While the New Orleans region has recently moved toward the forefront of entrepreneurism in the United States, its place there is not solidified. The city has a long history of being in a leadership position and then resting on…
“I want you to meet Julian,” says Melissa Sawyer as she jumps up from her desk and eagerly welcomes a young man into her office. “He came to YEP when he was 8 years old and now he’s graduating…
For 25 years it has been Jay Cicero’s job to bring the biggest games in sports to New Orleans. This year, however, he personally was at the top of his game. Cicero was the 2022 winner of the Dave Dixon…
“Shooting for the moon” is a common aspirational metaphor. For Jennifer Boland-Masterson, director of manufacturing and site leader for the Boeing Space and Launch Program, it has been her primary work objective for years — and she and her team…
A lot has changed in brick-and-mortar retail in recent years as online shopping has grown in popularity — spurred on by the pandemic. According to an October 2022 article in The Wall Street Journal, there are currently only about 700…
In a region perpetually in search of economic diversification and revitalization, nothing symbolizes the opportunity for progress more than the rebirth of the former Avondale Shipyards as Avondale Global Gateway — an achievement that was announced Oct. 2, 2022. Purchased…
There is no bigger stage in the city than the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and for Quint Davis, the festival’s producer/director, there was no greater thrill in 2022 than setting foot on that stage again after a two-year…
While taking on two leadership roles in the same year might seem daunting to many people, Dr. Takeisha Davis sees them as ideal complements to each other. In 2022, Davis became the CEO of New Orleans East Hospital and board…
Nearly 90% of businesses in the United States — and worldwide — are family owned. And for many of these businesses, the ultimate goal is to exist long past the founder’s lifetime and serve as a family legacy that brings…
Ask what New Orleans needs to be a successful, world-class destination for residents and visitors, and you’re likely to get a range of responses from lifetime locals, transplants, expatriates and visitors. But for a handful of New Orleanians, they…
Who would play you in a movie? Will Ferrell. No one else has the hair. What’s your favorite nonprofit cause? We support Catholic Charities, The New Orleans Mission, CAC Hope House, VOA, and many other charities that provide for the…
Did you know? A native of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Pineda served as Consul General of Honduras from 1990-1994 — years after moving to New Orleans. In this capacity, she worked to promote international relations between Honduras and Louisiana. What’s…
Education: New York University (MA), Harvard University (BA) Did you know? Adrinda Kelly is committed to transforming structural relationships of inequity affecting marginalized populations. In her current role, she supports Black educators and Black-led schools in New Orleans through…
Doug Walner is used to splitting his time — both between coasts and between industries. Walner has built a bicoastal career running, and mostly growing, businesses in California and Louisiana and is currently involved with two very different local…
While greater New Orleans was fortunate to avoid any major water events in 2021, it was nevertheless a watershed year for area tech entrepreneurs. Even amid the economic slowdown caused by the pandemic, three local tech startups were purchased during…
EDUCATION Chancellor, Delgado Larissa Littleton-Steib is chancellor of Delgado Community College, but she calls herself “the chancellor of crisis management.” “We’ve had one hit after another, but we have managed to rebound. We are resilient, and I am just…
LAW Managing Partner at MG+M Max Swetman, a managing partner at MG+M The Law Firm, is one of only a handful of attorneys in the United States who has a law degree and a master’s in public health in epidemiology.…
ENTERTAINMENT Regional President for Caesars Entertainment Caesars Entertainment, parent company of Harrah’s New Orleans, announced in December 2020 a $325 million renovation and construction project of the downtown casino to be completed by 2024, and it’s been on a roll…
Each year, we face the difficult task of selecting our CEO and Executives of the Year. The task is difficult simply because New Orleans is so rich in leadership, innovation and ideas. This year was no different, except for the…
BIOTECHNOLOGY President and CEO of Obatala Sciences Dr. Trivia Frazier, president and CEO of Obatala Sciences, entered 2021 on a wave of success that she’s continuing to ride today. Her biotech business received major licenses and investments from institutions such…
HEALTHCARE President and CEO of Children’s Hospital Children’s Hospital made the national news when a COVID-19 spike in New Orleans began affecting kids at an unprecedented rate. Throw in a hurricane, and it’s not the summer that anyone at the…
Founder and CEO TURBOSQUID While advances in 3D graphics technology in the later 1990s upgraded the quality of the various models that could be produced, getting those models into the hands of the game developers, news agencies, architects, visual effects…
Founder and CEO LEVELSET Back in 2007, in the frontier-like landscape of post-Katrina New Orleans, construction attorney Scott Wolfe Jr. saw a big problem: Local contractors had all the work they could handle, but getting paid for that work had…
Founder and CEO LUCID When Lucid sold to Swedish tech firm the Cint Group in late October for $1.1 billion, the event capped an extraordinary year for the New Orleans tech scene. Following on the heels of earlier high-dollar merger/acquisitions,…
"Bernard Parish is the best-kept secret in the region!” This enthusiastic comment, from Meaghan McCormack, executive director of the St. Bernard Economic Development Foundation, is echoed by business people across the parish and supported by data from the recent U.S.…
