Oji Alexander
Oji Alexander is the Executive Director of Home by Hand, Inc., a non-profit affordable housing developer that works to improve neighborhoods and build the skills and family assets of low and moderate-income households. This is done by advancing the national self-help housing movement and creating new resources. He is the former Senior Project Manager at Project Home Again, a nonprofit housing and community development organization in New Orleans. In this capacity, Oji led the development, maintenance and sale of over 170 new, energy-efficient, hurricane-resistant homes in the neighborhoods of northern Gentilly. He has worked with NORA and private real estate professionals to facilitate the transfer of over 250 properties that were blighted or abandoned so they could be used for housing development, gardens or lot-next-door expansions. Oji managed a staff of two in addition to overseeing Project Home Again’s construction team. He worked at PHA since 2008. Prior to joining Project Home Again, Oji was the manager of a 190-seat restaurant in Westhampton Beach, NY where he managed a staff of 50 employees. He received a Bachelor’s degree in interpersonal communication with minor in secondary education from The State University of New York at Albany. In addition, he is an active community member of Gentilly’s Oak Park neighborhood. He sat on the boards of NOLA Tree Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to replacing the tens of thousands of trees lost during Hurricane Katrina, Kickball of Crescent City, a New Orleans based Social Aid and Pleasure Club and Home By Hand, a non-profit self-help housing developer and is a Propeller Incubator Alumni.

Monique Pilié
Monique Pilié was born and raised in New Orleans. After seeing the destruction from Hurricane Katrina, she started a non-profit to help replace the 100,000 trees that were lost in New Orleans due to the storm. She started Hike for Katreena with the goal of planting one tree in New Orleans for each of the 2,175 miles of the Appalachian Trail that she had hiked following the loss of her house and job from the storm. In five years, Hike for Katreena planted over 8,000 trees before Monique handed over the day-to-day leadership of the organization. Monique then went to work for All Hands Volunteers in January 2013 as a Team Leader, quickly working her way up to Field Coordinator, Project Director and Director of U.S. Recovery and Repair before her departure to become the Executive Director of the Louisiana Green Corps in the spring of 2015.

Daniel Johnson
Dan Johnson is a licensed contractor and owner of Greenman Dan, Inc. Dan has turned a lifelong passion for nature and design into a New Orleans landscape and stormwater management construction firm. With his seasoned skills in design and construction, project management, contracting and cost estimating, he is the driving force behind the firm’s high standards for efficiency and professionalism. Projects include: 2017 Neighborhood Initiative, Alternate Land Use Project, New Orleans, LA:
Working with the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, Greenman Dan renovated 5 vacant lots. Four of the lots had their soil cultivated and seeded with native wildflowers and Bald Cypress trees planted on the perimeter of each lot. Construction at each of these four lots also included wooden fencing and bollards to deter illegal dumping while still providing easy pedestrian access to the property. On the fifth lot, a rain garden was built surrounded by pervious paver pathways. The rain garden was planted with many native wetland plants and the site includes Oak trees and benches for seating.
Aurora Rain Garden, New Orleans, LA: The Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans hired Greenman Dan to construct a rain garden on the vacant land next to a neighborhood pumping station, to collect street runoff before it enters the storm drain. The rain gardens holds and filters the stormwater through deep infiltration pits constructed of a variety of sized gravels and sand. The rain garden was planted with native plants and trees to help with the filtration and absorption process while providing an attractive natural enhancement to the neighborhood. The construction included the installation of underdrains, deep within the rain garden, that are connected directly to the city’s storm water drainage system, as well as a standpipe drain to prevent the rain gardens from overflowing.
N. Claiborne Avenue Rain Garden, New Orleans, LA:
Greenman Dan implemented a rain garden on a vacant corner lot that was designed by Dana Brown & Associates as part of the NORA project to beautify vacant lots. This lot collects storm water runoff from the street curbs along the two streets that border it. The curbs were cut and the runoff directed into the rain garden. The project included the construction of two sidewalk bridges to allow the runoff passage under the sidewalk; also included a concrete filter box connected to the city storm drain system to prevent the rain garden from overflowing.
Lake Carmel Community Park, New Orleans, LA:
The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority commissioned Greenman Dan to construct the Lake Carmel Community Park. The installation included an asphalt walking path and the planting of more than one hundred trees; Bald Cypress and Live Oaks.
Residential Installations, New Orleans, LA:
Various homeowners from across the New Orleans region have contracted Greenman Dan to install a variety of rainwater management systems. Some of the solutions include french drains, infiltration columns, rain gardens and permeable pavers.