much, and there’s no way to tell<br />
year in and year out how much the workload will be<br />
because it’s interest rate and need driven.”<br />
Maurer worked with the underwriters in phases three<br />
and four of the Morial Convention Center and has also<br />
worked on such projects as the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Arena,<br />
Zephyr Stadium and construction at Xavier University.<br />
The public finance arena intrigued Maurer when<br />
she started working at a Baton Rouge firm during law<br />
school. “They had a large public finance area, and I just<br />
really enjoyed it once I got my feet wet.”<br />
After her graduation, she landed with Kutak Rock, a<br />
law firm in Baton Rouge. Maurer worked there for four<br />
years before joining McGlinchey Stafford.<br />
Maurer’s community involvement includes Project<br />
Lazarus, a home for persons with HIV/AIDS who cannot<br />
take care of themselves and have no family. She just<br />
completed a six-year term on the board, helping with<br />
fundraising projects like Halloween’s in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>.<br />
“I have lost many friends to AIDS, and it’s a type of<br />
organization that is near and dear to my heart,” she said.<br />
“We all owe something back to the community.”<br />
Maurer received the Paul Plauche Award for her service<br />
in Halloween’s in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>.<br />
She is also involved with an Adopt-a-Family program,<br />
where she helps with the purchasing of<br />
Christmas gifts, food, decorations and gift certificates<br />
for the less fortunate. Through her membership with<br />
the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Bar Association, Maurer gives her<br />
time to the organization’s Secret Santa program.<br />
“It’s extremely rewarding to make a difference in<br />
people’s lives.”<br />
— Tommy Santora
Women of the Year 37A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Mary L. Meyer<br />
Position: attorney/partner, Adams and Reese LLP<br />
Family: husband, Tony; daughter, Alyse, 18; and sons Stephen, 14, and Peyton, 4<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in English, Louisiana State University;<br />
juris doctorate, Paul M. Hebert LSU Law Center<br />
Mary Meyer knew she wanted to go into the practice of<br />
law when she was still in high school.<br />
“I knew that obtaining a law degree would provide me<br />
with an excellent education not only for practicing law, but<br />
also for understanding how business and government<br />
function,” Meyer said. “I also wanted to go to law school<br />
so that I could enter into a profession that would allow me<br />
to be self-sufficient.”<br />
Meyer, a partner in the litigation practice team of<br />
Adams and Reese LLP, said her biggest challenges have<br />
been similar to those other women in business face.<br />
“While women lawyers have made great strides in the<br />
practice of law, there are still significant hurdles that women<br />
face in the practice. I am happy to say that Adams and<br />
Reese is very supportive of all its attorneys and recognizes<br />
the value that diversity brings to business,” Meyer said.<br />
Meyer has successfully defended several pharmaceutical<br />
and medical device companies in product liability claims<br />
and was lead counsel for a national insurance company<br />
involved in litigation in Louisiana. She frequently lectures<br />
locally and nationally on issues concerning products liability.<br />
Meyer is a member of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>, Louisiana,<br />
American and Federal Bar associations.<br />
In the future, Meyer would like to continue mentoring<br />
female attorneys through the practice of law and “hopefully<br />
help further the advancement of women in the profession,”<br />
she said.<br />
Meyer is active in numerous charitable organizations.<br />
She supports Muses, the American Heart Association and<br />
Adams and Reese’s volunteer community program<br />
HUGS (Hope, Understanding, Giving and Support). She<br />
is also an active member of the Women’s Leadership<br />
Counsel and United Way.<br />
She is a graduate of the United Way’s Young<br />
Leadership Development program. The program was<br />
designed to teach young professionals what is involved in<br />
being on the board of a not-for-profit organization.<br />
Meyer has taught Junior Achievement programs and<br />
continues to volunteer her time at Trinity Episcopal<br />
Church. She is also very active in Adams and Reese’s pro<br />
bono program, CA&RE (Caring Adams and Reese<br />
Employees), which helps the needy who require legal services<br />
but cannot afford representation.<br />
— Angela Johnson
38A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Kathleen Mix<br />
Position: vice chancellor of work force development and education, Delgado Community College<br />
Family: husband, Dr. Jim Diamond; daughter, Tania<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in education, University of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>; master’s degree in education, UNO<br />
When she was in high school, Kathleen Mix made a list of<br />
everything she wanted to do before she died.<br />
One item stood apart from the others: making a difference.<br />
“If I was going to do anything on that list, it was<br />
going to be that one.”<br />
For the past 25 years, Mix has been making a difference<br />
in education and workforce development, helping everyone<br />
from mentally and physically handicapped people to<br />
abused women and Maltese teenagers.<br />
Mix began her career as a teacher in Delgado<br />
University’s Rehabilitation Center, where she set in<br />
motion a handful of extracurricular programs to add vitality<br />
to the lives of those less fortunate.<br />
One program was taking her disabled students bowling<br />
on the weekends. “They lived in one of the school’s<br />
dorms and on the weekends they had nothing to do,” she<br />
said. Every Saturday, Mix and her students bowled for<br />
free. She also organized a Special Olympics track team,<br />
which won a bronze medal at the statewide meet.<br />
Mix started the Women’s Services Center to address<br />
the needs of unemployed or abused women.<br />
“The whole idea of it is to help them get back to work<br />
or back to school. It’s all about helping them get on with<br />
their lives,” she said.<br />
Mix also organized an event called Girls on the Go, a<br />
program designed to present career choices to over 200<br />
young women. Mix invited around 30 professional women,<br />
each representing a different field, to talk to the group.<br />
“I wanted to introduce them to engineers, attorneys,<br />
women in safety and health fields,” she said. “I wanted the<br />
young girls to see all of their options.”<br />
For the past six years, Mix has been speaking to teens<br />
about the diabetes problem in the Mediterranean island<br />
country of Malta.<br />
“The folks there don’t have adequate medical services,<br />
nor do they really know about the disease,” she said.<br />
One of the educational tools Mix has implemented<br />
involves a “Diabetes Rap,” a song produced by Delgado<br />
Community College.<br />
Mix is setting up an exchange program between Malta’s<br />
students and Delgado’s. “We would teach their students<br />
something like <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> history and they would teach<br />
our students medieval history,” she said.<br />
Mix said she’s excited to be a part of this year’s<br />
Women of the Year.<br />
“It validates something I’ve always wished for — to<br />
make a difference.”<br />
— Chris Anderson
Women of the Year 39A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Michelle Montz<br />
Position: owner, Cresent Commercial Mortgage<br />
Family: single<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in history, Louisiana State University<br />
Michelle Montz began her career as a commercial real<br />
estate appraiser in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> but soon her drive and<br />
determination propelled her to <strong>New</strong> York where she<br />
worked for AIG Global Real Estate Investments.<br />
“It was great,” Montz said of her time in <strong>New</strong> York.<br />
But another opportunity was brewing; AIG had<br />
opened an office in Hong Kong and needed a new executive<br />
to get things going.<br />
“I went in to work one morning and my boss asked<br />
me if I would consider moving to Hong Kong,” Montz<br />
said. She thought it over and within a few weeks she<br />
moved to Asia.<br />
“They didn’t quite know what to do with me,” Montz<br />
said. This was a new experience for the company in Asia<br />
as well as for Montz. She was the youngest executive and<br />
only woman in senior management in the company in all<br />
of Asia. “There were little things. Even the dress code had<br />
to be rewritten for me,” Montz said.<br />
After three successful years in Asia, Montz returned<br />
to <strong>New</strong> York in 1999 and handled all retail equity<br />
investments for AIG in the United States. She lived<br />
within a few blocks of the World Trade Center, where<br />
her office was located. On Sept. 11, 2001, Montz was<br />
not in Manhattan; she was in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>. “Somebody<br />
was on my side,” Montz said, having already made the<br />
decision to leave her job in <strong>New</strong> York before the terrorist<br />
attacks.<br />
“I was traveling all the time and had no personal life,”<br />
