NEW ORLEANS (press release) — The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana has announced eight new members of its Coastal Advisory Council, a leadership group first formed in 2021 to involve experts in a variety of different fields in CRCL’s mission to unite people in action to achieve a thriving, sustainable Louisiana coast for all. These passionate and motivated advocates will help the state’s first nonprofit dedicated to coastal restoration as it pushes toward implementation of some of the most important projects in Louisiana history.
“One of our greatest successes at CRCL is our ability to bring seemingly disparate groups together to solve a problem that affects all of us,” said Kim Reyher, executive director at CRCL. “Our Coastal Advisory Council is a critical component of our success, and I’m excited about the new members of this group. These leaders from across Louisiana all have different areas of expertise and different backgrounds. That diversity will help us ensure that everyone has a voice in how we confront coastal land loss and climate change.”
The new members of the Coastal Advisory Council are:
- Lanor Curole, director/administrator of United Houma Nation.
- Jessica Dandridge, executive director of the Water Collaborative of Greater New Orleans.
- Troy Gilbert, a writer who is the founder and executive director of Chef’s Brigade New Orleans.
- Robert Gorman, a founding member of CRCL who served as the organization’s first chair and was a longtime Board member, and who is the retired director of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.
- Barbara Johnson, founder and proprietor of the Great Delta Tours.
- Brent McCrossen, an entrepreneur who is managing director of Revelry Startup Studio and founder of linen shirt maker RNKL.
- David Muth, the retired Gulf program director at the National Wildlife Federation.
- Niki Pace, an attorney at Louisiana SeaGrant.
They join the following members retained from 2021:
- Ellen Ball, a community leader in New Orleans and on Avery Island and a former member of the CRCL Board of Directors.
- Robin Barnes, an economic recovery and resilience expert who operates Resilience Resolutions in New Orleans.
- Angela Chalk, the founder and executive director of Healthy Community Services in New Orleans.
- Mark Davis, the director of the Tulane University Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy and Tulane ByWater Institute and the former executive director of CRCL.
- Reggie Dupre, the executive director of the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District in Houma, the president of Bourg Supermarket Inc. and a former state lawmaker.
- Al Duvernay, a fisherman, retired paleontologist at Shell and former CRCL volunteer of the year.
- Tina Freeman, a photographer whose work is included in permanent collections of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France (Paris), the National Media Museum (Bradford, UK), the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Luiciano Benetton Imago Mundi Collection in Italy.
- Albertine Kimble, who is retired after working in Plaquemines Parish government for 30 years, including as local coastal programs manager. She is a member of the parish’s Coastal Zone Advisory Board.
- Ryan Lambert, the founder of Cajun Fishing Adventures in Buras and Venice.
- Walter Leger III, a lawyer, senior vice president for strategic affairs and general counsel for New Orleans & Co. and former speaker pro tempore in the state House.
- Brett Long, a CPA who has helped found a number of startups and who has a strong interest in coastal and city issues in New Orleans.
- Steve Mathies, the coastal restoration and resilience practice leader for the Southeast region at Stantec and former director of CPRA.
- Tim Matte, a CPA and the former mayor of Morgan City.
- Norma Mattei, a UNO civil engineering professor, former president of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a member of the Mississippi River Commission.
- John Morello, vice president of product, container and serverless security at Palo Alto Networks, a board member for the Coastal Conservation Association and a former member and chair of the CRCL board.
- Sandy Nyugen, founder and executive director of Coastal Communities Consulting and a former consultant for the Louisiana Small Business Development Center.
- Denise Reed, a research professor at the University of New Orleans who helped develop Louisiana’s coastal master plan.
- Jennifer Sherrod-Blackwell, founder and owner of Elysian Seafood and Elysian Events Catering in New Orleans and a restaurant partner in CRCL’s Oyster Shell Recycling Program.
- Robert Thomas, director of the Center for Environmental Communication at Loyola University, the founding director of the Louisiana Nature Center and a former member of the CRCL board.
- Jim Tripp, who is retired from the Environmental Defense Fund, where he served as general counsel. He was a founding member of CRCL and is a former CRCL board member.
- Darilyn Turner, executive director of the Zion Travelers Cooperative Center and a member of the Plaquemines Parish School Board.
Members of the CAC serve a three-year term. The group’s role is strictly advisory, but its members have been vocal supporters of coastal restoration and have helped shape restoration policy.
