A catering business devoted to creating and growing financial and food security safety nets for families fractured by inequality.

Charmaine Washington, Chanda Washington, and Joan Surgent comprise the team behind Mothers & Caretakers Mending Family Foundations.

Having advocated for her own child in the school-to-prison pipeline, Charmaine Washington has spent nearly ten years working with non-profit organizations involved in juvenile justice. Chanda Washington, daughter of Charmaine, is currently a full-time Specialty Banker at Harrah’s Casino and has been involved with Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children (FFLIC) for the past year. Joan Surgent, a native of Louisiana, brings a wealth of experience in finance and accounting having worked as a staff accountant in the healthcare industry for over 20 years.

Together, Charmaine, Chanda, and Joan are providing crucial resources for families with children caught in the school-to-prison pipeline through their catering services.

A community paramedicine group improving access and quality to healthcare while reducing response times by integrating part-time Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) into municipal 911 systems (EMS).

Benjamin Swig (Co-Founder, COO)
Benjamin Swig is the co-founder and COO of Ready Responders. Ready Responders recruits, trains and equips part-time EMTs to improve the emergency response times and the efficiency of municipal EMS systems. He has been an EMT and Paramedic for 15 years and previously worked for New Orleans EMS in that capacity. In addition to pre-hospital care Benjamin has served as public health contractor for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Office of the Surgeon General. There he supported the training and emergency response effort of the U.S. Public Health Service, Commissioned Corps and was presented with the Surgeon General’s Outstanding Achievement award for his service to the department. Benjamin is a graduate of Trinity College and holds and MPH and MBA from Tulane University.

Justin Dangel (Co-Founder, Executive Chairman)
Justin Dangel is the Founder of JED Investments, a vehicle that co-founds and invests in socially impactful businesses. He is the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of both Ready Responders and Firefly Health. Ready Responders recruits, trains and equips part-time EMTs to improve the emergency response times and the efficiency of municipal EMS systems. Firefly Health provides efficient, digital primary care. He is also an investor and board member at Norton Point a company that makes Sunglasses and other products from recovered Ocean plastic.

A non-profit organization that develops New Orleans area girls into confident leaders and role models in technology by creating a community where girls can learn science, technology, engineering, and math skills with and from each other.

Flor Serna (Founder, Executive Director)
Flor Serna, Founder and Executive Director of Electric Girls, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music Technology from Loyola University, with minors in business and computer science. In 2015, as a response to her experience as the only female recording engineer at Vital Sounds Recording, she founded Electric Girls to develop leadership skills in young girls through their learning of electronics and computer programming skills. Electric Girls has served more than 150 girls in the greater New Orleans area. Flor previously taught STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) to fourth – seventh graders at Louise S. McGehee School and is currently the part-time director of the production studio and Mobile Idea Lab at St. Martin’s Episcopal School.

Maya Ramos (Assistant Director)
Maya Ramos, Assistant Director of Electric Girls, is a candidate for her Bachelor of Arts in Music Industry Studies and Piano Performance at Loyola University. Maya directs all Electric Girls programming. Her interests and expertise in science and technology stem from a year studying biomedicine at UCLA and being a researcher’s assistant at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

A non-profit organization providing technical assistance, economic development, social services, and disaster recovery services to rural entrepreneurs and their families

Sandy Nguyen (Executive Director)
Sandy Nguyen, executive director, has worked with the commercial fishing industry since 1992, helping more than 1,500 families and businesses in rural communities across the state. She has an intimate knowledge of the fishing industry and the communities that sustain it. Sandy has worked extensively with government agencies, nonprofits, and universities, to provide new technologies to help businesses become more efficient and profitable. Mrs. Nguyen also has helped provide seminars, training, and individual counseling to people with limited-English or education. Mrs. Nguyen is a graduate of the Tulane School of Business and a proud resident of New Orleans East. Daughter of a commercial fisherman, she is owner of a commercial fishing business with her husband, Phuoc (Michael) Nguyen.