Montz said. Picking up and walking away from her lucrative<br />
career in <strong>New</strong> York was one of the biggest challenges<br />
she’s faced, but she’s happy with her choice. “Now I have<br />
more balance.”<br />
As owner of Crescent Commercial Mortgage, a commercial<br />
mortgage brokerage company in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>,<br />
she has time for community involvement such as Lindy’s<br />
Place, which helps at-risk, low-income women find housing<br />
and employment.<br />
Another project important to Montz is Dress for<br />
Success. This year she will serve as president of the organization<br />
that collects suits for low-income women to wear<br />
on job interviews, along with providing access to motivational<br />
speakers and a mentoring program.<br />
“This is our fifth year in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> and so far we’ve<br />
helped over 1,000 women. It’s a tangible way to make a<br />
difference,” Montz said. “I could sit around and complain<br />
or try to do something. Louisiana has so much potential<br />
and I’d like to see it reach it.”<br />
— Angela Johnson
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> is looking for<br />
the area’s hottest new products or services<br />
to honor in this special salute to innovation<br />
in Louisiana.<br />
This competition is open to any company<br />
that has introduced an innovative product<br />
or service since January 1, 2004.<br />
The submission deadline is<br />
May 1, 2005 - so don’t delay!<br />
louisiana<br />
innovator<br />
of the year<br />
2005<br />
presented by <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong><br />
NO PG<br />
COMPANY ________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
ADDRESS<br />
________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
CITY/STATE/ZIP ____________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
PHONE/FAX ________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
EMAIL ____________________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
Attach this form to your nomination letter, please be sure to include the following information:<br />
❏ Product or Service Description<br />
❏ Market Description For Product/Service<br />
❏ List Of People Involved In Development<br />
❏ Revenues From Product/Service in 2004<br />
❏ Projected Revenues from Product/Service in 2005<br />
❏ Source of Financing<br />
❏ What Makes the Product/Service Unique?<br />
❏ What Is The Competition for The Product/Service?<br />
❏ When Was The Product/Service First Introduced?<br />
Fax the completed entry form to (504) 832-3550, or mail to:<br />
Attention: Dawn Joseph<br />
Innovator Of The Year/<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong><br />
111 Veterans Memorial Blvd<br />
Suite 1440<br />
Metairie, LA 70005<br />
NOMINATING PARTY __________________________________________<br />
PHONE + EMAIL ____________________________________________<br />
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
NO PG<br />
RULES OF NOMINATION<br />
In order to be fully considered, please include photos or marketing kit if available (for publication purposes<br />
only) with your completed nomination form.<br />
All materials submitted become the property of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> and will not be returned. A panel<br />
of distinguished leaders will review completed nominations and make the final determination on awards.<br />
Winners will be profiled in a special supplement to <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong>, Innovator Of The Year, published July 2005.
Women of the Year 41A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Carole Cukell Neff<br />
Position: partner, Sessions, Fishman & Nathan LLP<br />
Family: husband, Richard; son Alex, 22; daughter Hilary, 17<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in elementary education, State University of <strong>New</strong> York at Buffalo (magna cum laude);<br />
juris doctorate, Tulane University<br />
As a lawyer and board certified specialist in estate planning<br />
and estate administration, Carole Neff says the most gratifying<br />
thing about her job is the satisfaction of helping others.<br />
“I find it rewarding to be able to help families and individuals<br />
to plan for a smooth and easy transition of their<br />
assets and valuables when they pass away,” Neff said.<br />
She said the most important part of her job is the extensive<br />
research and knowledge in her specialization puts her<br />
at the field’s forefront and allows her to write and speak on<br />
the subject, which she feels is vital to the industry.<br />
“I have co-authored a treatise for Louisiana lawyers in<br />
my field and it is updated annually,” she said.<br />
This treatise, “Louisiana Estate Planning, Will Drafting<br />
and Estate Administration,” has become a handbook and<br />
manual for other lawyers in her field.<br />
In addition to being an author and lecturer, Neff has<br />
served on the Louisiana State Bar Association Commission<br />
on Specialization in Estate Planning and Administration<br />
and is a member of the American College Trust and Estate<br />
Counsel. She also serves on the Louisiana State Law<br />
Institute Charitable Trust Law Subcommittee and on the<br />
Lawyers in Philanthropy Committee of the Louisiana State<br />
Bar Association. She is also a past board member of the<br />
Association for Women Attorneys and the past president of<br />
the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Estate Planning Counsel and the<br />
Professional Financial Planners of Greater <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>.<br />
Neff is also vice president of the Jewish Endowment<br />
Foundation; vice president of the Shir Chadash<br />
Synagogue Sisterhood; a member of the <strong>Business</strong> and<br />
Professional Women’s Division of the Jewish Federation<br />
of Greater <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>; a founding member, past president<br />
and membership committee co-chairwoman of the<br />
Women’s Professional Council; a member of the honor<br />
roll of the Advisors of the Greater <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
Foundation; a member of the advisory committee council<br />
to the Tulane Law School Continuing Legal Education<br />
Department; and a member of the advisory committee of<br />
the Parkinson’s Association of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>.<br />
Neff has also been honored as “Woman of the Year” by<br />
the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>Business</strong> and Professional Women’s<br />
Club as well as by the Jewish Endowment Foundation.<br />
She has been listed in “Best Lawyers in America,” published<br />
by Woodward/White Inc., since 1997.<br />
For Neff, the awards and limelight aren’t why she is<br />
committed to her career.<br />
“I like knowing that what I do gives people a piece of<br />
mind,” she said.<br />
— Nicole Haase
42A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Dr. J. Coller Ochsner<br />
Position: dermatologist<br />
Family: four dogs<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in biology, <strong>New</strong>comb College;<br />
master’s degree in dermatology, Tulane University Medical School<br />
When Dr. J. Coller Ochsner was a little girl she had two<br />
dreams — to become a great doctor and to own a lot of<br />
dogs. Looking at her life, Ochsner does not hesitate<br />
when she says, “I’m living my dreams.”<br />
Ochsner has been in private practice as a dermatologist for<br />
more than 14 years. With her father being Dr. Alton Ochsner<br />
Jr., she said she was predestined to work in medicine.<br />
After graduating from <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>’ Academy of the<br />
Sacred Heart in 1972 she went on to <strong>New</strong>comb<br />
College, where she graduated with honors and received<br />
a bachelor’s degree in biology. In 1980, she graduated<br />
from Tulane University Medical School and 10 years<br />
later she established a private practice.<br />
“I adore what I do and I’m very lucky for that,” she<br />
said. “I’ve had patients I’ve seen for 20 years and it’s<br />
amazing to see them grow up. The only sad part is<br />
when the patients you’ve seen for such long time don’t<br />
come in anymore because they’re elderly.”<br />
Ochsner exhibited such compassion at an early age<br />
when she received a letter from the Society for the<br />
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.<br />
“It tore my heart apart. It told story after story of animal<br />
abuse and abandonment,” she said. “At that point I<br />
knew I would do everything I could to help abused and<br />
homeless animals.”<br />
Ochsner began her mission while a student in medical<br />
school by helping clean out animal cages at the<br />
Louisiana SPCA shelter. Now she is one of the leading<br />
supporters and donators for the organization.<br />
“I do more financial support than anything else<br />
because it breaks my heart to actually see the animals.<br />
It’s why I didn’t become a vet and why I can’t foster<br />
abandoned animals,” she said. “Not only would I be<br />
heartbroken all the time, but my house would be full of<br />
animals because I would never be able to give them up.”<br />
Ochsner has lived in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> her entire life. She<br />
said she never had the desire to live anywhere else.<br />
“For as many things that people can say are bad about<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>, there are 20 million things that are great.”<br />
