Sunday, March 27
ACE Louisiana Speakers
The National WWII Museum
Stephen Watson
President & CEO
The National WWII Museum
karl.beverung@nationalww2museum.org
Nationally recognized as an innovative leader in the non-profit world, Stephen J. Watson was named president and CEO of The National WWII Museum in July 2017. As a longstanding member of the Museum’s leadership team, he has been instrumental in the institution’s success and has played an increasing role in strategic decisions and daily administration over the past 15 years. The grandson of a WWII Royal Air Force pilot, Watson joined the staff of the National D-Day Museum in 2002, quickly adding value to the young institution with his business, marketing, and leadership skills. Shortly after the Museum’s congressional designation as The National WWII Museum in 2004, Watson was promoted to vice president and chief operating officer with responsibility for
the Museum’s ongoing growth. In this role and later as executive vice president, he worked closely with founding president Nick Mueller and with the Board of Trustees to bring to life an ambitious capital expansion plan that would quadruple the size of the campus and firmly establish the Museum as a world-class institution. In his various positions at the Museum, Watson has had a hand in developing all key areas of the institution, including daily operations, membership, educational programming, collections, fundraising, marketing, event rentals, group sales, and capital expansion. He launched and has
overseen a highly successful national membership campaign that today includes 150,000 members from all 50 states, the largest of any museum in the country. While managing facility grand openings and serving as executive reviewer of new exhibits and galleries, he has also led the development of the institution’s live entertainment offerings, educational travel tours, and $11.3 million initiative to digitize oral histories and archival images. As the plan to grow the Museum’s physical campus has progressed toward successful completion, Watson’s leadership helped create a comprehensive strategy to provide even greater digital access to the Museum’s collections as an integral component of new education programs and outreach. Born and raised in Little Brechin,
Scotland, Watson relocated to Thibodaux, Louisiana, in 1994 as a result of a track and field scholarship. He earned his BS and MBA degrees at Nicholls State University before starting his non-profit career as the Development Director and Membership Manager at 89.9 WWNO public radio station, the New Orleans NPR affiliate. Watson, who was naturalized as a US citizen in 2015, lives in New Orleans with his wife, Gina, and their two children, Kate and Matthew.
Discounted museum passes for attendees Major exhibit has been closed for 1/2 day to accommodate the opening breakfast event
To bring awareness of the Museum mission.
ACE Louisiana Speakers
Scale Workspace
Lyle LeBlanc
President & Founder
Scale Workspace
lyle@scaleworkspace.com
A New Orleans native who is constantly fascinated by the world around him, Lyle is a creative entrepreneur looking to build things that matter. He was first exposed to 3D printing at a local hobbyist group. Over the last several years, Lyle has worked his way up through a local company and eventually purchased it from its previous owners in 2020. Lyle has turned that one company into Scale Workspace and built a team that strives to catalyze the creative potential present in the local community. Going forward, Lyle is excited to play a role in helping New Orleans make the most out of the exciting new technologies that are becoming increasingly available. He is a member of GNO inc’s Next Gen Council and an advisory member for Jefferson Parish’s Career and Technical Education Program. He is also actively involved with Rooted School, New Orleans Career Center, Youth Empowerment Project, Young Aspirations Young Artists, and Community Sailing New Orleans.
Demonstrate how the right mix of space, tools, and talent can accelerate innovation for organizations of all sizes. Tangible examples will be provided throughout the presentation.
Scale offers visiting participants access to a unique suite of prototyping equipment paired with a diverse and creative community. Together, these assets produce a wellspring of opportunities for new technical development and investment
opportunity.
