Awards
Millenial Award-Winners
Winners of the 2018 Millennial Awards — conceived and produced by the Spears Group since 2013 — were unveiled on Friday, July 27 at the Ace Hotel New Orleans. The awards honor young professionals making significant impacts in their respective fields and surrounding communities. Among the 19 award winners were the following:
Business – Amy Landry, founder and president of Fuel Success Academy; Culinary Arts – Austin Kirzner, executive chef of Red Fish Grill and Greg Tillery, owner of We Dat’s Chicken & Shrimp; Education – Jonathan Johnson, founder and CEO of Rooted School; Changemaker – Aaron Frumin, founder and executive director of unCommon Construction; Innovation powered by Chevron – Luke Hooper, president at FACTOR 10; Healthcare – Dr. Chenita Landry, OB/GYN and co-host of “The Doctors”; Economic Development – Mea Boykins, CEO of Global Management & Marketing and Ashley Llewellyn, deputy director economic development at St. Tammany Parish Development District; Financial Services – Damon Burns, executive director of Finance Authority of New Orleans; Hospitality and Tourism – Lisa Larsen, director of sales at Galatoire’s Restaurants; Law – Alanah Odoms Hebert, executive director of ACLU of Louisiana; Real Estate – Melissa Burns McClendon, president of New Orleans Women’s Council of Realtors; Best Millennial Restaurant presented by Yelp – The Big Cheezy; For more information on the Emerge Summit and Millennial Awards, visit millennialsmeet.com.
New Program
Facebook and National Urban League Announce Digital Skills Training Partnership
On Aug. 1, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and National Urban League President Marc Morial announced a new partnership to provide digital skills training to entrepreneurs and small business owners in New Orleans and 12 other cities nationwide beginning in 2019. The goal is to train 1 million people and small businesses across the country in digital skills by 2020.
From Aug. 7-9, Facebook offered in-person training for individuals and small business owners in New Orleans on the company’s tools, including Business Pages, Messenger and Instagram. Attendees to the Facebook Community Boost, part of the event’s 50 city tour, were granted access to free online support.
Education
New Online Master’s Program for Cybersecurity
Tulane University’s School of Professional Advancement (SoPA) is now enrolling students in a new online Master of Professional Studies (MPS) in Cybersecurity Management program.
The program will target students who are currently working in cybersecurity or wish to further their career in IT security, cybersecurity, information assurance and information system security by teaching them how to build and maintain secure networks, as well as thwart cyber attacks.
This Just In
Big Easy Budget
The Committee for a Better New Orleans (CBNO) has announced the mid-year results of bigeasybudgetgame.com,
a data-driven, crowd-sourced interactive website that residents can use to balance the city budget with their own spending priorities. Over 300 residents have participated to date.
Highlights from the mid-year report include:
28%
increase in spending for departments related to improving infrastructure
$9 million
in additional local spending for affordable housing
70%
increase to departments that offer mental health care services including the Health Department and the Coroner’s Office
15%
cut to administrative departments such as the Chief Administrative Office and Finance Department
25%
cut to the Orleans Parish Prison (largest cut)
81%
of users support more money generated by short-term rentals being used to pay for more affordable housing
75%
of users had never participated in the city budget process before
The game remains open year-round, but the final data report will be compiled alongside the actual city budget in October.
“Delgado has implemented capital improvements totaling some $150 million, including nearly $28 million for our new River City and Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center in Avondale…Delgado has been successful at educating the regional workforce for nearly 100 years. We’re getting ourselves geared up for the next 100 years of educational excellence.”
Arlanda J. Williams, MPA, vice chancellor of Delgado Community College’s workforce development and institutional advancement program, dean of technical education and the executive dean of the school’s new River City center, which opened Aug. 18.