— Richard Webster
Women of the Year 43A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Stephanie Prunty<br />
Position: owner, Stephanie M. Prunty CPA, A Professional Corp.<br />
Family: cocker spaniel, Mimi<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in accounting and marketing, Loyola University;<br />
juris doctorate, Loyola University Law School<br />
Stephanie Prunty uses her professional talents to further<br />
her favorite causes. She specializes in tax and commercial<br />
law, working primarily with small business owners.<br />
“I help keep them healthy and their employees<br />
employed,” Prunty said. “I love my job.”<br />
She is on the board for <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Video Access<br />
Center, a media organization that focuses on developing<br />
children’s use of video as a potential career. Prunty also<br />
does some work for Café Reconcile, a <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
restaurant providing job training for at-risk youths.<br />
However, Prunty’s primary passion is her work with<br />
the Louisiana Society for Prevention of Cruelty to<br />
Animals. She has been affiliated with the SPCA since<br />
1998 as treasurer and is now president of its board.<br />
“It’s about quality of life for animals and making sure they<br />
are protected and taken care of,but that also impacts citizens,”<br />
Prunty said. “If you can educate people how to take care of<br />
their animals,hopefully they will take better care of themselves<br />
and learn how to treat their fellow humans as well.”<br />
Widespread animal abuse signifies many other social<br />
ills, Prunty said, making the SPCA’s job crucial to the<br />
community’s well being. Prunty lauds the staff of the<br />
SPCA as a “group of warm, dedicated, generous people<br />
who do a lot of things above and beyond for a little<br />
money.” She also praises Laura Maloney, executive director,<br />
for increasing the organization’s focus on education,<br />
adoption and legislation.<br />
“All of that improves the quality of life in the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> area,” Prunty said.<br />
In the past year, the Louisiana SPCA has increased its<br />
adoptions by 29 percent, taught 3,107 children through<br />
its Show & Tail education program and spayed or<br />
neutered nearly 4,000 dogs and cats, said Amber Bethel,<br />
development director.<br />
“Stephanie is absolutely outstanding as a leader and a<br />
humanitarian,” Bethel said. “She has been a wonderful<br />
mentor to me and to the rest of the staff and board members<br />
as well.”<br />
Prunty’s experience, diplomacy and business savvy<br />
make for the right combination of traits in what are often<br />
highly charged, emotional issues, Bethel said. “In our line<br />
of work, a lot of people tend to be ruled by emotions and<br />
concentrate on the animals and not the people,” she said.<br />
Under the tutelage of Prunty, the board and Maloney,<br />
the SPCA is operating in the black for the first time in<br />
years and earning a reputation for professionalism and<br />
community relations.<br />
— Angelle Bergeron
44A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Dr. Felicia Rabito<br />
Position: epidemiologist, clinical assistant professor, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine<br />
Family: daughters, Ara, 9, and Emily, 7<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in business administration, University of Mississippi;<br />
master’s degree in public health, Tulane University; Ph.D. in epidemiology, Tulane University<br />
Dr. Felicia Rabito is fighting for children’s safety.<br />
Not only should parents know of possible dangers<br />
their children face outside their homes, but also the<br />
unseen dangers inside a house that affect one in four children,<br />
said Rabito.<br />
After receiving $854,909 from the U.S. Department of<br />
Housing and Urban Development, Rabito and her team of<br />
researchers will spend the next three years increasing<br />
awareness of in-home sources of lead exposure and asthma<br />
triggers that pose a threat to children 4 to 11 years old<br />
in inner-city <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>.<br />
After much research, Rabito discovered one in four<br />
children in the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> area had elevated levels of<br />
lead in their blood, an effect of interior lead paint,<br />
according to Rabito. Her findings reached the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong> Council where an ordinance was passed<br />
soon after to regulate the dry sanding of lead paint on<br />
homes, schools and other buildings.<br />
Dry sanding produces lead dust that settles inside and<br />
outside homes, said Rabito. “Lead poisoning can lead to<br />
developmental delays, learning problems and succeeding<br />
in school,” said Rabito.<br />
A combination of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> weather and bad paint<br />
harvests the problem, she said. “Our hot and humid<br />
weather and a poorly painted home cause for a dangerous<br />
environment to live in.”<br />
While Rabito and her team have a firm grasp on lead<br />
poisoning, she said they still have much to learn about<br />
asthma and, according to Rabito, have their work cut<br />
out for them.<br />
“Even though we’re understanding more about asthma<br />
and have the means of treating it, the death rate from asthma<br />
has actually increased,” she said. “Simple steps can<br />
help prevent attacks.”<br />
Rabito’s work has spawned a few partnerships, including<br />
the Lead Busters program, a subdivision under the<br />
<strong>City</strong> Health Department. Also, a partnership was formed<br />
between the Tulane Center for Applied Environmental<br />
Public Health and the Daughters of Charity Health<br />
Center who worked together on the community-based<br />
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Study.<br />
Rabito has been all over the world and been engaged in<br />
different activities and research. After receiving her undergraduate<br />
degree from Tulane, Rabito worked for the Peace<br />
Corps in Africa. She later came back to Tulane to earn her<br />
masters. She then traveled to Norway to do research.<br />
But it wasn’t until she returned to <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> 10<br />
years ago, when she was pregnant with her daughter, Ara,<br />
that Rabito realized her passion for helping children.<br />
— Chris Anderson
Women of the Year 45A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Ann Rogers<br />
Position: president and owner, Sponsor One<br />
Family: single<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in marketing, University of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>; certificate in Event Marketing and Management, UNO;<br />
advanced diploma in sponsorship marketing, European Sponsorship Consultants Association<br />
Life is all about finding a niche, a concept that Ann<br />
Rogers is quite familiar with. Her company, Sponsor<br />
One, has carved out a specialized section of the marketing<br />
and communications business areas, incorporating<br />
public relations and event production into a distinctive<br />
blend.<br />
“Under the umbrella of Sponsor One, I work with<br />
companies on evaluating sponsorship proposals,” said<br />
Rogers. “There is nobody else in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> that<br />
specializes in sponsorships the way we do. What I do<br />
for my clients is look at the features of a sponsorship<br />
that are going to make both parties win; we see sponsorships<br />
as a marketing tool, not a philanthropic one.”<br />
Sponsor One’s client list includes the Audubon Nature<br />
Institute, Entergy and the National D-Day Museum. The<br />
small business is also working with Red Bull to produce<br />
the Flat Land Voodoo Jam, a BMX bike competition.<br />
Rogers is qualified to make evaluations about sponsorship<br />
benefits because of her previous work as a media<br />
buyer for a <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> advertising agency and her willingness<br />
to engage in an elite certification program.<br />
“I was the first person in the U.S. to receive an advanced<br />
diploma in sponsorship marketing from the European<br />
Sponsorships Consultants Association,” she said.<br />
One of the biggest feathers in Rogers’ hat is her work<br />
with Southern Comfort to produce the annual Southern<br />
Comfort Cocktail Tour. The tour was Rogers’ idea and<br />
she says she enjoys ownership of the event.<br />
“The cocktail tour is an annual event in August that celebrates<br />
dining and drinking in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>,” Rogers said.<br />
Her goals for Sponsor One in the future include<br />
growing the business through creating more events and<br />
holding more annual events.<br />
“I think you have to create a niche for yourself,”<br />
Rogers said. “There are a lot of really good people in<br />
this business in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>, so you have to ask yourself:<br />
‘What makes my business different?’ ”<br />
Away from the work, Rogers likes to spend quality<br />
time with her golden retriever. She also considers it<br />
relaxing to participate in triathlons and marathons.<br />
“I think it is important both in business and recreation<br />
to push yourself out of your comfort zone a little<br />
bit and see what happens,” she said.<br />
— Billy Thinnes
