Our Team
Nellie Catzen • Executive Director
Nellie Catzen is a convener, connector, and capacity builder, who serves as Executive Director of the Committee for a Better New Orleans. From boardrooms to crawfish boils, Nellie seeks to create meaningful relationships to drive social change. Bringing in thirteen years of experience in community empowerment, program development, and nonprofit leadership, Nellie leads CBNO’s strategic direction, advocacy initiatives and programming.
In her last role as Program Director of Friends of Lafitte Greenway, she became known for developing joyful, impactful, and community-centered programming, including the Greenway Ambassador Program, which serves as a model for equitable community engagement in urban parks and trails nationwide. Prior to that she served as a Fox Leadership Fellow at Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans, where she focused on strengthening the organization’s services to immigrants and refugees.
Nellie graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania. She’s at her best when dancing to live music on the streets of New Orleans.
Board of Directors
Roland Bullard • Secretary & Treasurer
Dillard University
Dr. Roland N. Bullard, Jr. is a higher education and student advocate who serves as Vice President for Student Success at Dillard University. He oversees co-curricular programs including career and professional development, student engagement and leadership, university housing, campus police, and student support services. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of New Orleans.
Roland earned his B.A. in Communication from Florida Atlantic University, a M.Ed. from the University of South Carolina in Student Personnel Services, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education from Indiana University.
A community advocate, Dr. Bullard also serves on the Board of the City of New Orleans’ Children’s Youth and Planning Board and Jefferson Parish Schools’ Parents Council, and completed the Bryan Bell Metropolitan Leadership Forum In 2019. He is a member of New Orleans’ chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc.
Dr. Bullard is married to Rachel Sloan, a K-12 administrator in Jefferson Parish Schools. They have two boys Roland, III and Raylind.
Julie Grantz • Co-Chair
Ochsner Health Network
Julie Grantz is the AVP of Contract Analytics for Ochsner Health Network in New Orleans. Her career in the health industry has focused on value-based care, which brings together physicians, hospitals, and insurers to create patient value by improving health outcomes and ultimately lowering the total cost of health care. Ms. Grantz worked for Peoples Health from 2001 to 2019, where she led medical risk management for seven Independent Physician Associations. Ms. Grantz holds a bachelor’s degree in International Business from Auburn University and a master’s in business administration from Tulane University. Ms. Grantz is a graduate of the Bryan Bell Metropolitan Leadership Forum, a past co-chair and current Board member of the Committee for a Better New Orleans. She is also a graduate of the New Orleans Regional Leadership Forum and a past chair of the Hynes Charter School Gala Planning Committee. Ms. Grantz and her husband reside in Lakeview with their two children.
Damian Clark • Co-Chair
Propeller
A New Orleans native, Damian is the Strategic Project Manager for Propeller: A Force for Social Innovation. He aims to focus on public policy, community engagement, capital access, and entrepreneurship in which he envisions equitable outcomes for his community. During his tenure with New Orleans City Council, he has experience in non-profit & local government administration, where he helped support many legislative initiatives across the New Orleans area. Damian is a proud graduate of Southern University at New Orleans, where he earned his bachelor’s in business administration with a concentration in Operations & Entrepreneurship and his MBA from Loyola University at New Orleans.
Damian is a National Black MBA Association member, Urban League of Louisiana Young Professionals, and Youth Leadership Council member. In his free time enjoys attending music concerts & festivals.
Allison Cormier • Board Member
MoCaFi
Allison currently serves as a Community Engagement Manager for New Jersey-based fintech, Mobility Capital Finance (“MoCaFi”). In this role she works to connect non-profits and municipalities with an efficient means to disburse payments (rental assistance, guaranteed income, etc) and provide un/underbanked individuals access to mobile banking/financial wellness tools.
Prior to joining MoCaFi, Allison served in the Cantrell administration as a Liaison in the Mayor’s Neighborhood Engagement Office. As a liaison, she worked with community members to address quality of life concerns in District C. She also co-created and managed the Junior Civic Leadership Academy, a program to ensure that youth in New Orleans can learn about the intricacies of city government and interact with local officials.
Raised in Pensacola, FL, Allison has lived in New Orleans for over a decade. She has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Loyola University New Orleans where she was active in Student Government, Pi Sigma Alpha (the National Political Science Honor Society), and a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority.
