ALAS removes racially & ethnically discriminatory barriers to education, career opportunity, and civil rights by interrupting school to prison & school to deportation pipelines.

ALAS trains educators to write strategic letters to judges for arrested youth. 100% of ALAS youth have been released from jail to school pre-trial.

ALAS trains educators to connect immigrant youth to our pro-bono attorneys who win permanent residency at an 88% rate. Permanent residents qualify for federal financial aid and pay in-state tuition instead of out-of-state tuition, making higher education financially accessible.

ALAS organizes youth and families to do educator training and policy advocacy to change the oppressive underlying policies and practices.

Lisa Maria Rhodes, is a local social worker, organizer, and educator who created a system to support over 260 system-impacted students and has extended that to 5 schools and over 600 youth. She has worked with Orleans Public Defenders in partnership with LCCR to implement effective court mitigation over the past 5 years and has also worked on immigration reform for the state of Louisiana. Lisa Maria started NOLA Educators Support Immigrant Students to create awareness of problems and solutions as well as support for educators. Lisa Maria has been a New Orleans educator for the past 12 years. As a native Spanish speaker, she regularly engages recent immigrant students and families without permanent residency, largely from Vietnam as well as the mostly Spanish speaking Central American triangle of Honduras, Guatemala & El Salvador.

The Alliance for Cultural Equity (A.C.E.) is a collaborative network of small museums and community-based archives, preserving and amplifying marginalized histories and cultures. A.C.E. began establishing its collective record of research, programming, and fund development in service of documenting and promulgating the history, art, and culture of Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and LGBTQ+ communities. A.C.E.’s member organizations preserve and transmit positive community narratives, build social cohesion, encourage intergenerational communication, the transfer of knowledge, and organize communities to protect and advance their interests.

Led by organizing member, Ashé Cultural Arts Center, collaborating institutions in the Alliance for Cultural Equity include: Amistad Research Center, Backstreet Cultural Museum, Claiborne Avenue History Project, Guardians Institute, Junebug Productions, McKenna Museums – Le Musée de f.p.c. and The George & Leah McKenna Museum of African American Art, The Helis Foundation John Scott Center at the LEH, LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana, Louisiana Civil Rights Museum, Lower 9th Ward Living Museum, Louisiana Museum of African American History, New Orleans African American Museum, Plessy & Ferguson Foundation, Philippine-Louisiana Historical Society, Puentes New Orleans, Tekrema Center for Art and Culture, Treme’s Petit Jazz Museum, United Houma Nation, Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies, and Researching Chinese American History.

Ceres creates nourishing experiences for people and the planet through sustainable cereal. Ceres has developed the 1st cereal with 20g plant protein and 0g sugar on the market, and is vegan, keto and gluten free. Founded in New Orleans, Ceres sees an opportunity to make high-protein, plant-based foods more available in areas they may not traditionally blossom in.

Rich Simmerman is the Co-Founder, CEO, and Creative Director of Ceres. Passionate about sustainable entrepreneurship and plant-based foods, Rich founded Ceres during his senior year at Loyola University New Orleans. Pursuing an MBA at Tulane University, Rich enjoys exploring ways to advance plant-based food ventures within the Greater New Orleans Area and has participated in various accelerator programs including the 2021 Ideavillage IDEAInstitute program.

Branson Morgan is the Co-Founder and Vice President of Ceres. Born and raised in New Orleans, Branson grew up in a food-friendly environment and has always been interested in the city’s rich culinary culture. A dedicated problem-solver, Branson graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in Information Systems in 2020, and immediately took his talents to early-stage Louisiana startup Tigeraire. Since then, he’s worked for prominent tech companies including Levelset and Samsung, while also pursuing his JD at Santa Clara Law School.

Delta Builds seeks to establish a glass recycling operation in New Orleans by collecting and pulverizing glass into sand and gravel. Recycled glass products can be sold for use in stormwater management, road construction and manufacturing household products such as countertops, Mardi Gras beads and new glass bottles. Delta Builds’ ethos is centered around social, racial and environmental justice for all people.

In 1998, Dr. Dorothy Nairne took a sabbatical from racism in the US. The mission was simple: raise her 3 children in a country with Black people on the money. She raves about having the best job with the University of Michigan operating a study on sex work and HIV in South Africa. Interviews with thousands of women, all wanting stable jobs, haunt her to this day. Fast forward 23 years, her adult children have melodic accents and are all in the U.S. Dorothy’s inner entrepreneur is fully ignited in Louisiana as she establishes her company Delta Builds into the premier supplier of eco-friendly building materials, starting with glass. It is still all about creating decent jobs, Black wealth and sustaining planet earth.

