Kristal is an Eco physiologist receiving her MS in Biology from Auburn University and has been a faculty member in the Department of Biology at Xavier University of Louisiana since 2008. Growing up in New Orleans, her grandparents and parents introduced her to the beauty of the Bayou St. John and the connecting bodies of water. Inspired by these memories, Kristal has worked to improve the health of the bayou by volunteering to help identify and remove invasive flora and fauna from the waterway, plant native species along the banks and remove litter. She is a member of Waterway Eco Team, whose efforts are centered on maintaining the health of Bayou St. John and a member of Louisiana Master Naturalist of Greater New Orleans.

Zeller is a lifelong New Orleanian, graduated from Archbishop Shaw High School and the University of New Orleans with a BS in Management. He is also a proud veteran of the United States Army (1992-1996). Zeller founded the Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo Festival in 2006 as a way to revitalize a neighborhood in peril following Hurricane Katrina. This mid-city-based grassroots community festival has become one of New Orleans signature events, drawing thousands of locals and visitors to a once devastated neighborhood. Since its founding, Jared has led the Friends of Bayou St. John organization, a 501c3 that hosts the annual event. In 2015, Zeller was acknowledged with a proclamation from the City of New Orleans for producing an economically and environmentally sustainable festival. The impact has increased tenfold since its founding. Most recently, Jared and his team has commissioned a visioning study for Bayou St. John which will be a guiding template for the future.

Geoff Coats is the CEO and Creative Director of Line 58 Branding & Web Design, a nationally sought after brand strategy studio working with visionary small businesses on inspiring projects. Whether start-up or established venture, Geoff brings an entrepreneurial sensibility to every project. Beyond his work with Line 58, Geoff has assisted in the launch of a successful restaurant, served as the start-up executive director of a nonprofit working to leverage market forces to revitalize a blighted urban neighborhood, and co-founded The Urban Conservancy, a nonprofit organization serving the community of New Orleans where he conceptualized and launched Stay Local! in 2003 to help support locally owned and operated businesses in Louisiana. Geoff has 20 years of public speaking experience, training in both small and large group communication, 10 years experience working with large and small groups in educational settings, and has delivered talks at scholarly and professional conferences nationally. Geoff holds a B.S. in Communications and Media Theory from James Madison University, an M.A. in History from James Madison University and an M.A. in African History from Indiana University, Bloomington, and is a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. Geoff lives with his wife Karley and son Miro in the Bayou St. John neighborhood.

Ian McNulty covers food culture and dining as a staff writer for the New Orleans Advocate, the city’s daily newspaper. His radio commentary “Where Y’Eat” airs weekly on local NPR affiliate WWNO. He is the author of “Louisiana Rambles: Exploring America’s Cajun and Creole Heartland,” a travel narrative about south Louisiana culture. The book was named one of the top travel books for 2011 by the Society of American Travel Writers. His first book, “A Season of Night: New Orleans Life After Katrina,” is an account of the tenuous first months in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Ian is a graduate of Rutgers University. He began his writing career at a community newspaper in Rhode Island in 1997 and received recognition from the state legislature for his accounts of small town life there. He moved to New Orleans in 1999, initially writing for a weekly business publication. In 2001 he began writing a New Orleans restaurant column for the monthly music and culture magazine Offbeat. He took on restaurant coverage for the alt weekly Gambit in October 2005 from its first issue after Hurricane Katrina, chronicling the return and evolution of the restaurant industry and dining scene in New Orleans in the years that followed. He joined the staff at the New Orleans Advocate in 2013. He lives with his wife Antonia Keller in the Mid-City neighborhood of New Orleans.

Carmen Rucker is the Director of Park Operations at Audubon Nature Institute. Originally from Virginia, Carmen moved to New Orleans twelve years ago and has been working at Audubon Nature Institute for the last ten years—starting in the education department and moving into operations. Throughout her early life Carmen explored public service and enjoyed campaign work, majoring in Political Science at Loyola University New Orleans. At Audubon Carmen has been excited to grow and develop Audubon Park & Riverview as a community resource. A Certified Parks and Recreation Professional with the National Recreation and Parks Association, Carmen has launched a new team of Park Ambassadors to provide programming and event management in the park. In her free time Carmen enjoys gardening in her backyard and biking around the city.

Becker Rutledge is a proud New Orleanian who has worked for many years to help her community thrive. Born in Mississippi and raised in Uptown New Orleans, she has called Mid-City home for more than 35 years. She is a CPA who has served national and local clients for decades through first an international CPA company and for the last 30 plus years through her own firm. She has volunteered her time and professional skills to many organizations close to her heart. That includes the Mid-City Neighborhood Organization (MCNO), which she helped guide during the turning point years after Hurricane Katrina. As the treasurer of MCNO she assisted with the finances for first Bayou Boogaloo in 2006.

Isabella has spent her life in the Gulf South, growing up in Daphne, AL and moving to New Orleans in 2015 for college. She graduated from Tulane University in 2020 with a Master's in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. She's been working at the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana since fall 2020. In her time post-university, Isabella has participated in Dialogue on Race Louisiana, Loyola Institute for Environmental Communications and GNOF Emerging Leaders.

Chris Barnes is a licensed Landscape Architect and Principal at SCAPE, a landscape architecture and urban design practice with offices in New York, New Orleans, and San Francisco. The practice is dedicated to designing and advocating for ecologically restorative and socially engaged landscapes, urban environments, and natural infrastructure of the future. With over 15 years of experience, Chris has worked on a diverse range of projects regionally and nationally, focusing on open-space park design and restorative landscapes with co-benefits for both communities and ecosystems. Chris excels at integrating regional ecologies, local community interests, and resilient design strategies to develop concise solutions for complex sites. Chris holds a Bachelor’s in Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University (LSU), where he received the LSU Director’s Award, the LSU Design Excellence Award, and an ASLA Student Honor Award. His projects at SCAPE have garnered several national and regional ASLA Awards. Chris resides with his wife and two children in the Bayou St. John neighborhood.

Throughout her life and career, Chloé has prioritized developing partnerships with and working in tandem with historically under-resourced communities. She currently sits on the board of the New Orleans Rowing Club, where she serves as the head of Community Outreach and Diversity Initiatives and is also the annual fund coordinator at the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. Chloé was instrumental in establishing the XULA Rowing Club, the nation’s first co-ed rowing program at an HBCU. When not working, she enjoys seeing live local music, rowing on Bayou St. John, and marching and dancing with Krewe de Lune Cosmonaughties.

Debra Simmons Neveu is a full-time labor and employment arbitrator and mediator, and a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators (NAA). She is a member of the employment and labor panels of the American Arbitration Association, the labor panel of the Federal Mediation and Conciliatory Service, and permanent arbitration panels. Ms. Neveu is a former General Counsel and Vice President for Legal Affairs of Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana; and Senior Counsel for the Regional Transit Authority in New Orleans, Louisiana. She has served as a Commissioner on the New Orleans Civil Service Commission and has served on several nonprofit boards.

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