46A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Gail Roussel<br />
Position: president, Danzac Construction<br />
Family: husband, Danny; son Daniel, 21, and daughter Christy, 32<br />
Education: plans to earn a college degree one day<br />
Gail Roussel knows what it’s like to be told flat out that she<br />
can’t build homes because she’s a woman.<br />
But that does not deter Roussel, president of<br />
Destrehan-based Danzac Construction.<br />
Danzac Construction, a custom and speculative homebuilding<br />
company founded in March 1993, has enjoyed a<br />
continuing increase in business, Roussel said. The company<br />
averages 10 to 15 homes a year, and last year’s sales<br />
volume was $1.8 million.<br />
She said it’s been a challenge working in the male-dominated<br />
construction business for 28 years.<br />
“I still fight the gender battles in my business today. We<br />
seldom build homes for the 40- to 60-year-old age group.<br />
Men will tell us directly, ‘I can’t hire women to build my<br />
house.’ We have taken that in stride. We decided to market<br />
to the age groups that accept us, the younger and older<br />
generations,” she said.<br />
Her company builds homes exclusively in St. Charles,<br />
St. John and Jefferson parishes.<br />
Roussel, a licensed builder and a Realtor, turned to the<br />
homebuilding business after years of working in other fields.<br />
Before starting up a homebuilding business with friend<br />
Patricia Tyson, Roussel and her husband, Danny, operated<br />
various companies that were sold in 1991 and 1992.<br />
Roussel also worked as an accountant for an electrical<br />
contractor in Kenner, where she had a life-changing<br />
experience.<br />
“The electrical contractor was a long-time union contractor<br />
with older male management. Leadership training<br />
was taking place companywide at the corporate headquarters,<br />
and only the up-and-coming management staff<br />
were allowed to attend.<br />
“I received an invitation. Eventually, it was decided<br />
that another woman would be invited so I would not be<br />
by myself with all the men and that they would ‘clean up<br />
their jokes.’ I felt like I had forced a shift in the company<br />
management’s thinking and had finally broken the<br />
glass ceiling.”<br />
Roussel’s civic involvement includes working with<br />
the Center for Family and Youth Services. She also has<br />
served as a board member and officer of the<br />
Association for Retarded Citizens of St. Charles.<br />
Those causes are dear to her heart since her daughter<br />
is developmentally challenged and her son has attention<br />
deficit hyperactivity disorder.<br />
Her community involvement earned her the honor of<br />
carrying the torch for the 1996 Olympics, she said.<br />
Roussel said her husband, children and grandfather<br />
have been her inspiration and factors in her success.<br />
— Deon Roberts
Women of the Year 47A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Peggy Scott<br />
Position: executive vice president of operations and finance, chief financial officer, Pan-American Life<br />
Family: husband, Loren; daughters, Stacy and Kelly<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in accounting, Louisiana State University (magna cum laude);<br />
master’s degree in business administration, Tulane University<br />
When Peggy Scott entered the world of public accounting,<br />
the upper tier of the industry was still largely a gentlemen’s<br />
club. She broke through the glass ceiling swiftly.<br />
After just a few years in accounting and consulting at<br />
Deloitte & Touche, Scott, at age 31, became the first female<br />
managing partner in the 100-year history of the company.<br />
As a full partner and a managing partner, Scott had overall<br />
responsibility for the strategic direction, marketing and<br />
operations of the office.<br />
Scott then took her accounting skills and operational<br />
vision and stepped into the healthcare business, spending<br />
10 years as chief financial officer at Novant Health and at<br />
General Health.<br />
By the time she came to her present job five years ago at<br />
Pan-American Life, a <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> insurance company with<br />
international reach, Scott had learned all aspects of a company’s<br />
functions, including operations, product development,<br />
finance, IT, sales, treasury, human resources, benefit administration,<br />
managed care, actuarial and underwriting.<br />
This summer, Scott was promoted at Pan-American to<br />
executive vice president of operations and finance and<br />
chief financial officer.<br />
The Robert Half and Associates recruiting firm, along<br />
with the National Institute of Management Accountants,<br />
recently chose Scott as the Financial Executive of the Year<br />
in its nationwide competition. She will be featured in a<br />
full-page story in the Wall Street Journal.<br />
Scott was poised for success at an early age. In a nationwide<br />
competition with more than 106,000 nominees, Scott<br />
was named one of the 10 Outstanding Young Women in<br />
America. Scott has been named three times a Woman of<br />
Achievement by the American Society of Women<br />
Accountants, the YWCA and by Parker Pen USA Ltd.<br />
Selected on a nationwide basis for professional and business<br />
accomplishments, SAVVY Magazine selected her for<br />
its National <strong>Business</strong> Achievement Award and featured her<br />
in an article, “Profiles in Power: Six ‘Big Deal’ Women.”<br />
Scott serves on the board of directors of the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> Blood Center and is an editorial adviser for the<br />
Journal of Accountancy, where she reviews and critiques<br />
manuscripts for publication.<br />
She recently completed two years of service as an<br />
adjunct professor at Tulane University Health Sciences<br />
Center where she instructed physician executives in the<br />
masters of medical management program.<br />
Scott believes the keys to her success have been her persistence,<br />
her focus and her ability to spot opportunity.<br />
“I believe that opportunities are everywhere for people<br />
just starting their careers. As long as they are willing<br />
to complete their education and stay focused, they will<br />
surely be successful.”<br />
— Matt Jones
48A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Tara Shaw<br />
Position: owner/president, Tara Shaw to the Trade<br />
Family: Jack Shaw, a whippet<br />
Education: attended Louisiana State University<br />
<strong>Business</strong> owners often open their ledgers to gauge their<br />
growth over the years. The record of credits and debits, in<br />
most cases, tells the story.<br />
For Tara Shaw, owner and president of a wholesale<br />
antique entity bearing her name, there is more to the story<br />
than strong finances. Her business history literally has<br />
more concrete evidence of its growth.<br />
After first working out of a self-storage unit, Shaw’s<br />
increased inventory required her to move into an old cotton<br />
warehouse near the riverfront.<br />
“Those cotton warehouses were basically not open to anyone<br />
to rent,and a friend of a friend told me to go see someone<br />
at the Port of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> about the buildings,” she said.<br />
Shaw’s relocation was one of the first moves in what<br />
would become a trend of revitalizing the Warehouse<br />
District. But continued prosperity required her to seek<br />
larger accommodations. With much of her merchandise<br />
arriving in 40-foot cargo containers shipped from around<br />
the globe, she needed space to store her goods before they<br />
were ready for market.<br />
A warehouse at the corner of Camp and Thalia streets<br />
had potential in Shaw’s mind; she had seen the building<br />
numerous times when making shopping trips to the<br />
Central <strong>Business</strong> District.<br />
“It was near where the old overpass ramp had been for<br />
years, so they had knocked all the windows out,” she said.<br />
“It needed a lot of TLC.”<br />
Before acquiring the 10,000-square-foot site, Shaw<br />
sought input from residents of the largely residential<br />
neighborhood about locating a business in their midst.<br />
She said she was overjoyed when the Coliseum Square<br />
Neighborhood Association embraced her concept.<br />
Shaw’s building overhaul included pouring two new<br />
slabs and investing $54,000 in a new roof. Repairs to the<br />
building’s façade included replacing 26 large windowpanes<br />
and the addition of a signature fleur-de-lis awning.<br />
“I feel like we were an anchor building to getting things<br />
turned around here,” said Shaw.<br />
Shaw’s involvement in the Coliseum Square community<br />
did not stop once the business doors were opened. She<br />
is a supporter of Bridge House and the Victory Fellowship.<br />
Her professional interests include membership in the<br />
American Society of Interior Designers Industry Partners<br />
and the Magazine Street Merchants Association.<br />
Shaw has a faithful companion in her whippet, Jack,<br />
who descends from champion bloodlines. Bred in the St.<br />
Tammany Parish community of Bush, Jack has two predecessors<br />
that have won blue ribbons from the prestigious<br />
Westminster Kennel Club.<br />
— Greg LaRose
Women of the Year 49A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Jaye Bérard Smith<br />
Position: attorney, restaurant/hotel owner, artist, real estate developer<br />