The District E Business Alliance (DEBA) provides seminars, workshops, guidance and technical assistance to small businesses in New Orleans’ District E. DEBA provides support to District E Businesses that want to start, grow and thrive as key contributors to the city and state economy.

DEBA is building a network of small business alliances through: Membership, networking and advocacy partnering with key local, state and federal economic development stakeholders to contribute financing and resources to revitalize our neighborhoods and blighted areas expanding opportunities for access to services to strengthen community viability through social, educational, and cultural programs and activities.

Muriel Lewis is the owner and operator of Studio 523 Barber and Beauty Salon for the past 10 years plus. She is a graduate of Academy of Hair Design, licensed in Cosmetology and also a graduate from Katie’s Barber School as a Master Barber and licensed Barber Instructor. Ms. Lewis has been in the beauty industry for over 35 years and during that time she has worked for the State Board of Barbers as an inspector and she has owned 4 salons, including one in the French Quarter. Ms. Lewis was also responsible for the development of the Tulane University Apprenticeship Program under the NCUC HANO Program, as well as being the Founder and President of “Teens of Unity,” a non profit organization focused on mentoring over 100 teenage girls based in District E. After Hurricane Katrina, Ms. Lewis was nominated to be the President of the National Association of Katrina Evacuees in which she was the liaison between New Orleans and Washington, D.C. fighting for just policies and procedures on behalf of the evacuees. Today, Ms. Lewis is the President of District E Business Alliance aka D.E.B.A where she and her team are driven on helping the local businesses in District E.

Andre Gonzaque, a Louisiana Native for over 20 years, following in his family’s footsteps of entrepreneurship, developed a passion for the “people business.” Mr. Gonzaque sought out ways that he could empower those with dreams to start their own business and from that vision he developed Gonzaque Business Consulting, LLC. GBC quickly became a premier source for managerial consulting. Today, Mr. Gonzaque has expanded his business to the Greater New Orleans, District E area and he has taken his knowledge and teamed with D.E.B.A with the goal to help those aspiring business owners to be able to get the education and information they need to become key contributors to our local and state economy.

Element Beverage Company was created by Devin Espadron in 2016 in the City of New Orleans. Element manufactures and retails premium, all natural fruit flavored lemonades to supermarkets, restaurants, convenient stores and local food festivals in New Orleans and six surrounding parishes. In March 2022, Element landed a beverage distribution deal with Southern Eagle Beverage Distributors. Their mission is to influence and empower the world to step out of their “Element,” taste their dreams and achieve their true potential.

Keishia Deverney is the mother of Devin Espadron and the current owner of Element Beverage Company. Keishia worked as a Registered Nurse for many years prior to inheriting the challenges and demands of owning and operating a beverage company. Keishia’s years of experience with working in the community both in the public and private healthcare sectors, made her transition to CEO of Element Beverages surprisingly easy. Keishia turned her tragedy of losing her son, Devin, to senseless gun violence into victory by keeping Devin’s legacy alive and thriving. Keishia also founded the Devin Espadron Entrepreneurship Give Back Foundation.

THE PITCH

Flourish Horticulture and Landscapes is a bio-friendly and sustainable lawn, garden, and landscape construction company. Flourish employs soil remediation practices to deliver evidence-based environmental lawn care and ornamental gardens that support ecosystems. Flourish also uses sustainable landscape construction that reduces the quantity of stormwater from impervious areas such as parking lots, roads, driveways, walkways. The company builds designs that integrate into surrounding ecology to enhance a site’s sustainability. Their lawn maintenance program uses battery equipment, and their fertilizers, pest and weed controls are non-toxic.

Fabian Harper is a graduate of Baton Rouge Community College with a degree in horticulture. Fabian is a licensed landscape contractor, graduate of LaunchNOLA Green Academy, and winner of the 2022 Water Challenge.

Froot Orleans was created to offer a healthier balance to every day on-the-go eating. Froot Orleans provides fruit in the middle of food deserts and is the #1 family-owned and locally-operated fruit parlor in New Orleans. In the last 7 years, Mannie King and his family provided fresh fruit throughout the city, and neighboring parishes for over 20,000 people. Their mission is to heal our city with sincere intent, dedicated service, and fresh FROOT.