In addition to CBNO, Allison also serves as a board member for Bike Easy and the Louisiana Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Samantha Fleurinor • Board Member
Black Trustee Alliance for Art Museums
A professional with skills in anti-racist facilitation, career development, and design thinking, Samantha Fleurinor is dedicated to building trust and capacity within organizations through mutual accountability, professional development, and transparency.
As a facilitator with skills in visioning and bringing ideas to life, Samantha uses design thinking methods and social justice frameworks to support professionals in identifying and leveraging their skills and power to tackle social problems and support sustainable, equitable solutions in their communities. This has involved facilitating workshops on design thinking, life design, and anti-oppression; and cultivating internal DEAI initiatives to support healthy work environments.
Her training includes the SistaMidwives doula training, Water Center for Systems Thinking, VISIONS Inc, and StartingBloc Institute.
Samantha is a co-author on the research article, Integrating equity, diversity, and inclusion into social innovation education: a case study of critical service-learning. Her formal education includes a Bachelor of Science in Management for finance and classical studies and a Master of Public Health in Community Health Sciences from Tulane University.
Rianne Egana • Board Member
Gulf Coast Bank & Trust
Rianne Egana is an accomplished Vice President Commercial Lender with Gulf Coast Bank & Trust with a heavy focus on building banking relationships, networking, and community outreach. She has 25+ years of an extensive financial consulting background which helped countless small business owners and individuals with business growth, lending, and success expanding their opportunities.
Through her drive and willingness to always help others excel, she also founded her business B2B Waymaker which is geared towards serving underprivileged minority youth, and young adults gain access to tutoring, life skills sessions, and motivational seminars to assist with personal development and career readiness. She is also working with Thrive New Orleans helping BIPOC, and re-entry citizens with job placement, financial literacy, and credit solutions.
Rianne is currently attending Tulane University furthering her educational growth, and a graduate of Formidable Coaching Institute where she holds several certifications as a Certified business development coach, Certified life skills coach, and Certified youth readiness coach.
She is an active Member of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans.
C.C. Kahr • Board Member
The Pro Bono Project
C.C. Kahr is the Executive Director of The Pro Bono Project where she is responsible for the overall administration of the organization’s activities. Working closely with the Board of Directors, staff, and community partners, C.C. oversees Louisiana’s largest pro bono organization, which provides civil legal aid to under-served residents of Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard, Washington, St. Tammany, and Plaquemines parishes through the recruitment, training and mentoring of over 1,500 volunteer attorneys, law students, and private citizens.
C.C. obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in History at Georgetown University and a Master of Arts in History and Women’s Studies from Stony Brook University. She is an adjunct instructor at Tulane University where she teaches Latin American History. Prior to joining The Pro Bono Project she was the Executive Director of the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and worked at the New Orleans Bar Association as its Program Director.
Mithun Kamath • Board Member
Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman Sarver, LLC
Mithun B. Kamath is Of Counsel at the law firm of Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman Sarver, L.L.C. He previously served as the Chief Administrative Officer and Deputy Chief of Appeals at the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office.
He is a New Orleans native and graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School in 2004 and Tulane University in 2008. He obtained his J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2013.
Mithun is a graduate of both the Committee for a Better New Orleans’ Bryan Bell Metropolitan Leadership Forum (2018) and the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law / United Way of Southeast Louisiana’s Nancy M. Marsiglia Institute of Justice (2019). He is currently a Board Member of the Gentilly Terrace & Gardens Improvement Association, an Adjunct Professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, and a Louisiana Advocacy Ambassador for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Kelsey Foster • Board Member
Algiers Economic Development Foundation
Kelsey Foster is the executive director of the Algiers Economic Development Foundation. Her career has focused on civic engagement, public finance, and economic policy. Ms. Foster worked as a staff member of the Committee for a Better New Orleans from 2013 to 2019 where she led the organization’s municipal budgeting program and previously worked as the communications coordinator for the New Orleans Coalition on Open Governance.
She holds a bachelor's degree in print and multimedia journalism from Emerson College, a professional certificate in public finance from the University of Chicago and is completing a Masters of Public Service at the University of Arkansas. Ms. Foster is a resident of Algiers Point and serves as the Past-President of the Algiers Point Association, an At-Large board member of Old Algiers Main Street, and a Commissioner with the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-West. She is a graduate of the Bryan Bell Metropolitan Leadership Forum, New Leaders Council, and in the current cohort of the New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute. Ms. Foster is originally from Franklin, PA.