ACE Louisiana Speakers
The Shop at Contemporary Arts Center
Chuck Morse
Executive Director
Thrive NOLA
chuck@thrivenola.org
Chuck Morse currently serves as Executive Director of Thrive NOLA, a non-profit focused on small business development, workforce development, affordable housing, and community development. Morse is responsible for managing and overseeing overall operations, including fundraising, mentorship, marketing and overall organizational effectiveness. Thrive New Orleans
is the city of New Orleans National Disaster Resiliency Operator. Morse was a lead mentor for Propellor’s Startup Accelerator Program. He assisted businesses in the water Industry grow their ideas, startups or companies. Morse has also served as a small business consultant for CH2M/Jacobs, an international engineering company that delivers projects across the entire
water cycle to solve complex water challenges with exceptional service and integrated, sustainable solutions. Morse serves as a professor at Union Baptist College and Theological Seminary in New Orleans and is an ordained minister. He’s also the founder of United by Water Ministries. Morse served as the ConnectWorks Director at the Good Work Network. He is responsible for the incorporation of small, minority firms into the supply chains of anchor institutions. Morse has served as Assistant Secretary in the Louisiana Office of Tourism, where he led an 82-person organization and managed a $10 million advertising and public relations budget. He also served as the Marketing Director for the Bayou Classic, one of the largest African American collegiate sporting events in the country. Morse worked as Special Assistant to the President at the
Washington Convention and Tourism Corporation in Washington, DC, where he handled government and community affairs, including serving as a member of a task force that responded to the September 11 bombing crisis in the nation’s capital. Volunteer Leadership -City of New Orleans Infrastructure Advisory Board (Cantrell Administration) -Member, Forward Together New Orleans Business Advisory Committee, Mayor-Elect LaToya Cantrell Transition Team -President, Hoffman Triangle Neighborhood Association -City of New Orleans Climate Action Plan Diversity Committee, Chair Small Business, Workforce & Culture Committee -Member, City of New Orleans Jobs of the Future Committee -Member, JP Morgan Chase-Advancing Cities
Leadership Team -New Business Alliance Procurement Council Member -Stimulus Command Task Force-City of New Orleans -Member, Climate Reality Leadership Corp. -Served as the vice chair for the board of the Greater New Orleans Water Collaborative. Morse has an undergraduate degree in Public Administration from Virginia State University, a Master’s degree
in Urban Studies from the University of New Orleans and a Master’s degree in Divinity from Union Baptist College Theological Seminary in New Orleans.
Support from the City of New Orleans and Thrive
Expand regional and global networks across crucial talent pipelines
Joshua Tatum
Director of Strategic Initiatives
Greater New Orleans, Inc.
jtatum@gnoinc.org
Josh Tatum serves as the Director of Strategic Initiatives for Greater New Orleans, Inc. and oversees workforce development and special initiatives that ensure the GNO region has a business-friendly environment for business attraction and retention efforts. Tatum is responsible for managing GNO Inc.’s signature workforce development program, GNOu, and additional workforce development initiatives that provide sustainable pipelines for jobs of today, and of tomorrow. Through the GNOu model, Tatum works directly with existing and new industry leaders to create customized solutions that stimulate a thriving business environment for continued business growth. In addition, Tatum works closely with the business development team to create commercialization of research pipelines and partnerships between higher education and industry partners to ensure research and development spurs the growth of jobs and investment in the region. Tatum is a graduate of North Carolina State University with a B.A. in Political Science and received his M.P.A. from East Carolina University. Before joining GNO Inc., Tatum began his career in economic development with the Carolinas Gateway Partnership located in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Tatum served as the Director of Research and Special Projects and was responsible for generating opportunities for existing and new industries to bring long-term investment and jobs to the region.
GNO, Inc. would like to address the offer of working with business and industry seeking to partner with higher education partners in the GNO region. Additionally, GNO, Inc. would like to offer working with participants that would like to address workforce challenges and opportunities to collaborate on initiatives that deliver demand driven approaches to solving workforce and talent needs.
Through this engagement, GNO, Inc. seeks to forge new partnerships, showcase GNOu demand driven workforce development program, illustrate a success of GNOu through the Mechatronics Apprenticeship Program, expand networks, aid
as a resource to address workforce needs as companies seek to expand to the region, and to be a resource to provide actionable strategies to ensure companies obtain the necessary information, partnerships, and programming to aid in their growth.
Lindsey Navarro
Founder and Executive Director
El Centro Inc
lindsey@elcentrola.org
El Centro Inc., a New Orleans-based nonprofit whose mission is to empower the Latinx community through culturally relevant
and competent financial literacy and entrepreneurial training in Spanish. Since launching in 2018, El Centro has served more
than 3000 Spanish speaking individuals through in-person and online entrepreneurship education, advisory services, and access to capital programs. Prior to launching the organization, Navarro spent 7 years working with LiftFund, where she helped to deploy more than $1.2 million in microloans to Latino entrepreneurs across the Delta states.
Mentoring, collaboration and sharing of resources used for Spanish language programming
Expand regional and gloabal networks for program collaboration and knowledge exchange.