Mannie King is a father, entrepreneur, community activist, and innovator of many ideas. Mannie King owns and operates FrootOrleans, a family owned business run by himself, his daughters, and close family.

Garden Picasso is a premier landscaping company, driven by green infrastructure practices, while focusing on aesthetics and serenity.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Preston has always dreamed of being able to give back to his communities. After beating cancer (AML), his focus was directed toward the more holistic side of personal health, which led to his love of plants. With a background in engineering and a creative love for nature, Preston composes blueprints for landscapes tailored to each client’s wants and needs. Preston is also a winner of the Audience Favorite Award at Propeller’s Water Challenge 2022.

Gloria’s Garden is located in the historic Tremé at 1617 Dumaine St. in New Orleans, LA led by Ms. Glory Ward. Ms. Glory offers unique opportunities for local New Orleans children through gardening, cooking, sewing, jewelry, music, yoga and meditation classes. Her non-profit, Developing Young Entrepreneurs provides youth (ages 6-25) with entrepreneurial skills, creating space and vending opportunities, organizing plays, and securing a safe space for all people to feel free to be themselves. Her courtyard is open for diverse events like concerts, women’s circles, movie nights, and more.

Gloria Ward runs Gloria’s Garden, a free community garden that provides fresh produce, arts programming, and youth education. Prior to starting Gloria’s Garden, Gloria was a fashion designer, working with such luminaries as Miles Davis, Marlene Shaw, Nancy Wilson, Teddy Pendergrass, and many more.

Kim Dejan is the Praline Brownie Queen of New Orleans! Kim Dejan, owner of KD’s NOLA Treats, created her Dessert Company in 2016, specializing in homemade mini desserts made from scratch using no preservatives or artificial flavors. With the support from her social media “NOLA TREAT FRIDAYS”, Kim was able to quit her corporate accounting job and sell desserts inside of the Roux Carré Food Hub. Kim discovered the Praline Brownie to be her best seller which propelled her to prepackage and sell treats online, in stores, and at local festivals and pop ups. Kim’s goal is to mass produce and sell consumer packaged goods all over the world.

Kimberly Dejan is a mom, college graduate and first generation entrepreneur of her family. Kim is the owner of KD’s NOLA Treats, a dessert company she started in 2016 while working a corporate job as an accountant. Kim always baked as a child, growing up close to her grandparents who instilled the importance of hard work. Kim fell in love with desserts while following in the footsteps of her mom who was always in the kitchen cooking meals and making praline, bread pudding and cheesecakes for family and friends. While working in Corporate Accounting, Kim would return home to bake to relieve stress. Kim stepped out of the corporate structure in 2017 to pursue Entrepreneurship and hasn’t looked back, creating dessert experiences at weddings and corporate events. Kim discovered the Praline Brownie to be her best seller while operating inside of the Roux Carre (an outdoor food court) and knew the next step would be to prepackage, wholesale and ship them all over the world. Kim has sold Praline Brownies at local festivals and popups, The Hilton Airport Gift Shop and now The Hilton Canopy Gift Shop, Grocery Stores and Coffee Shops. While people know New Orleans for Mardi Gras and King Cake, Kim plans to become the Praline Brownie Queen of New Orleans!

Lee Ateman has an extensive background in office management, bookkeeping and administration. Lee assists with packaging, bakery prep, event set up and hiring. Lee offers great assistance at job fairs to find potential candidates and staff for KD’s NOLA Treats.

Isaiah Alcorn works part time as a Bakery Prep Assistant. Isaiah’s close attention to detail allows him to carefully prepare and bake the brownies and cookies that are prepackaged. Isaiah is always one step ahead of others in the kitchen, setting up workstations and assisting with clean up after events. Isaiah loves to cook, showcasing his skill at recent live demonstrations with KD at a local farmers market. Isaiah aspires to become a firefighter.

Cindy Barnes, KD’s mother, has been a huge supporter and helper to KD’s NOLATreats. Cindy’s love for cooking and baking are what inspired Kim to start her own dessert company. Cindy has assisted Kim on numerous occasions with weddings, events, festivals, pop ups and recipe ideas. Although Cindy does not work in the kitchen, she’s always one phone call aways from offering her help and support to KD’s NOLA Treats.