Family: sons, Christian and Brett; daughters, Robyn and Tara<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in history and business, Loyola University; juris doctorate, Loyola University Law School<br />
The last 12 months have been cruel and kind to Jaye<br />
Bérard Smith. Her husband, Mark, passed away. She<br />
and her son, Brett, opened a new restaurant, the La<br />
Louisiane Bar and Bistro. She ramped up her production<br />
of artwork. And with Mark’s passing, she took over<br />
the daily oversight of the other businesses they owned<br />
— the St. Louis, St. Ann and Marie Antoinette hotels<br />
and the Louis XVI restaurant.<br />
Smith is an attorney who previously handled all the<br />
legal work for her various properties, so the recent<br />
expansion of responsibility was jarring.<br />
“The thing is that I never knew that I would ever have<br />
to go forward to complete the work of my husband,”<br />
Smith said. “My husband was the creative person that<br />
ran all these projects and I have had to step into his shoes<br />
and try to do what he would have done. Thankfully, I<br />
have wonderful help with all of the businesses and four<br />
children who are very involved in the operations.”<br />
Her other son, Christian, and daughters, Robyn and<br />
Tara, are assisting Smith with the development of<br />
Woodstone subdivision in Mandeville.<br />
A typical day for Smith now involves a split personality:<br />
her mornings are focused on business, her afternoons<br />
on art.<br />
“I am segueing into a new career in art,” Smith said.<br />
“All 35 of the paintings that hang in the La Louisiane<br />
are my artwork.”<br />
Smith said she will show some of her work in the<br />
near future at a gallery on Royal Street as well as at a<br />
gallery in Hollywood.<br />
“I have studied for the last 40 years with Leopold<br />
Girardy and June Lampe of the Lampe Gallery of Fine<br />
Art,” Smith says. “My work is inspired by (Gustav)<br />
Klimt and John Singer Sargent.”<br />
Smith’s community activities have been curtailed of<br />
late with her busy schedule and the mourning of her<br />
husband’s death. However, she still provides financial<br />
support to organizations she believes in, including the<br />
Covenant House, Bridge House and <strong>Orleans</strong> Mission.<br />
“I’ve had a year of widowhood. One of my greatest<br />
accomplishments to date is surviving that,” Smith said.<br />
— Billy Thinnes
50A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Kathryn Smith<br />
Position: president, Advanced Imaging Solutions Inc.<br />
Family: husband, Lynne; stepsons, Kevin, 27, and Brian, 30; son Eric, 23; and daughter, Summer, 21.<br />
Education: attended Louisiana State University; certified document image Architec<br />
Kathryn Smith is constantly reading. She just finished<br />
reading “Spin Sisters,” a book about the liberal media<br />
trying to convince American women that the country’s<br />
social structure is holding them down, she said.<br />
And Smith said she couldn’t agree more. “Everything<br />
the book discussed really hit home,” said Smith.<br />
When Smith isn’t reading, she’s at work as president<br />
of Advanced Imaging Solutions Inc., an information<br />
management services company with offices in <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong>, Baton Rouge and Houston.<br />
Smith said she is proof anyone has the chance to<br />
achieve their goals. After working in the imaging profession<br />
a number of years, Smith said she realized imaging<br />
could be taken a step further and knew she could do it.<br />
So did office equipment manufacturer Canon USA.<br />
“Canon recognized my performance. They gave me<br />
an opportunity to have my own dealership,” said Smith.<br />
“There were products out there to sell that retailers and<br />
distributors weren’t selling.”<br />
In 1997, Smith founded her company with her husband,<br />
Lynne. Now, her company is nationally recognized,<br />
and Canon USA named Smith a “Partner in<br />
Excellence” in 2003.<br />
“In my opinion, what sets us apart is our product<br />
knowledge and knowing the needs of clients, which<br />
helps us apply our products appropriately,” she said.<br />
Smith also meets the needs of inner-city children. She<br />
volunteers several hours each weekend to teaching Bible<br />
study and bringing food and games into their homes.<br />
She is also active in a prison ministry called Glory<br />
House. When Smith throws her Christmas, birthday and<br />
anniversary parties, she asks guests to bring gifts to be<br />
donated to prisoners in place of gifts for her.<br />
Smith said she couldn’t quit volunteering if she tried.<br />
“Once you see their faces when their needs are met and how<br />
happy they look, it’s impossible to walk away from that.”<br />
Smith has been working out three times a week since<br />
she was 19 years old. “It’s just something I’ve always<br />
made sure to stick with,” she said.<br />
One hobby she didn’t maintain was making stained<br />
glass. “I used to have a passion for art,” but her life is too<br />
busy now for such a complicated activity, she said.<br />
But reading will always be there, she said. “I like to be<br />
up on things. I can’t get enough. My employees and<br />
friends are always asking me what I’m reading.”<br />
— Chris Anderson
Women of the Year 51A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Carol Solomon<br />
Position: Peoples Health Network, chief executive officer<br />
Family: daughter, Michelle<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in political science, University of South Florida; master’s degree, University of Florida<br />
Carol Solomon has never been content to use her talents<br />
and expertise to further just her own career.<br />
She is busy in her roles as chief executive of Peoples<br />
Health Network, a Kenner-based health maintenance organization,<br />
and as vice president and general manager of its<br />
affiliated Tenet Choices. But she finds the time to serve on<br />
the board or Louisiana Association of Health Plans, is board<br />
chair of Planned Parenthood and serves as an advisory board<br />
member of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Jazz and Heritage Foundation.<br />
Originally from Miami, Solomon started her career in<br />
Florida in the savings and loan business. After seven years,<br />
Solomon’s career turned toward health care when she<br />
became a controller then administrator for a 300-bed hospital<br />
in Daytona, Fla.<br />
Solomon moved to <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> in 1993 to serve as<br />
chief operating officer of Medical Heritage, Inc. Her<br />
broad range of duties at Medical Heritage and, later at<br />
MedFirst, helped her establish her own private consulting<br />
company, Solomon Group, which helped open the<br />
door for her present position, administering health plans<br />
providing healthcare coverage to more than 35,000 members<br />
in the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> metro area.<br />
While the many hats Solomon wears keep her busy, she<br />
finds the time to use her expertise to make personal commitments<br />
to the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> community.<br />
Solomon has served on the Louisiana Association of<br />
Health Plans, chairing its Regulatory Affairs Committee,<br />
serving as a delegate to the Louisiana Health Care Summit<br />
of the Louisiana Governor’s Office and the Louisiana<br />
Healthcare Delivery Forum. She was board chair and an<br />
executive member of Planned Parenthood, a founding<br />
member of the Women’s Leadership Initiative for United<br />
Way of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> and she has served on the advisory<br />
board and as Gala Committee Co-chair of the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> Heritage and Jazz Foundation.<br />
Despite all of her professional achievements, Solomon<br />
says she is most proud of “having a great relationship with<br />
my daughter in spite of the time I devote to my career.”<br />
This commitment helped her be honored as a <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> Mother: Putting Family First at the Mayor’s Annual<br />
Conference on Women in August 2001.<br />
— Matt Jones
52A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Kim Sport<br />
Position: chairman of the board of trustees, United Way; chairman of the board of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Cancer Institute at Memorial Medical Center<br />
Family: husband, Mike; stepchildren, Debi, Sheri and Ross; six grandchildren<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in health sciences, Our Lady of Holy Cross College; juris doctorate, Tulane Law School<br />
Kim Sport will not let breast cancer slow her down. A<br />
cancer survivor of three years, she has made more than<br />
200 presentations for nonprofit organizations, served<br />
on many nonprofit board committees and received various<br />
volunteer awards.<br />
Sport said she is inspired by her husband, Mike,<br />
who is also a cancer survivor of one year.<br />
“He has always been active in the community, and<br />
together, we have always tried to make a difference in some<br />
way, shape or form,” she said. “I’m very lucky to be here,<br />
and I want to make a difference for people around me.”<br />
Sport serves as United Way chairman of the board of<br />
trustees and chairman of the board of the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
Cancer Institute at Memorial Medical Center.<br />
“Fund-raising is just like running a business; our customers<br />
are the entire community and we have to make the<br />
