Robert Schneckenburger, Chair
Senior Regional President – Western Region, Hancock Whitney Bank

Robert Schneckenburger, a New Orleans native, has been a resident of Baton Rouge since 1993, when he started at JPMorgan Chase Bank (Premier Bank) as a Vice President of Commercial Banking with a focus on healthcare and senior living. In December 2010, he assumed the role of President of the Baton Rouge Market for JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A.  In March 2016 Robert began at Hancock Whitney Bank and currently serves as the Senior Regional President, overseeing all of Hancock Whitney’s operations in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Texas.    

Robert graduated from LSU with a Bachelor of Science in Economics in 1980 and a Master of Science in Economics in 1982. He has served on the United Way Campaign (Healthcare Division), the Foundation for Historical Louisiana, the Mary Bird Perkins Fundraising Campaign, the Womans’ Hospital Foundation Fundraising Campaign, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber Board of Directors, and the Credit Bureau of Baton Rouge Foundation.

Robert is married to Whitney Vann Schneckenburger and they have two children.

kelsey kornick Funes, Vice Chair                                                                                Partner, phelps dunbar llp

Kelsey Kornick Funes is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Phelps Dunbar LLP where her practice focus is construction law. Ms. Funes currently serves as the practice coordinator of the Baton Rouge Litigation practice.

She represents owners, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and design professionals in state and federal courts in Louisiana, as well as mediation and arbitration across the Gulf Coast region. Ms. Funes also regularly counsels clients in the drafting and negotiation of construction contracts. Ms. Funes regularly speaks at seminars and briefings on construction-related topics. She is also the author of a number of published works relating to Louisiana construction law, the use of electronic documents in Louisiana, and Louisiana’s rules of professional conduct.

Ms. Funes is an active member of the American Bar Association Forum on Construction Law and is an arbitrator on the American Arbitration Association’s Construction Panel. She is the listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business and has an AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rating from the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory.

Gordon LeBlanc, Treasurer
Senior Managing Director, Stonehenge Capital

Gordon provides executive oversight for fundraising and product structuring within Stonehenge and has over 38 years of experience in finance. Immediately prior to co-founding Stonehenge in 1999, Mr. LeBlanc was a Director of Banc One Capital Markets, Inc.

Prior to joining Banc One Capital, Gordon spent eight years with a NYSE-listed financial services company, ultimately serving as Senior Vice President and Treasurer where he was responsible for corporate capital markets activity and bank relations among other responsibilities. From 1985 to 1990, he worked for Premier Bank, a statewide banking organization that was the predecessor to Bank One, Louisiana, serving in various positions, including commercial lender and manager of the credit department.

Gordon received a BS in Civil Engineering and an MBA from Louisiana State University. He has also successfully completed the Certified Public Accountant examination.

Cordell Haymon, Secretary
Senior Vice President (retired), PSC Group LLC

Cordell Haymon is a Baton Rouge attorney and businessman. He has a B.A. in Economics from Rice University and a J.D. from the LSU Law Center. He was engaged in the active practice of law for 25 years and served as President of the Baton Rouge Bar Association and on the Board of Governors of the Louisiana State Bar Association. He is a member and past President of the Louisiana State Law Institute.

Mr. Haymon has been an advocate for proactive planning and, while serving on the Board of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, chaired the committee which created a plan for the revitalization of downtown Baton Rouge (Plan Baton Rouge) in 1998.  He has also served as chair of Teach for America – South Louisiana since 2004.

Mr. Haymon is married to Louisiana’s Poet Laureate Ava Leavell Haymon, has two children and three grandchildren, and attends University Presbyterian Church.

Preston Castille, Jr., Immediate Past Chair
president, helix community schools

Preston Castille joined Taylor Porter in 1994 and was a Partner and member of the Executive Committee. He retired from the partnership in January 2020 and is currently Of Counsel with the firm. Mr. Castille is engaged primarily in education and business law. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Castille worked as an economist for the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. In October 2019, Mr. Castille was elected as the District 8 member of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE). BESE is the administrative body for all Louisiana public elementary and secondary schools.