Little Steps Learning Center (LSLC) is an early learning facility founded to provide quality childcare to parents at an affordable rate. Little Steps Learning Center serves families in the New Orleans East area with children between the ages of 3 months to 4 years. They strive to provide aid to their community and they stress the importance of securing a child’s future at an early age. Since opening in 2013, LSLC has expanded their brand through partnerships and collaborations such as their lead partnership with Total Community Action Early Head Start and more.

Aronisha Mickell is a certified educator maintaining a CDA and ancillary credential in the preschool/toddler setting. Along with these credentials, she has a multitude of training and credit hours given through The Louisiana Department of Education, as well as the role of assistant director. She is currently continuing her education, pursuing a Bachelors degree in Business Administration.

Phoenix Project NOLA works to increase job opportunities and affordable housing in the city of New Orleans by creating a community where people receive financial wellness education, career readiness, and job placement. Phoenix Project Nola is made of three programs: the education program is a course that takes participants through financial wellness, career prep, and homebuyer tools, with completion of the program participants will be matched with a job best suited for them, the tiny house program focuses on building tiny homes for participants to rent and the 3rd program is a year-long work internship.

Erin Marrero-Savoie is a native of New Orleans who has experience working in education, recruitment, and hospitality in New Orleans since 2011. She received her MBA from Tulane University with a concentration in global management. Her passion to help others obtain affordable homes and become homeowners comes from years of watching her mother work in homeless prevention in New Orleans during the mid-‘90s. Understanding the importance of the pre-work and education that goes into homeownership as well as the importance of building generational wealth and having a “village” to support you during the process of searching for employment and becoming a homeowner, Erin hopes to provide that village and support to participants of Phoenix Project NOLA. With an undergrad in economics from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, she understands the ever-changing economy of the city and hopes to provide education and skills to participants, setting them up as homeowners knowledgeable about the challenges of a changing city.

Sankofa CDC is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that approaches health-centered development practices as they build a model for community revitalization for under-resourced low socioeconomic communities. Their neighborhood of focus is the Lower Ninth Ward area of New Orleans. Sankofa’s ultimate goal is to support the creation of a local environment that promotes positive health outcomes and builds healthier communities for generations to come. Sankofa transforms blighted land into wetland ecoparks that improve stormwater management. They build market and wellness center facilities, lead programs on chronic disease prevention education, and lead healthy food distribution work.

Naish is a native Northern Californian who moved to the Lower Ninth Ward in 2017. They are a state licensed horticulturist with a college background in agriculture and racial and ethical relations. Naish serves as the horticulturist and coordinator for Sankofa’s community gardens and wetland nursery. Their focus is sharing sustainable and biodynamic farming methods with communities in areas that are designated food deserts. Naish, along with Sankofa, is currently developing their wetland nursery with the goal of supplying native trees and perennials for restoration projects to aid in flood control and prevent subsidence in the New Orleans area.

Tricia LeBlanc serves as the Park Director for the Sankofa Wetland Park & Nature Trail. She has over 25 years of environmental education experience, working with partners such as The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, the BBC, the National Park Service and various university, non-profit, and governmental agencies at the local, national and international level. As the Wetland Park Director, she oversees the development and operation of the 40 acres site as well as the creation and implementation of the Wetland Park’s educational programs and partnerships.

Rashida Ferdinand is the founder and executive director of Sankofa. A fifth-generation homeowner, Rashida comes from a family of community health practitioners and social justice leaders. She founded Sankofa with a team of community stakeholders in 2008 to create a local environment that promotes positive health and environmental sustainability. Her efforts are designed to ensure resilience, community empowerment, and equity.

Ronni Johnson is a New Orleans native and graduate of Louise S. McGehee School, Howard University and Tulane University’s Master of Business Administration/Master of Health Administration program. Ronni is a fellowship-trained healthcare administrator with experience in practice management, quality control and strategy management. Most recently, Ronni served as Executive Director of Atlanta’s Jewish Home Life’s private duty-care entity. Ronni is now translating her operations experience to Sankofa CDC as the non-profit’s Chief of Staff where she is responsible for ensuring operational efficiency and providing project management leadership. This career shift has not only afforded Ronni the opportunity to utilize her operations experience but also to serve her hometown in a meaningful way.

Soulé Nola provides healthy family dining options for individuals with varying food restrictions. Vegans, vegetarians, and meat-eaters are all welcome into their space and provided delicious meals with locally sourced ingredients. Soulé offers a diversity of food types so that plant-based eaters don’t have to give up eating comfort food or aren’t misled about the meals they are eating. Soulé Nola dedicates themselves to making sure that menu items aren’t limiting for those with food restrictions, but rather welcoming.

