The Pod with the Baton Rouge Area Foundation

Following a unanimous vote from the Recreation and Park Commission for the Parish of East Baton Rouge ( BREC ) Commission in January 2019, Corey Wilson accepted its offer to become the 6th Superintendent in the agency’s 75-year history. Prior to that Wilson served as the in-house attorney and administrative executive for BREC. In his role as Chief of Management and Business Services, he oversaw th...

Dr. Chantelle Varnado, Executive Director of Launch, has been working with children with disabilities and their families for over twenty years. She earned her Bachelor of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and Master of Communication Sciences and Disorders degrees from Southeastern Louisiana University. She worked as a Speech-Language Pathologist for 14 years in Livingston Parish Public School...

Sara joined the Community Foundation Southwest Louisiana as the CEO in December 2013.    A fourth-generation resident of Lake Charles, she enjoys continuing the family tradition of being an active community member. She volunteers with the Junior League of Lake Charles, where she was named the 2013 Sustainer of the Year, and as a second-grade reading tutor at Oak Park Elementary School. With her hu...

Adam was named president and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber in April 2008. A native of Lake Charles, LA, he previously served as the deputy director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA). Knapp was a key figure in the creation of the entity, which is designed to facilitate the state’s recovery efforts in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Prior to his LRA tenure, he served as econom...

Susan Bonnett Bourgeois is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Northshore Community Foundation , having served in that role since its founding. The Foundation works to elevate philanthropy in the Northshore Region of Louisiana, including St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington, and St. Helena Parishes. In 2006, Susan was chosen to execute a strategic vision and planning process for the de...

Combining his 30 plus year history of public service with her 15 years of nonprofit leadership, Raymond A. Jetson and Sherreta R. Harrison form the dynamic, intergenerational co- leadership team at  MetroMorphosis , a Baton Rouge- based social enterprise focused on transforming communities.  After completing a two-year fellowship on advanced leadership towards social impact at Harvard University,...

Jacinda Townsend is the author of Mother Country (Graywolf, 2022), winner of the 2022 Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, and Saint Monkey (Norton, 2014), which won the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize and the James Fenimore Cooper Prize. To learn more about the work of the Foundation, please visit braf.org .

Emily Chatelain is the Founder and Executive Director of local non-profit, Three O'Clock Project . Emily started her professional consulting company, School Food and Wellness Group in 2015 growing it to serve over 300 clients across 25 states today. Emily regularly volunteers in the nonprofit space as a speaker to discuss healthy eating or read books to elementary students. She has served nea...

Jennifer Armand was named Executive Director of the Bayou Community Foundation in December 2012, shortly after the Foundation was established.  In this role, Jennifer is responsible for managing and implementing the Foundation’s operations, including BCF’s nonprofit grant programs, nonprofit workshops and conferences, fund development, communications, community needs assessments and advocacy. A re...

Sam Heisman is the Founding Head of School at Great Hearts Harveston , the first Great Hearts Academy to break ground in Louisiana.  The newly constructed campus will be opening in Baton Rouge for the 2023-2024 school year. His last name may sound familiar to you and for good reason.  The Heisman Trophy is the most prestigious award in college sports and named after John Heisman, the great great g...

Susie Anders, owner of Anders Art Conservation, LLC has been conserving three-dimensional objects and sculpture for over twenty years. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, and a Master of Arts degree with a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Art Conservation from Buffalo State College. Prior to opening Anders Art Conservation, Su...

Laura Tuggle has been the Executive Director of Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS) since May 2014 after beginning her career at SLLS in 1993. She previously managed SLLS’ Housing Law Unit during the years immediately following Hurricane Katrina from 2005-2010. Over her public interest career, she has excelled in many areas including direct services, systemic work, and policy advocacy result...