Mr. Castille is active in various education-related organizations. He is the Immediate Past National President of the Southern University Alumni Federation and is a current member of the Tulane Law School Dean Advisory Board. Mr. Castille served on Governor John Bel Edwards’ Education Transition Committee in 2015. He is Immediate Past Chairman of the Board of Directors of New Schools for Baton Rouge and President of Helix Community Schools. He is also a former member of the Board of Directors of Volunteers in Public Schools.

camille manning-broome
president and CEO, CPEX

A native Louisianan, Camille Manning-Broome is internationally recognized for her expertise in resilience and adaptation planning. Her leadership on issues of land loss, coastal community sustainability, climate change resilience and adaptation as well as resident-led community planning has contributed to the transformation of cities, towns and parishes throughout Louisiana and has created knowledge of interest to peers throughout the U.S. and the globe.

As President and CEO, Camille oversees CPEX’s multidisciplinary team as they develop plans and provide technical assistance, data and research, policy guidance, communications support and thought leadership to communities seeking to make thoughtful decisions about how they develop and grow. Camille works closely with the CPEX Board of Directors to set the organization’s vision and advance CPEX’s mission to bring people and planning together to make great places.

In her previous role as Senior Vice President, Camille guided CPEX’s planning and implementation team in developing comprehensive plans, model land-use tools, and implementation strategies for more than 30 Louisiana communities. She built CPEX’s coastal resilience line of work by engaging coastal communities in creating a vision for the future of the working coast and developing the strategies, programs, and resources needed to make progress toward that vision.  Camille managed CPEX’s business development activities and has cultivated strategic relationships with funders, project partners, clients, and stakeholders.

Camille’s prior career experience includes work in nonprofit, private and government sectors. After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, she was among the first planners on the ground, working across 36 parishes to develop the Louisiana Speaks regional plan.  She served as Assistant Deputy of Operations for FEMA’s Long-Term Community Recovery group and was later recruited to the Shaw Group where she co-authored Louisiana’s first Coastal Master Plan. She has attended Congressional delegation trips to the Netherlands and Japan to study water and disaster management.

Camille has a B.A. in Art History and an M.S. in Environmental Sciences from the College of the Coast and Environment at Louisiana State University.  She is currently a Ph.D. candidate with her dissertation research focused on community adaptation to climate change.

Jim Brandt
Owner, Brandt + Associates

Jim Brandt is the managing principal of Brandt & Associates, a consultant firm offering professional services in public policy research, fund raising, and development.

He has over forty years of experience in government administration, public policy research and nonprofit management.  He served as President of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana (PAR) from 1999 through 2010, when he retired from PAR. He was the author or co-author of scores of research reports in the areas of governmental finance, public administration, and constitutional issues.

Prior to his work with PAR, Mr. Brandt was President and CEO of the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) in New Orleans from 1987 to 1999.  His previous professional experience also includes serving as the Deputy Director of the Downtown Development District (DDD) in New Orleans, and as Director of Planning for the 1984 World’s Fair in New Orleans.

He was an adjunct member of the faculty at the University of New Orleans College of Urban and Public Affairs in public administration and at Tulane University in planning and grant development.

Mr. Brandt is the immediate past chair of the 2012 Community Fund for the Arts Campaign in Baton Rouge. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for both CPEX and the Academic Distinction Fund (ADF).

His professional affiliations have included:  the Governmental Research Association (GRA), where he served as President of the national organization from 1995-1997; the American Society for Public Administration, the American Planning Association, and the National Taxpayers Conference.  He was also a member of the faculty at the LSU Academy of Politics and a graduate of the Council for a Better Louisiana’s 2000 Leadership Louisiana program.

Mr. Brandt is a Phi Beta Kappa honors graduate of the University of Colorado, where he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree (majoring in history and political science).  He received a Master’s Degree in Community Organization and Planning from Tulane University.

He resides in Baton Rouge with his wife, Janie Rhorer Brandt.