Cristina Duong (Senior Technical Assistance Coordinator)
Cristina Duong has been with Coastal Communities Consulting, Inc. since August 2011. She is the Senior Technical Assistance Coordinator, provides a full range of technical assistance services in relation to our core programs. She graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Family Community Services. Cristina is multilingual in Cambodian, Vietnamese, and English and works with Louisiana’s ethnically diverse community of socially-disadvantaged agricultural producers.

Katrina Williams (Program Staff Assistant)
As a Program Staff Assistant at Coastal Communities Consulting, Inc., Katrina Williams is primarily responsible for teaching adult immigrant students the basic fundamentals of the English language through a 12-weeks ESL (English as a Second Language). However, her responsibilities also include, but are not limited to, assisting clients gain access to a plethora of social services, provide hands-on computer literacy training, preparing immigrant clients for US citizenship status and assisting with limited business planning procedures. As CCC continues to expand, Katrina will be able to assist clients with other needs that coincide with both the organization’s and the client’s needs. Katrina received her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from the University of New Orleans and is currently pursuing her Master of Arts from her alma mater majoring in Romance Languages.

An initiative to divert waste glass from landfill to seacoast by educating, adding disposal sites, and custom processing collected glass into graded glass-sand for use by the coastal restoration industry.

Guy Packard Seaberg (Founder, Director)
GlassLand Project founder and director Guy Seaberg, is the founding partner and CEO of TrialVue, LLC, a litigation support company providing courtroom technology services to trial lawyers. A graduate of Georgetown (BA) and Northwestern Law (JD), he has taught trial practice in the USM paralegal certification program and instructed in criminal and civil procedure as Director of the USM Legal Aid Clinic — in addition to training paralegals as digital trial assistants. He conceived and built Stage One experimental theatre at Georgetown University and was founder and Director of Seaberg/Isthmus Gallery and Framing in Chicago and FLUX Contemporary Gallery in Albuquerque, NM. One tough winter in LL Bean’s home-base of Freeport, Maine, he conceived and built the life-saving Rosendo snow-mover device, later conceived and developed in Santa Fe, NM the ArtVuer studio App, and once proudly served as personal assistant to Mr. Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra during their memorable concert series at DAR Hall in Washington, DC. With a wide array of interests and the demonstrated ability to identify and develop better systems, services and products in a range of fields, Seaberg has what it takes to shepherd an undertaking as ambitious as The GlassLand Project to fruition.

R. Thomas Seaberg (CTO)
Partner Tom Seaberg is an electrical engineer from Southern Illinois University, specializing in the design and construction of computerized control systems for manufacturing assembly lines. His clients have included Mercedes-Benz in Montgomery, AL and Ford Motors in Detroit, as well as scores of meat-processing companies throughout the US and abroad. An innovator responsible for several patented improvements and modifications to control and manufacturing components, Tom is less the entrepreneur than the go-to guy for making something work at the outset, or continue working after malfunction. A veritable White Knight, he’s the guy GlassLand needs to design and supervise its glass waste manufacturing and packaging facility – a CTO to depend on for turning mountains of waste glass into suitable sand replacement.

Chris Prasad (COO)
Another lawyer by training — specializing in corporate business law — Partner Christopher Prasad now owns and operates Phoenix Recycling, a New Orleans regional company known for its reliability and guaranteed 360 degree recycling of the reclaimable materials it collects. Exchanging suit and wingtips for t-shirt and sneakers, Chris identified the growth potential of the recycling industry early on, started with one truck and a handful of apartment complex owners willing to pay for honest recycling, and eventually bought Phoenix – in dire financial straits but with a brand, a vehicle fleet and a bank of customers. With Chris at the helm, Phoenix has grown to profitability in service of a large NOLA base of commercial customers including most of the large hotels, restaurants and bars in the French Quarter, Dryades Market and dozens of others; his timing in securing these accounts was right on the mark – as waste producers shifted from reluctance to pay for collection to full acceptance of the cost. Faced now with an opportunity to expand commercial glass collection far beyond Phoenix’s current capacity, the challenge of where to process the collected glass, and the evolution of a single local coastal restoration industry to buy reprocessed cullet, Chris is an essential partner in the Glassland Project, anxious to expand collection, build the plant and manufacture custom glass-sand product for coastal restoration. With the experience of day-to-day management of a successful collection company, a prior, last-round-level proposal and pitch for a “Public Space Recycling” venture at The Idea Village, and legal savvy, Chris’s business and growth management skills, industry awareness and existing network serve the project ideally in his service as COO.