best investments with the money we receive,” she said.<br />
“The reason I joined the Cancer Institute was because I<br />
received all of my cancer care in Greater <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
area, and I wanted to make people realize they can stay in<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> and receive their cancer treatments.”<br />
Through United Way, Sport served as the first female<br />
chair of the United Way’s Regional Fundraising campaign<br />
and raised a record $20.1 million in 2002. In<br />
2001, she founded and chaired the United Way’s<br />
Women’s Leadership Initiative.<br />
The Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations<br />
selected Sport as its 2004 recipient of the Louisiana<br />
Heroine award for encouraging women to become leaders<br />
in the community. Sport has also won a National Society<br />
of Fundraising Executives Volunteer of the Year award<br />
and the Joe Simon Award for volunteerism, given by the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Regional Chamber of Commerce.<br />
“The numerous awards have just amazed me but I<br />
would not be doing what I’m doing if so many people<br />
had not preceded me and been there for me,” Sport<br />
said. “I get cooperation and support from other volunteers<br />
every day and they make the difference.”<br />
Sport’s United Way term expires at the end of 2005, and<br />
she said she wants to get involved in organizations that target<br />
child abuse and neglect and foster care and adoption.<br />
“My goal is to maintain my passion for everything I<br />
do; life is too short to not enjoy the little things.”<br />
— Tommy Santora
Women of the Year 53A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Liz Tahir<br />
Position: owner, Liz Tahir & Associates<br />
Family: single<br />
Education: attended the University of Mississippi<br />
Liz Tahir is an international marketing consultant, professional<br />
speaker and writer, but she began her career going<br />
in a different direction — retail.<br />
After working for years as a retail executive, Tahir was<br />
laid off from D.H. Holmes Company Ltd. A desire to stay<br />
in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> fueled her decision to open Liz Tahir &<br />
Associates, a marketing and management consulting firm<br />
in 1990.<br />
“I had to reinvent myself,” Tahir said.<br />
Over the years, her marketing business has stretched<br />
into other venues as well. When a colleague invited her to<br />
a meeting of the National Speakers Association, Tahir was<br />
immediately drawn to the field.<br />
“I thought,‘People are being paid to speak.This is great.’ ”<br />
As a result of the public speaking at the seminars she<br />
developed, Tahir is often asked to write articles for trade<br />
publications. She is also a contributing author of the book,<br />
“Sizzling Customer Service.”<br />
“These are other avenues that I didn’t know existed,<br />
but one thing led into another,” Tahir said. “You have to<br />
open up your horizons.”<br />
Although she is a successful businesswoman now,<br />
Tahir said her biggest challenge when she first started her<br />
business was recognizing she knew more than she thought<br />
she did. Tahir realized with one of her first clients that she<br />
did not have to have expertise in an industry to know how<br />
to market those products.<br />
“One thing that I always say is that I am a brand of<br />
one,” Tahir said. “Whether you work for a corporation<br />
or are an entrepreneur, you are the product that<br />
you’re selling.”<br />
Tahir is active in the community through her work with<br />
the YWCA’s Junior Role Model program of which she is<br />
the founding chairman. The project identifies a select<br />
group of high school juniors and allows them to participate<br />
in training events that will prepare them for future<br />
leadership roles.<br />
“I’m particularly proud that we do it for girls in public<br />
schools who may not otherwise have these opportunities.”<br />
Tahir has worked with clients in Japan, Australia, <strong>New</strong><br />
Zealand, Mexico, Brazil and across the U.S. She is on the<br />
board of directors of the World Trade Center of <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> and Vieux Carre Property Owners, Residents,<br />
and Associates Inc. She has also been president of the<br />
American Marketing Association and is involved with the<br />
Women’s Professional Council and the Contemporary<br />
Arts Center.<br />
— Angela Johnson
54A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Donna Taylor<br />
Position: vice president of asset management and new business development, Stirling Properties<br />
Family: daughter Haley, 13; son Connor, 11<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in accounting, Southeastern Louisiana University;<br />
master’s degree in business administration, Southeastern Louisiana University<br />
Potential clients of Donna Taylor of Stirling Properties<br />
should get used to seeing and hearing from her on a regular<br />
basis, and perhaps more so once a transaction takes place.<br />
The philosophy of staying in touch with her clients has<br />
allowed her to reach a high level of success in the North<br />
Shore commercial real estate field.<br />
“You always need to stay in tune with your clients, to<br />
learn about their desires for the property,” she said.<br />
Taylor, a certified public accountant, went to work for<br />
Stirling in its accounting department in 1985. By 1991,<br />
she had risen to the position of vice president of the company’s<br />
legal department.<br />
In her current role as vice president of asset management<br />
and new business development,Taylor oversees a portfolio of<br />
more than 10 million square feet of properties. Her responsibilities<br />
include property and construction management, leasing,<br />
financial reporting, budgeting, financing and refinancing,<br />
contractual compliance and general client relations.<br />
Working on the North Shore means Taylor faces stiff<br />
competition from other professionals hoping to develop<br />
select tracts of commercial property. Rather than focus on<br />
matching what rivals offer to a customer, she concentrates<br />
on selling the strengths of her company.<br />
“You have to put yourself above your competition,”<br />
said Taylor. “You have to show why you’re different. If you<br />
walk in the door and say, ‘Oh, we can do what they do,’<br />
that’s not necessarily going to convince anyone to give you<br />
their business.”<br />
Taylor recently closed a deal with AmSouth Bank to<br />
increase Stirling’s commercial property portfolio by more<br />
than 1 million square feet. She has earned the company’s<br />
Star Achiever Award in 1996, 1997 and 1998 and won the<br />
Hall of Fame honor in 1999. Co-workers tabbed Taylor the<br />
Team Player of the Year in 1995, 1997 and 2000.<br />
A native of Hammond, living and working close to home<br />
is important to Taylor, who has kept family her top priority<br />
while excelling in her profession. Her long-standing ties to<br />
the North Shore allowed her to stay involved in several civic<br />
endeavors, including the Hammond Special Olympics, the<br />
Tangipahoa Association of Retarded Citizens, The Richard<br />
Murphy Hospice Foundation and the Southeastern<br />
Louisiana University Alumni Association.<br />
Taylor’s professional memberships include the North<br />
Shore Area Board of Realtors, the Southeastern<br />
Louisiana University Accounting Advisory Board and<br />
the <strong>Business</strong> and Industry Committee of the Louisiana<br />
Realtors Association.<br />
— Greg LaRose
Women of the Year 55A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Fran Villere<br />
Position: chairwoman, Greater <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Foundation<br />
Family: husband, George; sons Chris, 35, and Lamar, 29; daughter, Mathilde, 33<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in art history, Finch University<br />
Fran Villere was last employed many years ago when<br />
she was working part-time in a dress shop and newly<br />
wed to her husband, George.<br />
But she still has a job to do. In fact, she has many.<br />
Villere is presently a member of six <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
service organizations, including the Greater <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> Foundation, of which she is the chairperson.<br />
She is also involved with Children’s Hospital, the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> Botanical Garden Foundation, the Ogden<br />
Museum of Southern Art and the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
Museum of Art. In total, Villere has been involved in 27<br />
local charities.<br />
“I don’t work for pay anymore,” Villere said jokingly.<br />
She just works, and unselfishly, too. Villere was<br />
awarded the Times Picayune Loving Cup in 2003 for<br />
her efforts in volunteerism and community service.<br />
As chair of the Greater <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Foundation,<br />
Villere is a busy woman.<br />
The Greater <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Foundation operates<br />
somewhat like a bank for <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> nonprofit organizations,<br />
according to Villere. Money donated to and collected<br />
by the foundation is distributed to local nonprofits,<br />
aiding them in accomplishing their goals, she said.<br />
“The Greater <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> Foundation is a community<br />