Steve Cochran                                                                                                      
Director, Restore the Mississippi River Delta Coalition Vice president, coastal resilience, environmental defense fund  

The Coalition’s mission is reconnecting the River with its Delta – to protect people, wildlife and jobs.  Its primary partners are the National Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society, Environmental Defense Fund, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, and Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.  Steve began leading the Coalition in 2014.

He is also in his 22nd year at the Environmental Defense Fund, now serving as Associate Vice President, Coastal Resilience. After growing up in Louisiana, Steve joined EDF in Washington DC in 1997, where he has served in a number of roles. Prior to EDF, Steve served in government and non-profit roles at the state and federal levels.

Steve received his B.S. from LSU in 1976.  He began his career in the private sector in Louisiana, spending five years negotiating oil and gas leases for an independent energy exploration firm. He makes his home in New Orleans. Current community involvement includes founding chair and current board member for New Harmony High School, advisory board member for Foundation for Louisiana, Governor’s appointee on the Governor’s Commission on Coastal Protection, Restoration and Conservation.

Brenna Benson Lamb
Chief Operating Officer, Baton Rouge Area Foundation

Brenna Benson Lamb currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation where she leads strategy and operations for the organization. Prior to joining the Foundation, she served as the Chief Operating Officer of New Schools for Baton Rouge for seven years. In addition to managing the day-to-day operation of the organization, she was also the chief architect of the >$70M Excellence Fund to launch and support excellent schools of choice. Brenna began her career in education with Teach for America in New Orleans. She has served in a variety of capacities and leadership roles across the education sector. As Chief Information Officer for KIPP New Orleans Schools, Brenna led the organization’s data and technology teams, financial planning process, and strategic initiatives. Brenna has also worked as an independent consultant, helping shape portfolio strategies for major urban school districts on the East Coast, as well as providing support on organizational health and operational effectiveness to large state agencies. Brenna previously worked at McKinsey & Company, specializing in strategy and operations. Brenna received her undergraduate degree, Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude from Duke University and her MBA from Tulane University. Her husband, Jared Lamb, is the principal at BASIS Materra. Together, they have three high-spirited children -- Ethan (9), Olivia (6), and Evelyn (4) -- and one very patient dog.

Mary Landrieu Senior Policy Advisor, Van Ness Feldman

Senator Mary Landrieu served in the United States Senate for three terms, from 1997-2015. She chaired the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, the Homeland Security Appropriations Committee, and was the first Democratic woman appointed to serve on the Armed Services Committee. She is credited with the passage of several important pieces of legislation: most notably, the landmark Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act; the Israel American Energy Alliance Act; and the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act – the single largest environmental investment in the Gulf Coast in US history. Landrieu was known for her bipartisan approach to addressing national challenges and for her passionate advocacy for her home state of Louisiana, particularly in the aftermaths of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

Since leaving the Senate, Landrieu serves as a Senior Policy Advisor with Van Ness Feldman.  Additionally, she serves on several corporate and national non-profit boards: including Tyler Technologies; Evergy, Inc.; Resources for the Future; National Academy of Sciences Gulf Research Project Advisory Board; National Alliance for Public Charter Schools; and the National CASA Board.  She is a co-founder and continues to serve on the board of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute.

She earned her BS degree from Louisiana State University and is married to Frank Snellings, an attorney and real estate broker. They reside in Washington, DC, and have two grown children and one grandchild.

Erin monroe
market vice president for Greater Louisiana, cox communications 

Erin Monroe is the Southeast Vice President of Government and Public Affairs at Cox Communications, overseeing governmental and public affairs efforts in Louisiana, Florida and Georgia. Prior to joining Cox, Monroe served as Special Counsel for Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards.

Prior to joining the Louisiana Governor’s office, she served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC), Executive Counsel for the Office of Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Mitchell J. Landrieu, Associate Executive Counsel for the Office of Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and as a staff attorney for the Louisiana State Senate.

Monroe has been recognized as a Top Forty Under 40 leader (2015), Baton Rouge Area Volunteer Activist (2015), Woman of Distinction (2014), Influential Woman in Business (2012), and Most Powerful and Influential Woman by the National Diversity Council (2011).