Kina Bullock, a native of Chicago, Illinois is a business owner and entrepreneur with over 25 successful years of experience in the music, entertainment and food service industries. She channeled her interest and commitment to the music industry by opening K’s Musik Stores – a chain of groundbreaking urban retail music stores that were located throughout the Chicagoland area. She utilized her skills and talents in coordinating and hosting many large scale industry events.

As owner of Soulé Café located in Mid City, Kina opened in 2019 and created a family style dining concept known as ‘Vegan and Friends’. With the recipes, advice and hard work of her mother and daughter Kelli, three generations of strong black women are trailblazing the local restaurant industry. Earlier this year she opened a second location in Arabi called Soulé 2 Geaux offering the same amazing concept in the Saint Bernard Parish.

The Breath Is Life Spa and Holistic Wellness Center was founded in 2003. The Breath is Life Spa is a non-traditional wellness center specializing in therapeutic bodywork, energetic healing, reflexology, doula services, grief healing, self-care training and trauma healing for formerly incarcerated women. The mission is to provide healing in a nurturing sanctuary for the client and community.

J. Menhati Singleton LMT, HTAP, Doula, Community Health Advocate and Cultural Bearer is a native of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Menhati is a graduate of Blue Cliff College in 2000 where she earned her massage license from the State of Louisiana. Menhati also earned Doula certification in 2009 (Birthing Project USA) and 2018 (Sista Midwife Productions). Her passion is to serve and educate her clients and community on the importance of feeling healthy by opening their minds, body, and spirits to a different way of being in this world.

In 2021, Menhati co-founded Sacred Wellness 360, focusing on supporting the mental health concerns of formerly incarcerated women. In May 2022, Menhati represented Black Masking Indian Queens at the Nefertari’s Egypt exhibit at NOMA. Menhati is also a board member and co-organizer for The Friends of the Freedom House, a museum, safe house and community space. Healing is possible, Love is possible, all these are possible.

Yoro is a refreshing line of adaptive beverages. Yoro exists to empower people to take control of their health & wellness so that they can create the tidal wave of change for a healthier, happier world. Yoro is crafted with all-natural flavor, contains no artificial sweeteners, and is infused with hand-picked adaptogens. They currently offer two refreshing flavors: Guava Passionfruit (Surge – Energy) and Pineapple Ginger (Surf – Clarity). Their low calorie, low carb, and low sugar beverages aid in relaxation, focus, and clarity.

Robert Haynes is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Cadera Brands, where he oversees sales, strategy, manufacturing, and operations. With 15 years in the food and beverage arena, he has leveraged his experience in beverage production, product development, import/export relations, product placement, buyer psychology, and distribution sales. Before co-founding Cadera, Robert began his experience in beverage production in 2016 working Cellar Operations with Siduri Wines in Sonoma County, where he produced 480,000 bottles of Pinot Noir consisting of 20 different clone types. After moving back to New Orleans, Haynes launched the Haynes Consulting Group, where he helped bars and restaurants achieve sustainability through cost analysis, menu development, labor planning, and sales forecasting. Implementing his experience, entrepreneurship, and love of beverage, he created Yoro ™ in his office in New Orleans to bring to scale for production. Robert’s goal was to allow the world to adapt to the ebbs and flows of everyday life and his personal experience with nootropics is a testament to its power. Robert brings his expertise in consumer goods development, sales, and manufacturing, where he continues to push Cadera Brands to be an innovative Health & Wellness company of the future.

Michael Olaiya is the cofounder and Chief Development Officer (CDO) at Cadera Brands, Inc. Michael is responsible for overseeing clinical research,
product development, and the implementation of both clinical and observational studies through interdisciplinary collaborations. With over 10 years in the pharmaceutical industry, Michael has devoted his time towards the advancement, development, and awareness of sustainable, holistic wellness products as alternatives for patients affected by the harmful side effects of prescription medication.

Complementing his role and responsibilities with Cadera, Michael was previously a pre-doctoral fellow with the Food & Drug Administration, where he collaborated with the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research on the development, implementation, and evaluation of cross-sector interventions with clinical partners committed to safe medication use. Michael’s leadership as Chief Development Officer helps add the regulatory framework, along with a holistic, patient-centered approach needed for Cadera Brands to become global leaders in the advancement of plant-based medicine leading to sustainable, clinical applications; therapeutic and curative products.