Joseph Santiago (CIO)
Partner Joseph Santiago, Glassland’s Communications Director, has 12 years of experience as a teacher and facilitator in a range of industries, including staffing and professional service, manufacturing software, and education management. He’s an expert in designing community learning networks (CLNs) and in utilization of blended environments to establish informational and cultural contact zones. As a digital literacy advocate, Joe’s focus has been on developing programs for those who have traditionally struggled to be heard; accordingly, he has developed materials for documentaries, educational programs and workshops, as well as for social change endeavors like the World Voice Project. With a Masters in Psychology, and ABD status for a PhD in Industrial and Industrial Organizational Psychology, he was the founder and president of Santiago, Inc., established one of the world’s largest global CLNs, was an instructor at the Center for Student Leadership Development at the University of Rhode Island, and is currently the (remote) Director of IT and Communications for the Rhode Island Advocacy for Children Program. An expert in human behavior and motivation, in his “spare time,” Joe has written and published five books of fiction, and he’s one of the select group of outdoorsmen and women to have been honored with the estimable Triple Crown Award from the American Long Distance Hiking Association–West in recognition for completing the Continental Divide Trail (3,100 miles), the Pacific Crest Trail ( 2,650 miles) and the Appalachian Trail (2,160 miles); with relentless focus and stamina, CIO Santiago puts one foot in front of the other … and gets the job done.

An innovative sales platform that connects engineers, shipbuilders, and vessel operators with preferred vendor equipment data.

Maritant. He is an active committee member of the Gulf Section Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. As CEO, Stuckey focuses on building partnerships and sales, manages equipment data uploading, and leads development of organizational strategy for Maritant. Stuckey studied Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at the University of New Orleans.

An advocacy group improving health outcomes for women and children in Louisiana by advocating for all citizens to have the resources, information, rights, and ability to make their own decisions about and have access to reproductive healthcare.

Michelle Erenberg has worked as a policy advocate, community organizer, and coalition coordinator for more than a decade. Her past work experience includes community organizing for Planned Parenthood in New Orleans, coordinating a diverse coalition of environmental, community and faith-based organizations across the Gulf Coast in response to the 2010 BP oil spill, and analyzing and educating the public about policies and public engagement opportunities related to ecological and community recovery and restoration. Since 2009, she has served on the board of the National Council of Jewish Women Greater New Orleans Section as NCJW’s Louisiana Policy Advocate, a nationally appointed position, as well as Vice President of Public Affairs and Education. Erenberg has a B.A. in Psychology from Loyola University New Orleans and an MPA in Nonprofit Management from the University of New Orleans.

A data visualization design studio inspiring public engagement around environmental issues from local water quality to global change by transforming complex datasets into compelling visual narratives.

Benjamin Wellington is a principal and co-founder of Landscape Metrics. The company’s technical lead, he directs the development of interactive web-based work and GIS analyses. Through his academic and professional work, Benjamin has come to see geospatial data visualization as a creative endeavor capable of powerfully shaping our perception and experience of place. His interests in data and design, and in the ability of data visualization to inform how we modify the built and natural environments, have driven his past work as an urban planner, writer, and landscape designer. Benjamin holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geographical Studies from the University of Chicago and a Master of Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University.

Bike Rite’s mission is to create a quality cycling experience that facilitates the exploration of New Orleans and promotes physical activity across all of New Orleans’ communities.

Nicholas Reed is not the typical New Orleans native. Even with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Creative Writing from Xavier University, Nick has always found a way to express himself through fashion and creative writing. With a strong background in promotional marketing, Nick launched Bike Rite, a company that specializes in social rides, bike rentals, and tours in the New Orleans area. Bike Rite has enjoyed rapid growth in its Tuesday night rides, which has grown to over 600 riders in less than one year

A law group bridging the “justice gap” in New Orleans by providing high-quality legal counsel at low rates, specializing in serving, protecting, and supporting the health and well-being of the LGBTQ community and survivors of intimate partner violence.