foundation,” said Villere. “Individuals and groups have<br />
control over their money and where they would like to<br />
see it used,” which Villere said is her goal and the foundation’s<br />
goal. “It helps guarantee a better future for our<br />
community.”<br />
Something Villere said is particularly close to her<br />
heart is the work she did during the 1990s for Project<br />
Lazarus, a residence for AIDS patients.<br />
“It was a time when people didn’t understand<br />
AIDS,” she said. People weren’t sure of the disease and<br />
how it was spread, she said. “People only thought it<br />
was a homosexual disease.”<br />
Villere said she did not realize the disease’s growing<br />
presence and impact until it was affecting people close<br />
to her. “I found out more about AIDS through friends.<br />
I realized that people were dying from it. I didn’t know<br />
much about it, but I wanted to know more and felt<br />
other people should, too.”<br />
After three weeks of training, Villere was sent out to<br />
help ignite a dialogue about AIDS, especially amongst<br />
younger people.<br />
“I gave talks at various functions and meetings, usually<br />
speaking to private school students,” she said.<br />
— Chris Anderson
56A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Ann Wallace<br />
Position: chief marketing officer, Adams and Reese LLP<br />
Family: husband, Bert; two stepsons, Bryan and Michael; and Tag the Wonder Dog, a yellow Labrador retriever<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in journalism, Louisiana State University<br />
Adams and Reese has more than 260 attorneys practicing<br />
in seven offices across the southeastern United States, and<br />
the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> office is responsible for all of the firm’s<br />
marketing efforts.<br />
A marketing endeavor that substantial would tend to<br />
lean toward more outsourcing than in-house work, but<br />
chief marketing officer Ann Wallace said she is most<br />
proud of helping the firm almost completely internalize<br />
all marketing operations in her three years there.<br />
“We are pretty self-sufficient which allows us a great deal<br />
more flexibility than relying on outside agencies and consultants,<br />
and it enables us to operate more efficiently,” she<br />
said. “That type of marketing attitude fostered by management<br />
here is one of the reasons for the firm’s success.”<br />
Adams and Reese recently became the first Louisiana<br />
law firm named to AmLaw’s list of the nation’s top 200<br />
grossing firms.<br />
Wallace, who has more than 20 years of marketing<br />
experience, said it is ironic she ended up working for a law<br />
firm because she planned on attending law school after<br />
earning her journalism degree from LSU.<br />
“But one year off led to another, and I was enjoying the<br />
beginnings of an exciting and interesting marketing career<br />
and not at all interested in going back to school.”<br />
Wallace joined the Mississippi Division of Tourism and<br />
assisted in planning and preparation for the state’s participation<br />
in the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition. She said she<br />
logged at minimum 12-hour workdays, seven days a week,<br />
and called the job her best marketing career preparation.<br />
Wallace’s next career move was as a marketing<br />
department consultant for Boyd Gaming after working<br />
as the director of marketing for the Queen of <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> Riverboat Casino and director of marketing at<br />
Treasure Chest Casino.<br />
She joined Adams and Reese in 2001 and though marketing<br />
efforts were different from the gaming to the legal<br />
industry, she said the principles stayed the same.<br />
“It doesn’t matter whether you are selling entertainment,<br />
a product or a professional service, it’s all in the<br />
way you apply and balance all of the components of the<br />
marketing mix to achieve the business goals of the organization,”<br />
she said.<br />
Wallace’s community involvement ranges from<br />
walkathons to serving meals, helping build homes, student<br />
mentoring and fund-raising drives. She also helps her husband,<br />
Bert, president emeritus of the LSU Health Sciences<br />
Center and director of the LSU Biomedical Research Fund.<br />
Wallace also received a Delta Gamma “Cable Award”for her<br />
continuing outstanding service with her former sorority.<br />
— Tommy Santora
58A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Barbara B. Waller<br />
Position: general manager, Laitram Machine Shop LLC<br />
Family: husband, David Waller; son Ned, 17; and daughter Helen, 15<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in economics, <strong>New</strong>comb College; master’s degree in business administration<br />
in Operation Research Management Science, Tulane University<br />
Next time you’re at the gas pump, realize that 99.9 percent<br />
of the time the equipment used to find that fuel<br />
came from Input Output Inc. of Stafford, Texas. The<br />
highly specialized parts Input Output uses in its task<br />
are manufactured by its sister company, Laitram<br />
Machine Shop in Harahan.<br />
Input Output’s job has been a little easier recently<br />
thanks to Barbara Waller, general manager of Laitram<br />
Machine Shop, said Douglas A. Meyer, Input Output procurement<br />
manager.<br />
Waller has held several different positions with Laitram<br />
in 13 years with the company and has consistently demonstrated<br />
her exceptional organizational and leadership<br />
skills, Meyer said.<br />
“She has this great can-do attitude and will always try to<br />
come up with a solution,” he said. “Lots of people can do a<br />
job to 70, 80 or even 95 percent, but she is one of those rare<br />
people who can take it all the way to 100 percent, and she is<br />
always trying to challenge and see what can be done better.”<br />
Jay Lapayre, president and chief executive of Laitram<br />
and chairman of the board of Input Output, described<br />
Waller in glowing terms.<br />
“The greatest strength Barbara has is her ability to deal<br />
with difficult situations and problems,” Lapayre said. “She<br />
is very analytical, results-oriented and tough-minded, so<br />
she is able to both integrate complicated technical issues<br />
with complex people issues because she is so clear and<br />
straight and principled in how she approaches things.”<br />
Laitram has been fertile ground for Waller’s success.<br />
“Laitram has a rigorous philosophy that hinges on treating<br />
others the way you want to be treated,so it hinges on personal<br />
value,” Waller said. “I had reached a point in my life<br />
where I was determined that was important to me.You don’t<br />
realize how much you value that unless you don’t have it.”<br />
Throughout her career, Waller has worked in non-traditional<br />
positions but never for a small company with such<br />
an inspiring philosophy, she said. Waller’s education<br />
taught her to study processes and analysis. She has mastered<br />
the manufacturing aspects of the machine shop and<br />
realized some other objectives as well.<br />
“My goals were to build a team that could realize the<br />
potential of each individual and meet the goals we have for<br />
profitability and customer service,” Waller said. “I have a<br />
wonderful team. We have some really smart people here<br />
and my job is to remove obstacles, challenge them appropriately<br />
and help them with the resources they need. It’s<br />
hard work but it’s fun.”<br />
— Angelle Bergeron
Women of the Year 59A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Bonnie K. Wibel<br />
Position: director of business development, Doctors Hospital of Jefferson<br />
Family: husband, Mike; sons, Michael, 32, Garett, 21<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in business management and administration, University of Phoenix<br />
Bonnie Wibel retired in February 2003 after almost 20<br />
years working at Lakeside Hospital. She wanted to<br />
spend time with her new grandchild and “get a different<br />
perspective” on things.<br />
Seven months later, she received a phone call from<br />
John Walker, chief executive of Doctors Hospital of<br />
Jefferson. He needed her to be his director of business<br />
development and just like that, her all-too-brief retirement<br />
came to an end.<br />
It was an easy decision, Wibel says. She has spent a<br />
large portion of her life working in health care. She discovered<br />
her joy for the field at the age of 30. She was<br />
giving birth to her second son, Garett, 12 years<br />
removed from her first, Michael. It was not easy, she<br />
said, but the men and women at Lakeside Hospital<br />
were so good to her she decided they were the type of<br />
people with whom she had always wanted to work.<br />
She began working at Lakeside Hospital in 1985 as a<br />
secretary of administration and worked her way all the<br />
way up to director of public relations and marketing.<br />
In August, East Jefferson General Hospital purchased<br />
Doctors Hospital. No one from Doctors is guaranteed<br />
a job at the new facility, which means a cloudy<br />
future for Wibel. But she refuses to look at the negative<br />
and pushes forward with hope in her heart.<br />
“I’m focused on closing the facility with dignity<br />
and respect,” she says. “I remain positive to let our<br />
employees know when one door closes, another<br />
always opens.”<br />
Wibel has always been an optimist. Whether it is running<br />