Dianna R. Payton is the CEO of the YWCA of Greater Baton Rouge. Dianna previously served as the Director of Community Investment for Capital Area United Way (CAUW). In this position, she oversaw the allocation of funds for 46 Community Partnership Agencies and 104 programs in the Capital Region. She also led the strategic development and execution of CAUW’s first open-competitive Community Investm...

Justin R. Ehrenwerth was appointed the second President and CEO of The Water Institute of the Gulf in January 2017. Prior to joining the Institute, Ehrenwerth served as the inaugural Executive Director of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (Council). The Council was created in the aftermath of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill and charged with using billions of dollars in penalties to r...

Meet the Board Chair and Vice Chair for the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. Jennifer Eplett Reilly serves as the Board Chair of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and previously, the founding chair of New Schools for Baton Rouge. She has been engaged in civic leadership as co-founder of City Year Inc., founding executive director and president of Echoing Green Foundation, and leader of numerous innovati...

At Youth City Lab , the young are encouraged to find their own voices; to unite and harmonize them to get louder and clearer; to be heard by the people and policymakers who are shaping their future. Dustin LaFont is the Executive Director of Front Yard Bikes . When he was a public school teacher, Dustin began repairing bikes with a few neighborhood kids on his front yard in the summer of 2010. Dem...

Christopher Csonka is the Executive Director of the East Baton Rouge Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (EBRCJCC). Chris Csonka will collaborate with local justice officials to reduce the local jail population. The goal is to create a framework where justice system officials can partner to implement reforms across the system, such as measures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of case...

Camille Manning-Broome is the President and CEO of the Center for Planning Excellence , a  nonprofit that delivers visionary plans, model land use tools, and policy guidance to the state of  Louisiana and its local governments. Camille’s leadership on issues around climate adaptation,  climate-induced migration, people-first infrastructure, and resident-led community planning has  contributed to t...

Dr. John Kirwan is Executive Director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and holds the George A. Bray, Jr. Endowed Super Chair in Nutrition.  He also leads the Integrated Physiology and Molecular Metabolism Laboratory at Pennington Biomedical and is the Director/Principal Investigator of the Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science Center. Dr. Kirwan’s professional expertise includes...

Elizabeth Hutchison is director of business development for the Employees 1st program. Previously, she worked for five years in philanthropic services for the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. Employees 1st is a program of the Employee Assistance Foundation—a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, public, non-profit organization. The program was started in 2005 by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. Employees 1st allows c...

Sage is a Baton Rouge native and a graduate of University High School and the University of Georgia. Before assuming the role of Executive Director in 2016, Sage served as a member of the Baton Rouge Green Board of Directors for 6 years, including 2 years as Board President. She has a long history working with a variety of non-profit organizations.   Sage lives in the Garden District with her husb...

Lynn Clark has been with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Baton Rouge since March of 2004. She was the Development Director for 4 ½ years and has had the responsibility of Executive Director of the affiliate since May of 2008. In both positions, Mrs. Clark has written and successfully managed grants of over several million dollars. She also has extensive experience managing HUD grants used to build...

Kathleen Stewart Richey became the Director of Louisiana CASA in May, 2015.  She began her career as an attorney representing children in child dependency and delinquency matters.  During this time she served on the Children's Code Project Committee which drafted the Louisiana law regarding children's issues.  In 1991, she became the first Juvenile Judge in East Baton Rouge Parish, where...

Darlene Adams Rowland has dedicated her professional career to sustaining a vibrant local food system by supporting Louisiana’s small family specialty crop farmers.  As the Executive Director of Big River Economic and Agricultural Development Alliance (BREADA) , she oversees four locations of the Red Stick Farmers Market in Baton Rouge that provide direct sales opportunities for Louisiana’s small...

James “Big Brown” Joseph is a former Harlem Globetrotter and a current UPS driver who pours his time and heart into helping communities across south Louisiana.  Big Brown helps kids and families whenever and however is needed, often by rallying coworkers and community members. Together, they provide AC units and fans to those who don’t have them, collect school supplies, paint and beautify civic s...