Sunae Villavaso
Director of Workforce Development
City of New Orleans
sunae.villavaso@nola.gov
Sunae Villavaso currently leads the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development and is a member of the New Orleans Workforce Development Board (the Official Convenor of the Workforce System for the City of New Orleans). She was appointed to the US Conference of Mayors Workforce Development Council in 2019 and is currently a member of the New Orleans Youth and Planning Board and the steering committee of YouthForce NOLA. She also serves on the City Council Equal Pay Advisory
Committee and is a member of the Ballet Resource and Volunteer Organization (BRAVO). Sunae comes with almost 25 years of experience in the field of Education. She is dedicated, proactive, strategic and a results-oriented professional with a Master’s in Counselor Education with an emphasis in Higher Education and Human Service Counseling. She is highly knowledgeable
of staffing and placement issues, co-teaching models, positive behavior intervention supports, School-Wide Evaluation Tools, professional development, and compliance guidelines regarding students with disabilities and special needs. Her background consists of over 20 years of administrative experience that includes almost 10 years in a traditional post-secondary institution
and 3 years as a Strategist for the largest Public School District in Louisiana. In her role as the Director of Workforce Development, JOB1 has ranked in the top tier of the State of Louisiana in performance measures and ha set the standard of
delivering Concierge level Customer Service to both job seekers and employers with a focus on Return on Investments. During the Pandemic, she converted the Career Center into a Call Center to mitigate the digital divide to assist New Orleanians with filing for Unemployment Benefits, a service that continues to exist to date. Sunae has received several awards due to her leadership and continues her quest of self-improvement and a lifelong learner.
Access to an emerging workforce across an array of innovative and traditional sectors. Support from the City of New Orleans and Thrive!
Expand regional and global networks for crucial talent pipelines
Susana Schowen
Director of Workforce Initiatives
Louisiana Economic Developmen
susana.schowen@la.gov
Susana Schowen joined LED FastStart, a division of Louisiana Economic Development, in June of 2011. As the Director of Workforce Initiatives, she is tasked with implementing high-level strategies focused on systemic workforce reform. Based on
analyses of workforce supply and demand, she is collaborating with educational stakeholders to align offerings to the needs of Louisiana employers. Prior to joining LED, Susie managed a private technical college in Baton Rouge after creating a nationwide basic skills program focused on underperforming high schools for Thomson Peterson’s. Before that, she held a number of positions with Kaplan, Inc. managing test preparation courses, financial services training, and online college programs. She received degrees in chemistry from Wellesley College and Columbia University
Showcase LED FastStart as well as workforce development efforts statewide, building prosperous communities with a focus on
resilience and equity.
Access to Louisiana’s award-winning FAST start program, and other incentives to support workforce development and business attraction in the State.
ACE Louisiana Speakers
New Orleans Jazz Market
Carroll Morton
Director of Film
City of New Orleans
cgmorton@nola.gov
Carroll Morton has served as the Director of Film New Orleans since 2018. She has worked for the city since 2009 serving as the Deputy Director of the Film Office and the Director of Film Industry Development. During Carroll’s tenure in the Film Office she created the city’s first film industry workforce training program, established policies and protocols for filming in the city, enhanced film data tracking and partnered with economic development organizations to attract film infrastructure investment in the city. She has worked.
Support from the City of New Orleans in leveraging film infrastructure, industry, network and more.
Expand regional and global networks across the film industry.
Christopher James Stelly
Executive Group Director, Entertainment & Digital Media
Louisiana Economic Development
chris.stelly@la.gov
Christopher Stelly, Executive Group Director, Louisiana Entertainment & Digital Media A native Louisianan, Chris joined Louisiana Economic Development’s entertainment office in 2004. Under Stelly’s tenure and direction, Louisiana quickly became one of the top film production destination. Due to the trailblazing incentive program, Louisiana experienced exponential growth and the state became a powerhouse in the film industry. As Executive Director of Louisiana Entertainment, a division of Louisiana Economic Development, Stelly currently leads a team of 7 business development and entertainment
industry professionals promoting Louisiana as a holistic place to do business. Overseeing four unique statutory programs – motion picture, sound recording, live performance and digital interactive media & software development, Stelly is committed to educating community leaders and citizens about entertainment development opportunities. He also is committed to working
closely with industry allies and economic development partners throughout the state to attract and nurture entertainment businesses. “I am very proud of the work our office has done. We have poured the foundation for these industries to become major economic forces in Louisiana. Over the past few years, Louisiana has seen increased growth in all of these sectors and now boasts an industry which impacts the economy at over $1 billion a year. The excitement of the ever-evolving nature of this business drives me to work even harder to ensure the success and longevity of the entertainment industry in Louisiana,” says Chris, adding, “To compete in today’s ever-changing world, you have to be innovative and on the cutting edge. Through my work here in the entertainment sector, I feel like I’m doing my small part to ensure that Louisiana becomes a major leader in the industry, not only within the United States, but around the world. Louisiana is poised to become an entertainment industry engine for years to come.”