Nicholas J. Hite founded The Hite Law Group in 2013 but has already gained recognition as an expert in his practice field. Nicholas travels across Louisiana to handle cases involving LGBTQ families, Latinx individuals, and unique cases of abuse and assault against adults and children. An advocate beyond the courtroom, Nicholas is often called upon to educate, inform, and reform legal, judicial, and even medical professionals by leading frequent speaking and training programs. Nicholas is Co-Chair of the Louisiana State Bar Association (LSBA) LGBT Diversity Subcommittee, and serves on the LSBA Access to Justice Committee, and Language Access Subcommittee. Nicholas is a native of Hammond, Louisiana and a graduate of LSU and Tulane Law School.

A technology platform focused on using game-based technology to combat disaster trauma in youth.

Kenneth R. Bibbins is the Founder/CEO of PrepWorld LLC and the brain behind the PrepBiz gamification concept. He has a wealth of experience in disaster management, emergency preparedness and recovery. He has worked in public, private and governmental programs and has provided first hand liaison to local, state and federal government responses to disasters. He’s a graduate of Tulane University and resident of New Orleans with a focus on serving underserved communities in their preparedness literacy and practical efforts.

A housing solution serving the New Orleans homeless community by repurposing shipping containers into safe, affordable rental housing units where residents can develop financial sustainability and emotional wellness.

Lou Anne White is the director of the project. She has worked with the homeless and supportive housing industry for over 15 years. Ms. White is an expert in permanent supportive housing, an evidence-based model that combines affordable housing with flexible services. The model has successfully housed the most difficult to serve homeless individuals. She has provided technical assistance to affordable housing developers, nonprofit organizations, and government agenci

The Southern History Project
The Pitch
A non-profit organization increasing the number of students from the American South who graduate college through the development and implementation of engaging, relevant social studies curricula tailored to southern schools.

Sheila Sundar began her career in education in 2003 as a history teacher in the New York City Public Schools. She is the author of “Watching the Sky: Human Rights in the 20th Century” and “War and Participation,” the curriculum guides for the documentary films Watchers of the Sky and The Recruiter. She previously directed education programs for the Egypt office of Education for Employment, where she developed civic education programs for youth and trained educators throughout the Middle East on student-centered, participatory teaching.

A private, non-profit childcare center providing quality early childhood education and community resources to young children in at-risk communities in New Orleans.

Kristi Givens (Owner, Executive Director)
Kristi Givens is the Owner and Executive Director of Kids of Excellence Child Development Center. Kristi is a native New Orleanian with 17 years experience in early childcare development. Kristi holds a Bachelors and Master Degree in Social Work specializing in Children and Families from Southern University of New Orleans and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of New Orleans. She has been an instrumental advocate for early childhood for many years, she is an avid learning holding many certifications, a partner with several early childhood organizations, and a trainer to her devoted staff.

Precious Acker (Communications and Partnership Manager)
Precious Acker, Communications and Partnership Manager, is Native New Orleanian with experience in education, nonprofit management, and community development. She has over 5 years experience in nonprofit management helping organizations plan, collaborate, and develop effective communication tools to establish creative ways to interact with the community. Precious holds a Bachelor of Arts in Africana Studies and Political Science from Agnes Scott College and Master of Arts in Cultural and Educational Policy Studies from Loyola University Chicago. Precious has a passion for social justice with an emphasis in youth development and mentoring, she has an eagerness to problem solve and make a difference in community by contributing to organization with new ideas.

A New Orleans-based clinic serving patients from all walks of life by providing preventative healthcare and therapeutic services, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, mental health services, adjunctive therapies, and wellness education and classes.

Dr. Lori LeDuff
Lori LeDuff is a native New Orleanian committed to providing access to quality and affordable healthcare to her community. Dr. LeDuff has worked as a physical therapist in a variety of therapy settings including outpatient orthopedics, inpatient neuro rehab, and hospital based acute care. She received her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from LSU Health New Orleans. Prior to returning to school, Lori worked in academic advising and career coaching in a large university setting. She graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology pre-med from Xavier University of Louisiana and finished from Ben Franklin High School.

