James M. Huger
James M. Huger is a graduate of Isidore Newman School and The University of Virginia. Jim is the principal owner of JMH Companies, a real estate development firm in New Orleans and is Chairman of Premium Parking Service, a parking management company in New Orleans. Huger is a member of the Board of Trustees of Isidore Newman School and currently serves as the Chairman of the Choice Foundation. Huger lives in New Orleans where he raises his 4 children with his wife Stephanie.

James Swanson is managing partner and head of the Litigation Section at the law firm of Correro Fishman Haygood Phelps Walmsley & Casteix L.L.P. He represents clients in a broad range of business litigation matters, including media, state tax, securities, contract and other general litigation. He regularly represents The Times-Picayune, L.L.C., SMG, The State of Louisiana and others. He has obtained a number of multi-million dollar judgments representing plaintiffs in commercial matters and has successfully defended many clients in important cases. He has many reported decisions at both the trial and appellate level, including a number of landmark cases in the areas of media and securities law.

Jim graduated from Tulane University in 1984 with a degree in Economics. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, from Tulane Law School, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and an Associate Editor of the Tulane Law Review. He was also a winner of the Tulane Moot Court Appellate Competitions in 1986 and 1987.

He is regularly ranked one of the top Business Litigation attorneys in New Orleans in The Best Lawyers in America and in Chambers USA. Chambers commented that he is "talented, astute and an expert performer before the jury," and on his ability to "negotiate a minefield of potential options in concluding a case." 

He is an adjunct professor at Loyola University teaching a section of Trial Advocacy. He also regularly teaches trial advocacy with Federal Judge Carl Barbier. He is a founder and member of the Board of Directors and Vice-Chairman of the Choice Foundation, which operates Lafayette Academy, a K-7 charter school serving New Orleans' inner city community.

Sandy Villere, III received a business degree from Southern Methodist University in 1997. He was an institutional research analyst and equity salesman with Gerard Klauer Mattison, a Wall Street institutional equity research firm for two years. He has worked for St. Denis J. Villere & Co, LLC, a money management firm founded in 1911 in New Orleans, since 1999 as an investment advisor.

Steven C. Serio
Steven C. Serio is an attorney with Correro Fishman Haygood Phelps Walmsley & Casteix.  His primary practice areas are corporate transactions, commercial finance, and commercial real estate.  He graduated from Jesuit High School in 1996 and from the University of Notre Dame in 2000 with a degree in accounting.  He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (inactive).  He received his law degree from American University in 2005, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the American University Law Review. 

Steven currently serves as the Secretary and as a Board Member of Choice Foundation. Also, he is a member of the Fore!Kids Foundation, is the Vice President of the Notre Dame Alumni Club of New Orleans, and teaches corporate law and real estate skills courses at Loyola University's College of Law. Steven and his wife, Jennifer, live in Metairie.

Janet White Bean
Margaret Janet White Bean graduated from LSU in 1964 with a BS in Secondary Education. Janet was a non-degree seeking graduate student at Loyola University specializing in business classes. From 1987 – 2005, she was President and Vice President of C.F. Bean LLC.

Bean has been an active member of the community acting as President and Community Vice President of the Junior League, President of the Volunteer and Information Agency, Trustee and President of the Parents’ Group at Trinity Episcopal School, Vice President of the Preservation Resource Center and Clerk of Session and Chair of Community Ministry at St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church.

As 2005 Chair of Community Ministry of St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church, Bean oversaw 16 community projects including working with two New Orleans public schools – Fortier High School and Bauduit Elementary.

Bean is also currently on the executive committee of Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans, the State Board of Louisiana Speaks, and the Board of Silence is Violence.

Donald E. Beery
Donald E. Beery was born in Elmira New York and graduated Bucknell University in 1962. After graduating from college he attended Tulane University where he obtained his MBA. Don entered the insurance agency business in 1969 and joined Eustis Insurance in 1989 where he is now Vice President.

His civic activities include work with the United Way where he served as panel chair on the allocations committee. He has also served as board member and President of Youth Alternatives and Kingsley House. He has served as Area Development Committee Chairman for the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce. He also currently serves on the board of Start the Adventure In Reading and Lafayette Academy Charter School.