Louisiana’s entertainment (including digital media and software development) incentives are accessible to any company seeking to invest in our state, plus we have a very mature infrastructure along with opportunities for collaboration and partnerships.
Simple exposure to the visiting participants will open the door to new conversations and opportunities for collaboration, new partnerships (especially in the development of technology) as well as expand the base of knowledge for those that aren’t familiar with what Louisiana has to offer in this sector.
Gina T. Charbonnet
Founder & Principal
GeChar
gina@gechar.com
Gina Therése Charbonnet is a POWER-HER-FUL Creator, Producer and Amplifier of Diverse Voices, with a tenure spanning over two decades, working in entertainment and production. Charbonnet is the founder and principal of GeChar, an established agency that is a premier resource in multi-media production specializing in branding, empowering content, and talent acquisition. She is the Executive Producer of Ma Belle My Beauty which made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival winning the 2021 Audience Award. Charbonnet has an esteemed assembly of credits in feature films and documentaries, including Eve’s Bayou that she accredits with kickstarting her production career. Charbonnet has been tapped for her expertise by a host of top companies and organizations including ESSENCE, Prospect New Orleans, Watermark Conferences for Women, Black Girls Rock! and Converse, just to name a few. Utilizing impact branding, experiential marketing, creative producing and relationships in the arts and entertainment industry, Charbonnet has a proven track record of success as an accomplished creative consultant and producer. She has consistently procured and managed relationships with a roster of A-list industry leaders, politicians, and influencers ranging from Oprah Winfrey to Hillary Rodham Clinton to Ava Duvernay and Rosario Dawson. Charbonnet’s professional achievement is marked by a longstanding relationship with the Essence
Festival, where Gina and GeChar serves as Executive Producer of the festival’s Empowerment Programming. Charbonnet inspired to address the disparities and inequities COVID exposed started offering Executive Coaching Services to a handful of clients, whom she works with one on one to reset and reinvest in their lives. In addition to her leadership role at GeChar, Charbonnet has spoken on panels and been featured on podcasts to share more about her work and being a creative entrepreneur. Her knowledge extends to academia and philanthropy having served as a Communications Lecturer at the University of Southern Mississippi and an Instructor at Xavier University’s Art Department. She co-founded the Beautiful Foundation, a New Orleans nonprofit for teenage girls of color and is developing the GeChar Foundation, dedicated to promoting social change through arts, education, and entertainment initiatives. Charbonnet earned an M.A. in Arts Administration from the University of New Orleans, a B.A. in Journalism from Southern University and a Minor in Communications and Film Studies from the University of New Orleans, attended New York University’s Producer’s Intensive, graduated the Goldman Sachs 10k Small Business Program and the University of New Orleans Urban Studies Community Development Finance Program.
GeChar we are a service based company and with owning a production agency, our days go beyond 8 hours which keeps us on our toes & not much time to spare, but as the owner of a business that is immersed in arts, entertainment and culture, I can offer a unique perspective of working in a city, that is its own cultural property.
Part I – To connect with like-minded people and institutions and connect with equitable partners to cross promote each others meaningful project investments national and internationally. Part II – Looking for a community development partnership, as part of the Community Development Finance Program I completed, one of my wishes to develop the block where my house which is located which is located within the Claiborne Coordinator (CID) to create more affordable housing and develop some sort of
commercial cultural space to service tourist, while educating them about the rich history of Treme.