a political campaign office, working as the executive<br />
director of the Greater <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> OB/GYN Society<br />
or going back to school at the age of 47 to earn her college<br />
degree, she does it all with her eyes firmly affixed on<br />
the silver lining.<br />
Wibel was born and raised in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>. She<br />
believes there are no greater people in the world than<br />
those in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>, which is why she devotes so much<br />
time giving back to the community through charitable<br />
efforts. From Special Olympics to the Juvenile Diabetes<br />
Foundation, the United Way and Friends of Autism,<br />
Wibel said she does all she can to improve the lives of<br />
those who may not have experienced all of life’s fortunes.<br />
— Richard Webster
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cocktails<br />
We congratulate<br />
our<br />
Woman of the Year…<br />
Sandra Corrigan<br />
225 Baronne<br />
1340 Poydras<br />
Find out why parties at the Zoo aren’t like<br />
other parties. Call 504-212-5301 or visit<br />
auduboninstitute.org/specialevents<br />
Audubon Zoo<br />
A Facility of Audubon Nature Institute<br />
Realty 1, LLC<br />
For Leasing Information<br />
or a Property Tour<br />
Please Call Sandra Corrigan at<br />
(504) 566-1400 1010 Common
We count ourselves lucky<br />
She’s on our team.<br />
Congratulations to Dana Hansel<br />
one of <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong>’<br />
2004 Women of the Year<br />
Member FDIC/Equal Housing Lender<br />
MINGLING<br />
MICHELLE MONTZ<br />
ISPROUDTOBEONEOFCITYBUSINESS’<br />
2004 WOMEN OF THE YEAR!<br />
Congratulations to all of this year’s winners!<br />
For long-term, fixed-rate financing<br />
call Michelle Montz<br />
Post Office Box 24993 • <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>, Louisiana 70184-4993<br />
Tel 504.284.2010 • Fax 504.284.2011<br />
mmontz@crescentcommercial.com<br />
www.crescentcommercial.com<br />
Find out why parties at the Aquarium aren’t<br />
like other parties. Call 504-378-2695 or visit<br />
auduboninstitute.org/specialevents<br />
Audubon Aquarium of the Americas<br />
A Facility of Audubon Nature Institute
62A <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong> • November 8 2004<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Carol B. Wise<br />
Position: owner, Wise Marketing<br />
Family: daughters Julie Wise Oreck and Ginny Wise; son Richard Wise<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in education, National College for Education<br />
Small businesses are the backbone of the American<br />
economy, and Carol Wise is the kind of businesswoman<br />
who ensures the country will remain strong and<br />
maintain good posture.<br />
“To be successful as a small business you have to forget<br />
the past and move forward,” Wise said. “It is important<br />
to work hard, spend long hours and make things<br />
happen. You have to have a real joy in making things<br />
happen; I think you must have constant enthusiasm and<br />
optimism and that will help you make a difference.”<br />
Wise Marketing has been creating marketing plans<br />
for small businesses and individuals since 1989. Before<br />
opening her own shop, Wise worked as the sales and<br />
marketing director of One River Place.<br />
“Say that you work for a printing company,” Wise<br />
said in explaining her business approach. “I would<br />
look at the company and talk to you about where you<br />
have been successful and where you could be more<br />
successful. We would look at who are your best customers<br />
and find out how we can grow your business.”<br />
Wise Marketing’s client base is diversified and<br />
includes real estate agents, a small Uptown gift shop,<br />
stockbrokers, oil companies and banks. Wise acknowledges<br />
the risks of running a small business and<br />
addresses the challenges women face in the business<br />
world, but she refuses to make excuses.<br />
“The women I have seen who are successful are<br />
women who overlook disadvantages and still play by<br />
the same rules,” she said. “In the small business environment,<br />
your limits are yourself. In order to get the<br />
money you need to grow, it depends upon a person’s<br />
networking ability.”<br />
Wise said her favorite hobby is to raise money for<br />
nonprofits. She is the chairwoman of the Women’s<br />
Leadership Initiative and is active in the United Way.<br />
“Right now, I am actively involved in the Success by Six<br />
program for the United Way,” she said. “This is a collaborative<br />
format to see that kids up to 6 years old have a<br />
chance to be successful when they enter school. There are<br />
285 child care centers in <strong>Orleans</strong> Parish and only 18 are<br />
accredited. Success by Six looks at how more of these centers<br />
can become accredited as there is direct relationship<br />
between accreditation and a child’s ability to succeed.”<br />
— Billy Thinnes
Women of the Year 63A<br />
Women<br />
of theYear<br />
Ellen Yellin<br />
Position: tax/employee benefits director, Bourgeois Bennett LLC CPA<br />
Family: husband, Marc; sons, Jeffrey, 23, and Brian, 21<br />
Education: bachelor’s degree in political science; <strong>New</strong>comb College; master’s degree<br />
in business administration in accounting; Tulane University Graduate School of <strong>Business</strong><br />
When Ellen Yellin began her career 28 years ago, she could<br />
see what one of her biggest challenges was going to be.<br />
“Professionally, there was a major distinction<br />
between men and women. There were no women in<br />
management,” Yellin said.<br />
She recalled that there were four women out of<br />
about 300 graduates in her MBA class at Tulane<br />
University in 1976.<br />
“When one of us was absent, it was noticed,” Yellin said.<br />
“My own father insisted I take typing so I could get<br />
work if something happened to him,” Yellin said.<br />
Yellin is the tax/employee benefits director at Bourgeois<br />
Bennett, a Metairie accounting firm. She said she became<br />
involved with accounting because she saw it as a way to<br />
help people save money and plan for the future.<br />
“Hence, the tax area,” she said.<br />
Yellin also noticed a need for businesswomen to<br />
have networking opportunities. In 1983, she decided<br />
to form the Women’s Professional Council. The<br />
response was positive and the organization, which promotes<br />
and supports women professionals in the <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Orleans</strong> area, has been growing ever since.<br />
“I’m very proud of the success of the WPC,” Yellin<br />
said. “I’m proud that it’s flourishing.” She was the WPC’s<br />
first president and is now on the membership committee.<br />
Another project Yellin devotes time to is the Jewish<br />
Endowment Foundation. She fondly recalls that an<br />
audit of the foundation was the first one she did without<br />
a supervisor. She has been on the board of directors<br />
since 1983 and this year she will serve as president of<br />
the organization. The organization is the “community<br />
chest of the Jewish community,” providing grants and<br />
other philanthropy for the Jewish population in the<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> area.<br />
Yellin is also an active member of the American<br />
Institute of CPAs and the Society of Louisiana CPAs, and<br />
she serves on the board of directors of the Association of<br />
Employee Benefit Planners of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>.<br />
“I want to continue to work in the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong><br />
community,” Yellin said.<br />
She views the community as a garden that must be cultivated<br />
if it is to continue to grow. “It’s critical if we want<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> to be a place our children will want to live.”<br />
— Angela Johnson
We could’ve told you that<br />
when we hired her.<br />
Walgreens congratulates Philomene ‘Missy’ Allain on being named<br />
one of <strong>City</strong><strong>Business</strong>’ 2004 Women of the Year.<br />
The following stores are open 24 hours to serve you in the metro <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> area<br />
101 Robert E. Lee Blvd.<br />
RX - 282-1406<br />
1260 Front St.<br />
RX - 985-641-5557<br />
4421 Airline Hwy.<br />
RX - 836-2316<br />
4400 S. Claiborne Ave.<br />
RX - 891-0976<br />
2880 Hwy. 190<br />
RX - 985-624-8548<br />
9999 Lake Forest Blvd.<br />
RX - 242-0981<br />
821 W. Esplanade Ave.<br />
RX - 468-5479<br />
1815 W. Airline Hwy.<br />
RX - 985-651-9517<br />
100 W. Judge Perez Dr.<br />
RX - 276-6192<br />
678 Terry Pkwy.<br />
RX - 366-1535<br />
1891 Barataria Blvd.<br />
RX - 340-2211<br />
4110 Gen. DeGaulle Dr.<br />
RX - 433-3297<br />
1801 St. Charles Ave.<br />
RX - 561-8458<br />
4600 West Bank Expwy.<br />
RX - 340-6337
Must be 21 or older to enter casino and to gamble. Know When To Stop Before You Start. ® Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-522-4700. ©2004, Harrah’s Operating Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
From the courtroom to the conference room,<br />
we’re leaders in today’s complex legal arena.<br />
Congratulations to Our<br />
Women of the Year<br />
Mary L. Meyer<br />
Partner<br />
Ann M. Wallace<br />
Chief Marketing Officer<br />
Out in front.<br />
www.adamsandreese.com<br />
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