J. Storey Charbonnet
Mr. Charbonnet earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Virginia. After graduating from UVA in 1990, Mr. Charbonnet worked in the Corporate Finance Department at the Robinson-Humphrey Company in Atlanta until 1995. Mr. Charbonnet is an Equity Member at Johnson Rice & Company, LLC, where he has been employed since March of 1995. He is co-founder of Green Turtle Partners, LP, Covington Partners, LP and the managing member of Green Turtle Capital Management, LLC and Covington Investment Management, LLC, the General Partners.  Mr. Charbonnet serves on the Board of Directors of Good Shepherd Nativity Mission School, an inner-city school, Biophysical Corporation and Mumboe.

Robert G. Evans, a New Orleans native, is President and CEO of Con-Tech International an International trading company based in New Orleans. Evans graduated from the University of New Orleans in 1976 with a BS in Management from the College of Business. He is involved in several business and civic organizations including serving on the board of directors of the World Trade Center of New Orleans. He is also very involved in education reform in Louisiana. He is on the board of directors of Lafayette Academy, the largest charter school in New Orleans, the co-chair of the Education Committee of the Horizon Initiative and is a member of the Education Council of LABI.

Susie DeRussy graduated from Newcomb College with a BA and from Florida Atlantic University with a Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction. DeRussy has been a teacher for over 25 years. From 1984 through 2001 she taught 7th and 8th grade English at Trinity, and currently is the Director of Admission at Trinity Episcopal School.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Brian Gibbs is a graduate of Tulane University obtaining his BSM in Finance in 1995 and then a MS in Real Estate Development in 2003 from Columbia University. He founded Brian Gibbs Development in 1996 and has earned a reputation for developing quality buildings, including several residential apartments in New Orleans and across the South. Brian owns and operates a property management company, Brian Gibbs Property Management, which is currently the in-house management company at his developments.

Prior to founding Brian Gibbs Development, Brian worked for Turner Construction in New York City.

William J. Goliwas, a Tulane University graduate and New Orleans native, started G&H Construction in 1997 as a residential renovation and development company. Over the years, G&H Construction has grown into an all around general contractor with experience in both residential renovation and new construction and commercial new construction and renovation. Goliwas is certified and licensed residential building contractor and commercial general contractor. He has life long construction experience in New Orleans, Florida and Alabama.

Fritz Gomila earned an M.B.A. from The A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University and a B.S. with a concentration in Finance from The University of Virginia. He is the owner of Worner Hardware, Inc., an Architectural Hardware distribution company in New Orleans. Gomila serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Kingsley House. He is a lifelong resident of New Orleans where he is raising three children with his wife, Gwathmey.

Wendy J. Lodrig
Wendy J. Lodrig received a BS from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She was a vocational instructor at Louisiana Technical College for over 6 years. She has worked in the area of Human Resources and Training and Development for over 15 years.

As a lifelong resident of New Orleans, Lodrig has been an active volunteer with the Friends of the Cabildo, French Quarter Festivals and Kingsley House. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Choice Foundation for Lafayette Academy Charter School and the Friends of the Cabildo.

Kevin Kane
Kevin Kane is the president of the Pelican Institute for Public Policy. He is a native of Long Island, New York and a graduate of Tulane University and the Loyola University School of Law. After law school Kevin worked in the legal and compliance division at Merrill Lynch & Co., and prior to founding the Institute he produced legal seminars and conferences in New York City.

In 2008, Kevin established the Pelican Institute and moved back to New Orleans with his wife and two children. The Institute's mission is to identify and promote market-based policy solutions at the state and local level. Education reform is one of the Institute's primary areas of focus.

Mathew Miller
Dr. Matthew D. Miller has worked in schools for the last fifteen years. He is currently the Assistant Head of School at Isidore Newman School in Uptown New Orleans. His work there involves hiring faculty, driving the evaluation process, professional development, curriculum work, and staffing. Prior to Newman, he worked for thirteen years at The Lawrenceville School, New Jersey, as a faculty member, administrator, housemaster, and coach of squash and tennis. He has a BA from Dickinson College in Greek and Latin, a BA and MA from Oxford University in Ancient Philosophy, History and Literature, a MA from The University of California at Berkeley in Ancient History, and an Ed.D from The University of Pennsylvania in Educational Leadership and Management. His research focused on civic engagement among adolescents in New Orleans and social capital as part of the educational experience. He lives in New Orleans with his wife, Mia, and with his two children, Sophia and Grayson.