Nicole Goldin
Born and raised in Lima, Perú, Nicole Goldin moved to New Orleans in 2009 to pursue her goal of becoming one of the first professionally trained music therapists in her country. Ms. Goldin received her degree of Master of Music Therapy, as well as her dual bachelor degree in Music Therapy and Psychology from Loyola University New Orleans, and obtained Music Therapy Board Certification in 2014. As the Hispanic Program Coordinator and Assessment Counselor for the Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse for Greater New Orleans, Ms. Goldin identified the high need for mental health and substance abuse services in the city, especially for minority and under-insured communities such as the African American and Hispanic populations

A sustainable, self-regulated transitional village of small homes focused on providing affordable housing to the homeless community of New Orleans.

Haiyan Khan (Founder)
Haiyan Khan, a graduate of Kellogg Graduate School of Management is the founder of Never Homeless Again & Santosha Village. He hopes to be part of creative solutions to address the homelessness. Haiyan has extensive experience in development and analytics and hopes to use these skills to fight homelessness in New Orleans.

Vicki Judice
Vicki Judice is the Executive Director of the Harry Tompson Center, a day shelter for the homeless in downtown New Orleans which provides a variety of services including hygiene, housing, case management and medical treatment to 150-200 persons daily. She has held this position since 2013. Prior to that she served as the Deputy Director of UNITY of Greater New Orleans for 8 years and held other positions with the agency since 1994. She holds a LMSW and has advocated for low-income and homeless individuals for over 30 years. She presently serves on the Louisiana Housing Trust Fund Advisory Council and believes that one of the solutions to the pressing problem of continued homelessness in New Orleans is an increase in low-cost housing options for the poor.

Kimberly VanWagner
Kimberly VanWagner serves as the Executive Director of the Uptown Shepherd’s Senior Center where she applies over 15 years of professional nonprofit experience to help older adults in New Orleans maximize their quality of life and independence. She also works with area nonprofits as a consultant, grant writer, and researcher. After graduating from Newcomb College at Tulane University, Kimberly worked as a community and labor organizer throughout Illinois. She returned to New Orleans after the federal levee failures and became the founding director of the Freret Neighborhood Center, an innovative community space with programs for and by neighborhood residents of all ages. Kimberly holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of New Orleans with a Certificate in Hazard Policy and is passionate about building resilient communities through education and accessibility for everyone. She lives in the Freret neighborhood with her husband and two-year old son.

Eva Sohl
Eva Sohl has 12 years of experience working with community development and nonprofit initiatives that promote the dignified treatment of marginalized communities. She is currently the manager of Tibetan House, a cultural gift store and meditation center that supports Tibetans living in exile throughout India and Nepal. She is the co-founder of One World Family International, an initiative that provides ethnic refugees from Myanmar access to education in Thailand. For five years, Eva Sohl worked at the Freret Neighborhood Center, a community gathering space that engaged residents of all ages in programs that focused on leadership development, civic engagement and strengthening social ties within the Freret/Milan neighborhood. Eva Sohl is originally from the Lincoln, Nebraska where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Nebraska.

An urban farm on the University Medical Center campus in Mid-City focused on redefining food culture in a healthcare setting to reduce the burden of obesity-related chronic diseases.

Catherine Hudson is a mother of two who lives in River Ridge. She has a Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology and is in her second year of residency in Internal Medicine at LSU in New Orleans. In the last year she founded the non-profit organization, The HIVE (Health Improvement through Vitality Education). She believes that by creating a more thoughtful built environment we can alter our food culture leading to healthier choices and a reduction in obesity and the heavy burden of related chronic diseases.

A project of the non-profit organization 826 New Orleans launching a mobile youth writing center to support the voices of young writers in their own neighborhoods.