Malaika Moran • Board Member
SOCIALSTEP
Malaika is a Marketing and Business Strategist with core competencies in marketing, strategic planning, digital marketing, event logistics, class facilitation and public speaking.
She launched her business SOCIALSTEP in 1996 as the premier online channel that connected professionals to quality social, cultural and networking events in 10 cities. Prior to launching SOCIALSTEP, Malaika received her Marketing Degree from Hampton University. She launched her professional career in Credit Card Marketing at Chase Manhattan Bank and Small Business Marketing at American Express in New York. A New Orleans native, Malaika took a break from running SOCIALSTEP in 2005 to assist her family after hurricane Katrina, while continuing to work in online and digital marketing strategies. Today, She provides marketing strategy and business development services through SocialStep Marketing and Consulting. She also teaches Strategic Business Planning and Entrepreneurship for the Urban League’s Women’s Business Resource Center.
Alex Perdomo • Board Member
Edward Jones
I grew up in Metairie, and I am proud to help those in my community to prepare for reaching their financial goals. As a local, it is important to me that our hometown is as best served as possible.
Metairie has been my home for my entire life. After leaving East Jefferson High School in 2010, I received my bachelors from LSU and an MBA from Tulane. For the past five years, I have watched our community grow as a project manager in the commercial construction sector, and now, I am here to help our neighbors grow financially.
I have been blessed with a saint of a wife and an angel of a daughter. In the fall, you find us cheering for the Tigers on Saturdays and the Saints on Sundays. Meanwhile, we spend the rest of the year letting music and food fill our lives.
Danielle Scott Parker • Board Member
PFM
Danielle Scott Parker, is a Director with PFM’s Management and Budget Consulting (MBC) practice and co-director of PFM’s Center for Budget Equity and Innovation. Danielle specializes in providing equity, budgetary, and financial analysis, reviewing municipal operations and developing multi-year financial plans to help municipal governments overcome their fiscal challenges. Specializing in integrating equity, she helps clients develop long-term blueprints for fiscal, economic, and community sustainability.
In her work, Danielle advises public sector clients nationally on a broad range of organizational, budget and equity strategies including the American Rescue Plan Act, budgeting for equity, implementation of equitable strategies across local government, and stakeholder engagement in public sector decision making.
Danielle is also the Founder and CEO of the Leverage Collective where she provides consulting and coaching to clients navigating corporate and professional environments.
Danielle relocated to New Orleans in 2015 and resides in the Gentilly neighborhood with her husband Jordan. She is a board member for Youth Run NOLA and is proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. Danielle received her bachelor’s degree in in Political Science from Howard University.
Howard Terrell • Board Member
Ochsner Health System
Howard J. Terrell, an executive boasting 15 plus years of leadership experience working at nationally recognized healthcare systems, is currently serving as the AVP of Support Services for Ochsner Health System.
Mr. Terrell’s expertise lies in reforming support services, cultivating operational teams, and improving financial outcomes; all while customer experience.
Mr. Terrell’s leadership and holistic approach encompasses strategies aligned to significantly improve quality outcomes by fostering an environment for operational excellence.
Howard, a Mississippi native, is a graduate of Samford University in Birmingham, AL where he was a (4) varsity football letterman. He is also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.
During his downtime Howard partakes in outdoor sports, indulges in John Grisham novels, and spends time with his white German shepherd saint, Roosevelt.
Duke Williams • Board Member
Chopique Holdings
bio coming soon!
Josh Zuckerman • Board Member
Humana
Josh currently serves as a Senior Provider Contracting Professional for Humana Inc. Prior to joining Humana, Josh served in numerous positions in state and local government. Josh started his government career as a Legislative Aide to New Orleans Councilmember Susan Guidry where he focused on criminal justice reform and the public safety budget. After a brief stint working at the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office, Josh joined the Cantrell administration as Director of Research and Policy helping pass the mayor’s “Fair Share” deal increasing taxes on hotels and short term rentals and dedicating those funds to the first ever Infrastructure Maintenance Fund. He also played supporting roles in other policy areas such as property taxes, local sales and use tax, affordable housing, and infrastructure.
Josh is a native of Baton Rouge. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from Tulane University in 2011 and received his Juris Doctorate and Master’s of Business Administration in 2017. He lives along the Lafitte Greenway with his wife, daughter, and dog. He can often be found shopping at the mid-city farmers market on Thursdays.
