FQFI CEO Emily Madero shares her thoughts and best tips for festing this weekend, from the return of some big fan favorites to brand new offerings designed to celebrate the exciting past four decades of this enormous free festival and what it means to New Orleans.
This week’s episode is sponsored by:
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Emily Madero has served as president and CEO of French Quarter Festivals, Inc. since 2017.  Under her leadership, the organization has placed increased focus on its non-profit mission to showcase New Orleans’ culture and heritage and contribute to the economic well-being and pride of the community. She has championed initiatives such as festival recycling, inclusivity, and community partnerships while supporting expanded programming that provides opportunity to more local musicians. Prior to taking the helm at FQFI, Emily devoted over a decade of her career to building a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in New Orleans with The Idea Village. While there, she served as a critical part of economic recovery in the immediate aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Formerly serving as COO and acting CEO, Emily was a key player in starting and building New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, a festival celebrating entrepreneurship and innovation in the city. A longtime New Orleans resident, Emily earned her master’s in business administration and bachelor of arts in Spanish and psychology from Tulane University. Outside of her professional career, Emily is actively engaged in many community endeavors. She is a founding member of Campaign for Equity New Orleans, a grass roots movement committed to dismantling structural racism in New Orleans. Emily is fanatical about live music, visual arts, and food! She savors spending time with her husband and two daughters and their menagerie of pets, and her favorite room is the kitchen, where she loves to cook and enjoy long, boisterous evenings with friends and family.