Doug Keller is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of 826 New Orleans (formerly Big Class), a nonprofit organization that creates opportunities for young people ages 6-18 to write and to be supported in their writing. After studying film and writing at Emerson College in Boston, Doug worked in film development with Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Films in Los Angeles and Elephant Eye Films in New York, and as a contributing writer to The Onion. In 2009, he moved to New Orleans to teach elementary school, starting Big Class in late 2010 as a classroom project. In 2017, Big Class will become the first Southern chapter of the award-winning 826 National when it opens a Youth Writing Center in the 7th Ward with a Haunting Supply Company as its storefront.

Whole Village Art Therapy provides high quality, holistic, community-based art therapy services to foster positive mental health, enhance the well-being of individuals and communities, facilitate a creative approach to healing, and promote access to mental health services regardless of financial hardship or other systemic barriers.

Holly Wherry is an art therapist, counselor, artist, and community advocate. Holly is a licensed professional counselor and board-certified art therapist who is actively engaged in creative healing practices locally, nationally, and internationally. She has master’s degrees in both Education and Art Therapy and has spent her career working with under-resourced communities to promote wellness, creativity, education, and resilience. Holly has developed and delivered art therapy programs designed to address trauma for over a thousand students in 10 different public schools in New Orleans. As an experienced professional, Holly teaches and provides training and clinical supervision for art therapists and other mental health professionals. In addition, Holly has developed and continues to supervise sustainable art therapy programs in India and Sri Lanka. Recently, Holly created the Art Therapy Pedalers, a project where she rode her bike and a mobile art therapy trailer across the United States making art with everyone she met.

A nonprofit providing evidence-informed educational programming to assist families and professionals with understanding how rich learning experiences and positive child-adult interactions in the first few years of life are instrumental to later success and overall child well-being.

Melanie Richardson
Melanie Richardson is a native New Orleanian who has been working in the fields of mental health and education for over 20 years. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, her Masters in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Specialist in Community College Teaching from Arkansas State University. Melanie is committed to educating families and professionals and removing institutional disincentives, impediments, and other barriers in order to increase the academic success of minority and low-income students. By creating and implementing innovative and proactive programming designed to provide resources, social services and academic support, Melanie has witnessed first-hand how people will prosper when given unconditional support.

Christine Neely
Christine Neely has been in the field of Education for over 20 years and has always worked to improve standards and provide resources to families and students. A New York Native, she received her undergraduate degree from Tulane University and remained in New Orleans to receive her Master’s in Education from Loyola University. Christine has spent over 15 years serving as lead teacher in grades PK-3rd while working closely with administration to mentor new teachers, develop curriculum and make the switch to Common Core. Her time in the informal education sector as Public Programs Manager for Audubon Zoo and most recently as the Education Director of the Louisiana Children’s Museum allowed her the opportunity to implement different community based approaches to foster early childhood development and parental support. Christine has presented at national conferences and conducted workshops about literacy development, hands on education, and Brain Architecture and Mind in The Making Seven Essential Skills. She volunteers her time serving New Orleans Kids Partnership, is an active member of P.E.O International which promotes educational opportunities for women worldwide.

A multi-disciplined professional service firm assisting clients in the coastal parishes of Louisiana in transactional legal services, land broker services, and grant management while promoting environmentally-friendly usage of Louisiana’s coast.

Erik A. Mayo is owner of Louisiana Coastal Services, Inc. (LCS) and plays an administrative and operation role in each of LCS’ divisions. Prior to establishing LCS, Mr. Mayo practiced law in both the U.S. military and in the private sector. Mr. Mayo places heavy emphasis on risk management discipline throughout LCS’ divisions. Mr. Mayo uses this risk management focus, combined with his passion and commitment to Louisiana’s coastal issues, to structure LCS as a premier professional service provider in south Louisiana, acquiring contracts with the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and the Louisiana Land Trust.

A non-profit urban garden project to increase access to fresh produce and promote financial self-sustainability for residents of Lower 9th Ward by providing them with the tools, resources, and knowledge to grow fresh food and flowers.

Jeanette Bell is an expert gardener who’s been growing flowers, veggies, and fruits on vacant lots in New Orleans for over 25 years. She was awarded a 2015 People’s Health Champion for her urban gardening efforts. “At 71, I’m living proof that gardening keeps a person healthy and happy.” Her favorite flower is the medallion rose.