Jasmine Brown
Public Policy Manager
GNO, Inc.
jbrown@gnoinc.org
Number of initiatives, including, but not limited to the HBCU Startup Internship Program, which was designed to increase the pipeline of Black startup founders in the GNO region. Prior to joining GNO, Inc., she was a commercial litigator at a civil defense firm in the GNO region. She has also worked as a Consultant for Deloitte and Touche, LLP in Los Angeles, California, where she conducted corporate audits and compliance exercises for Fortune 500 corporations. Additionally, she has worked for the National Urban League (New York, NY), JP Morgan Private Bank (New Orleans, LA), and Elvin Ross Studios (Los Angeles, CA). She is a cum laude graduate of Loyola University, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. She also earned a Juris Doctor from Louisiana State University.
GNO, INc. acts as a facilitating agent, connecting businesses and stakeholders in the region to potential business and investment opportunities.
GNO, Inc. looks forward to networking with visiting participants and identifying business and investment opportuntinies for the music economy in the GNO region.
Lou Hill
CEO
Moonrise Entertainment in association with GenRise Entertainment
Louis@waterseedmusic.com
Born and raised in the city of New Orleans, Lou Hill has been in the music industry for more than 25 years. Trained as a professional musician, Lou Hill has had the opportunity to work on multiple sides of the music business. As founder, songwriter
and drummer for the Billboard Top 20 charting band Water Seed, he has the proven experience to understand the ever- changing music industry. Formerly the head of marketing for Louisiana Red Hot Records, he is now heavily involved in helping
the growth of the New Orleans’ music industry.
Partnerships, resources, strategy and collaboration opportunities.
My primary objective is to empower as many artists as possible in the area of ownership and IP. I strongly believe that moving forward IP will be a tech move.
Raj Smoove
President
The Gentilly Agency in association with GenRise
rajsmoove@gmail.com
Raj Smoove is New Orleans’ consummate DJ. From his multiple residencies across the city to his work DJing for the National Football League’s New Orleans Saints and the National Basketball Association’s New Orleans Pelicans, Raj is arguably one of the most successful DJs to emerge from the region. Raj Smoove has appeared at globally renowned festivals including Essence Fest and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival as well as NBA All-Star Weekend, the National Urban League
Conference and the National Black Journalists fkdkAssociation Convention. As an in-house DJ, Raj Smoove holds residencies at the Foundation Room of the House of Blues New Orleans, The Ace Hotel and Blue Nile. As a guest DJ, he’s appeared at Harrah’s Casino, Metropolitan Night Club and more. Dubbed “the Greatest DJ in the world” by Lil Wayne, Raj Smoove has collaborated with Stevie Wonder, Mannie Fresh, PJ Morton, NBA Youngboy, 5th Ward Weebie, Mia X, Tarriona “Tank” Ball of
Tank and the Bangas, Kourtney Heart and many more. His extensive list of collaborators reflect Raj Smoove’s work beyond the turntables: he is a producer, writer, studio engineer, manager and member of the New Orleans Music Economy Initiative (NOME), which is an organization aiming to create a viable, robust music industry including copyright, publishing and intellectual property education. Since his first paid DJ gig at 14, Raj Smoove has spent decades establishing himself as a versatile performer who places his ability to read and engage crowds at the forefront of his artistry. Honing his skills as a student at Dillard University in New Orleans, Raj became the official DJ for the 2000 Cash Money Records/Ruff Ryder Entertainment tour. Raj Smoove served as the in-house producer for Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment from 2001 to 2004, where he played an integral role in generation the buzz behind Lil Wayne and Sqad Up mixtapes. Raj also produced material for Lil Wayne’s platinum-selling 2004 album, Tha Carter. Together in 2006, the duo collaborated on the Lil Weezy Ana and The Carter Files mixtapes. Raj’s own self-produced compilation album, Bayou Classic, features Mannie Fresh and Mia X. As an independent record executive, Raj Smoove has worked closely with R&B artist Kourtney Heart, for whom he leveraged a major recording deal. Among his other list of clients are Caren Green, Dizzy a.k.a. Raw D.I. and Kris Baptiste. Raj Smoove’s television appearances include three segments on BET’s “Rap City: Tha Bassment” and the Super Bowl XXXVI edition of
BET’s “106 & Park.” He appeard frequently on the radio, including his tenure as a mixshow DJ on Hot 104.5 KNOU and 98.5 WYLD. Currently, Raj Smoove is working on multiple projects in artist management, booking, event production and more through his Gentilly Agency creative strategy development firm.
I have a vast network of working creatives in the city.
Information on projects that can provide opportunities and need IP from creatives.