Her commitment to the community she serves is easily seen through her board service and engagement with the City Year Board of Directors, LSU National Diversity Advisory Board of Directors, Baton Rouge Area Chamber Board of Directors, Downtown Development District Board of Directors, Southeast Louisiana Super Region Committee, Baton Rouge Area Foundation’s Civic Leadership Committee, Junior League of Baton Rouge and The Baton Rouge Chapter of The Links, Incorporated.

A Shreveport, LA native, Erin received her undergraduate degree from LSU. She also holds a Juris Doctor from the Southern University Law Center from which she was recognized as a Distinguished Alumni in 2013.

Paul rainwater
senior consultant, cornerstone governmental affairs

Paul W. Rainwater most recently held the title as Governor Jindal’s Chief of Staff. He resigned in February of 2014 to pursue a career in the private sector and shortly thereafter joined Cornerstone Government Affairs.

Prior to his latest position, Paul held the title of Commissioner of Administration. Before that, he served as Governor Jindal’s deputy chief of staff. Prior to that, he served as executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA). Previously, Paul served as legislative director and chief of operations for U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu. From June 2006 to January 2007, he served as director of hazard mitigation and intergovernmental affairs at the LRA, where he managed program policies, served as team leader and coordinated with state and federal agencies to set mitigation priorities.  From July 2000 to June 2006, Paul served as the chief administrative officer for the City of Lake Charles.

Paul also formerly served as manager of governmental affairs for Conoco, Inc., Gulf Coast Business Unit in Baton Rouge from 1998 to July 2000; as manager of public affairs for ARCO Chemical in Lake Charles from 1995 to May 1998; and as administrative aide to the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury in Lake Charles from 1988 to 1996.

In addition to his public service duties, Paul also serves as a colonel with the Louisiana Army National Guard in the Joint Director of Military Support for Disaster Response Unit. He previously served as a lieutenant colonel in the Congressional Liaison Office of the Louisiana Army National Guard and as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserves’ 336th Finance Command. For his military service, Paul has been awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Commendation Medal and the Combat Action Badge.

Paul earned a bachelor’s degree in government from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, a master’s degree in international relations from Salve Regina University in Rhode Island, and is certified as a local government manager by Louisiana State University.

Ashley K. Shelton                                                                                             President and CEO, Power Coalition

Ashley K. Shelton is the Executive Director of the Power Coalition, a spin off organization of One Voice. As the Louisiana Director of One Voice, She led a series of coordinated campaigns and anchored and supported the development of the 501c3 table that is now the Power Coalition. The Power Coalition serves as a catalyst for real collaborative work between policy and community organizing groups. The Power Coalition uses a broad-based strategy that combines base building, popular education, and organizing all while increasing the capacity of community based organizations throughout the state to sustain and hold the work.

She also was the former Vice President of Programs at the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation (LDRF), now the Foundation for Louisiana. In the fight for an equitable and inclusive recovery for the Gulf Coast it remains clear that much work needs to be done at the state level to achieve equity and inclusion for Louisiana's most vulnerable and marginalized populations.

In her role at the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, Ms. Shelton managed a system of integrated, value-added programs with the goal of creating a better Louisiana for all of its citizens in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In her role at LDRF, she designed, initiated and coordinated a comprehensive policy strategy, which led to a systemic, multi-pronged approach to equitable policy development on a local, state and national level. Utilized a participatory model that engaged local, state, and national partnerships to develop and nurture civic engagement throughout the state. Ms. Shelton provided leadership, and key philanthropic knowledge of Louisiana based nonprofits to put more than 8,000 families back into homes and restore more than 4,000 small businesses after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Prior to this, Ms. Shelton served as Director of Grantmaking for the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. Ms. Shelton has received many honors, including selection as a 2005-2006 Fellow in the Emerging Leaders Program at Duke University and the University of Cape Town, and was appointed in 2003 to the Foundation for the Mid South's Commission to Build Philanthropy. Ms. Shelton attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, graduating with a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications.