A big data machine learning platform for biomedical and molecular data to enable research and development of personalized therapeutics and diagnostics for cancer and infectious diseases.

Elia Brodsky (CEO)
Elia Brodsky is the CEO of Pine Biotech. His background is in entrepreneurship, business development, technical writing, planning, visual communication, and marketing. His education includes training in many areas, including business analytics, basics of finance and accounting, and data-driven marketing and planning, from the Harvard Business School, Bar-Ilan University, and Tiltan College of Visual Communications. He has managed development, engineering, design, and marketing teams, and conducted corporate planning, including initial startup phase development, non-dilutive, seed and angel fundraising, and product-market fit development.

Jaclyn Williams
Jaclyn Williams has a Masters degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Southern Mississippi, with published research in gene expression analysis in Amblyomma ticks, and their microbiome. She has been working with Pine Biotech for the last year, assisting with data analysis, educational projects, and working with clients. Her teaching experience includes biology for nursing students and molecular entomology.

A blueberry farm and food hub in Washington Parish connecting local farmers with the resources and information to promote long-term financial and agricultural sustainability in the region.

Seth Descant is an international professional for a leading environmental produced water separation company in the Oil and Gas Industry. Seth Descant has seen and experienced first-hand environmental atrocities as well as the impact on the local under-developed communities. Mr. Descant brings his knowledge of ever increasing environmental compliance standards, practical problem solving abilities, and intense drive to see a job done well to implement into Descant Ranch; this is why Descant Ranch will become the leader in carbon neutral blueberry production and processing.

A nonprofit that acts as the connective tissue between students, families, high schools and higher education by leveraging the power of relationships to guide students through the academic, social, and financial transition from high school success to college persistence.

Paris Woods (co-founder & Executive Director)
Paris Woods is co-founder and Executive Director of College Beyond. A first-generation college graduate, Paris earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Harvard University where she studied African American Studies and Education Policy & Management. Paris worked in college admissions, financial aid, and student advising at Harvard, before moving to New Orleans to become the founding Director of Alumni Support for New Orleans College Prep Academies. As a result of her work with NOCP, Cohen College Prep became the #1 open enrollment high school in the city of New Orleans sending students to college. Paris has been honored in Gambit’s 40 Under 40 and as an Innovation Award recipient by the Alliance for Diversity and Excellence. Paris’s and Sarah’s work together supporting New Orleans students has been featured in numerous news outlets including the Times Picayune, Hechinger Report, Education Week, and WWLTV Channel 4 News.

Sarah Payne (co-founder & Director of Strategy)
Sarah Payne is co-founder and Director of Strategy for College Beyond. Prior to starting College Beyond, Sarah served as the founding Director of College Counseling at Cohen College Prep High School, where she directed College Prep’s college readiness programs and supports and served on the school leadership team. She has worked in state government, education non-profits, and as a middle school teacher, and holds bachelor’s degrees in International Relations and French from Wellesley College. She is a doctoral student in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, where her research is focused on college persistence and post-college outcomes.

A non-profit urban farm fostering physical wellness and positive environmental impact in metro New Orleans through farm-to-fork education and sustainable, free-range agricultural methods.

Sharessa Garland moved to New Orleans in 2010 from New York state with over seven years of animal-husbandry and farming experience then worked at Audubon Zoo for five years. As a parent, she quickly identified the need for a place where children in the metropolitan New Orleans area could learn about farming, humane animal husbandry, and where they could meet and interact with farm animals in their own environment. She worked hard to identify a location within Orleans Parish where she could make her vision a reality and where she could share the values that farming can bring forth. With support of members of the community, she was able to purchase the land to create Sugar Roots Farm in October, 2014. With the support of volunteers from the community, Garland cleared the land and built enclosures, shelters, and basic infrastructure. Sugar Roots Farm has since become a destination for many school-aged children to learn about farming and farm-to-table concepts. She obtained a non-profit status for Sugar Roots Farm in January of 2016. Sugar Roots Farm was selected as a venture in the Propeller Accelerator program in the Fall of 2016. She was sought out and served as a workshop presenter on backyard chickens at the 2016 Farm To Table Experience in New Orleans.