Michael Hecht

President & CEO

Greater New Orleans, Inc.

Contact him

mhecht@gnoinc.org

Website

Biography

Michael Hecht is President & CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc., the economic development agency for southeast Louisiana.  GNO, Inc.’s mission is to create a region with a thriving economy and an excellent quality of life, for everyone.  Under Michael’s leadership, GNO, Inc. has been named a “Top Economic Development Organization in the United States” by Site Selection magazine.

Before coming to GNO, Inc. Michael led the quarter-billion-dollar Katrina Small Business Recovery Program for the State.  Previous to coming home to Louisiana, Michael worked for Mayor Michael Bloomberg in New York City, running the post-9/11 small business program.  

 

Michael’s entrepreneurial experience includes co-founding a conglomerate of restaurant ventures, including “Foreign Cinema,” named Restaurant of the Year 2000 in San Francisco.  He began his career as a strategic management consultant in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia.

Michael holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, and an undergraduate degree from Yale.

Michael has been recognized as “One of the Ten People Who Made a Difference in the South,” “One of the 20 Business ‘Icons’ of the Tricentennial,” and “2018 CEO of the Year.”

Nicole Griensewic

Executive Director

Region Nine Development Commission in Minnesota

Biografy:

Griensewic has served as Executive Director of Region Nine Development Commission since 2012. As executive director, Griensewic has made it a priority to foster collaboration and engagement by sharing Region Nine’s story both regionally and globally. Griensewic is an active board and committee member for multiple organizations throughout Minnesota. Griensewic is the immediate past President of the Greater Minnesota Partnership, and is the first female to chair the Executive Committee for the University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies, where she served as chair of the Governance Committee. Griensewic also served as secretary of Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota’s Governing Board of Directors and chaired the Governance Committee and currently serves as an advisory board member for South Central College’s Center for Agriculture. She serves on the executive committee for the MACS Board, Minnesotans for the American Community Survey Board of Directors and represents the Midwest on the National Assoc. of Development Orgs.’s (NADO) Board of Directors.

Griensewic is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and has completed course work through Harvard’s Kennedy School’s Executive Education. She received the 2017 Outstanding Recent Alumnus Award from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Her professional background includes extensive private sector and non-profit leadership experience.

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