Ebony Starks                                                                                                         
Vice President of Place-Based Programs, Huey and Angelina Wilson Foundation

Ebony Starks joined the Huey and Angelina Wilson Foundation in March 2022, where she serves as the Vice President of Place-Based programs. She brings with her over 15 years of experience in nonprofit management, fundraising and philanthropy. She is a vocal advocate who works to identify the resources needed for families and communities to thrive.

Her career has garnered a unique blend of experience in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Previously, Ebony served as the Southeast Regional Director of Development for the global education nonprofit Facing History and Ourselves. Prior to that role, she served as the Executive Director of the Gwinnett Technical College Foundation, leading institutional advancement efforts and garnering support for students and programs.

A native of Colorado, Ebony earned her BA in Political Science from Howard University and an MS in Urban Policy Studies from Georgia State University. She is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and is passionate about social justice and economic empowerment.

Dr. Robert Twilley                                                                                                         
Interim vice president, lsu office of research & economic development

Dr. Twilley most recently served as the Executive Director of the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program and is a professor of oceanography and coastal sciences at LSU.

Dr. Twilley was the director of the Wetland Biogeochemistry Institute at Louisiana State University at Lafayette, and a professor with the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Science. Most of Dr. Twilley's research has focused on understanding the ecosystem ecology, management practices and biogeochemistry of coastal wetlands both in the Gulf of Mexico (from Florida to the Yucatan Peninsula) and throughout Latin America. He works on the nutrient biogeochemistry of wetland and coastal ecosystems, and on coupled ecological models of ecosystem management. Dr. Twilley has published over 75 articles in journals and book chapters on his research. In 1999 he co-edited The Biogeochemistry of Gulf of Mexico Estuaries, in 2001 he was lead author of Confronting Climate Change in the Gulf Coast Region: Prospects for Sustaining Our Ecological Heritage, and 2002 he was co-author of a report by the Pew Center for Global Climate Change entitled Coastal and Marine Ecosystems and Global Climate Change. Presently, Dr. Twilley is member of the Louisiana Framework Development Team that is developing a comprehensive restoration plan for the Louisiana Coastal Area. He was the recipient of the 2000 Distinguished Professor Award at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and holds the Board of Regents Professorship in Coastal Biodiversity. He is active in the Estuarine Research Federation having co-chaired the ERF’99 conference in New Orleans, and was program chair of the 2003 annual conference of the Society of Wetland Scientists. He has served on several scientific program and review panels including National Science Foundation, EPA, NOAA, World Wildlife Fund, Gordon Conference, and US Climate Change Science Program, as well as on the editorial board of three professional journals.

Robert Verchick
Gauthier-St. Martin Eminent Scholar and Chair in Environmental Law, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law 

Rob Verchick is one of the nation’s leading scholars in disaster and climate change law and a former EPA official in the Obama administration. He holds the Gauthier-St. Martin Eminent Scholar Chair in Environmental Law at Loyola University New Orleans. Rob is also a Senior Fellow in Disaster Resilience at Tulane University and the President of the Center for Progressive Reform, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization.

Rob has written more than 60 articles the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, and other publications and five books. He has taught as a visiting professor at Yale University, Peking University, and Aarhus University in Denmark. His podcast, Connect the Dots, focuses on tackling some of our biggest environmental and health challenges.

In 2009 and 2010, Rob served in the Obama administration as Deputy Associate Administrator for Policy at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In that role he helped develop climate change adaptation policy for the EPA and served on President Obama's Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force.

Randy P. Roussel, Board Member Emeritus
Partner, Phelps Dunbar LLP

Randy is a partner in the business group in the Baton Rouge office of Phelps Dunbar LLP.  His general business practice is concentrated in the areas of real estate, banking, and commercial transactions.

Prior to joining Phelps Dunbar, Randy was a certified public accountant for Arthur Andersen & Company in New Orleans from 1978 to 1981. He served a judicial clerkship for the Honorable E. Grady Jolly, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, New Orleans from 1984 to 1985.