Charles is Managing Partner of the Baton Rouge office of Fishman Haygood LLP (2015 to Present). Charles concentrates in the areas of real estate development, real estate finance, land use and zoning, and business and commercial law. He has also been very involved in advancing Greater Baton Rouge's high-tech, information, and entrepreneurial economic sector. He was instrumental in the formation of the Louisiana Technology Park, and serves as General Counsel to the Research Park Corporation. Since 1993, Charles has been annually selected for inclusion in the publication The Best Lawyers in America® (Woodward/White, Inc.) as one of a few attorneys chosen in Louisiana in the area of Real Estate Law. He was ranked in Real Estate by Chambers USA – America's Leading Business Lawyers 2005 and 2006. He was also selected for 2007 Louisiana Super Lawyers in the area of Real Estate.
Education
Fred T. Brown, Jr., MPH, LFACHE, Colonel (ret) USAF is President of the Brown Consulting Group LLC, a small healthcare consulting firm located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The focus of the practice is hospitals and healthcare systems, turnaround of financially challenged hospitals and group practices as well long-term (smart) planning. Brown retired in 2015 as CHS Group Senior Vice President for Carolinas HealthCare System in Charlotte, North Carolina where he wrote the business plan and implemented an initiative that eventually added 24 managed hospitals and health systems to the organization. Previously Brown served as Managing Principal for Pershing, Yoakley and Associates, one of the largest dedicated healthcare consulting practices in the Southeast and for five years as Executive Vice President of Novant Health, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Earlier in his career, Brown established a regional office for VHA, a major national healthcare cooperative, and served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Carolinas-Tennessee Regional Healthcare System for 11 years. Prior to this, he had more than 16 years experience in roles as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of acute care community hospitals, a regional referral center and a large academic medical center. Brown retired as a Colonel in the North Carolina Air National Guard after 32 years of active duty and reserve military service as a Commissioned Officer in the 82nd ABN Division, the 101st ABN Division, the NC Army National Guard and the NC Air National Guard, where he served as Commander of the 156th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron for 18 years including 10 months in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. His decorations include the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with “V” and Oak Leaf Cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army and Air Force Commendation Medals and the Humanitarian Service Medal with two Silver Oak leaf Clusters plus numerous other awards and decorations. He has over 2500 hours in the C-130 aircraft including 238 combat hours during Desert Storm. He has over 125 military parachute jumps and is a graduate of the Army HALO School. Col. Brown was awarded the General I.G. Brown Command Excellence Award in 1988. He was named outstanding Medical Service Corps Officer of the year in the Air Force in 1991. He has earned the Combat Infantry Badge, Master Parachutist Badge and Chief Medical Service Corps Badge. He was inducted into the Army Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame in 1996. His professional affiliations include serving as a Life Fellow and North Carolina Regent of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Secretary of the Board of Directors of The Long Term Care Foundation, Adjunct Full Professor at the Gillings School of Global Public Health of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and President, Board of Directors, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health Foundation. Brown earned a Master's of Public Health Administration from the University of North Carolina's School of Public Health and a Bachelor's degree from Lenoir-Rhyne College in North Carolina where he was an all conference guard on three conference championship football teams. On 13 October 2012, he was inducted into the Lenoir-Rhyne University Sports Hall of Fame. He was named Outstanding Alumni UNC School of Public Health in 1992, and Outstanding Alumni of Lenoir-Rhyne College in 2002 and awarded the Lenoir-Rhyne Community Service award in 2009. He is a 2002 recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the State of North Carolina's highest civilian award.
Education
General Renuart is the former Chairman and CEO of the Indiana Innovation Institute (IN3). His Air Force career culminated as Commander, NORAD and U.S. Northern Command after nearly 39 years of distinguished service. In this last role, he was responsible for providing for the Homeland Defense and Defense Support to Civilian Authorities for the United States and for partnering with Canada and Mexico in broader security issues for North America. He was also responsible for building the interagency cooperation necessary for DoD to partner successfully in support of over 55 government partners and 53 states, districts, and territories. General Renuart served as the Director of Strategy, Policy and Planning (J-5) for the Joints Chiefs of Staff and as Senior Military Assistant to both SECDEFs Rumsfeld and Gates. He was the Director of Operations for General Tom Franks at U.S. Central Command, planning and executing all combat and humanitarian operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. General Renuart also served for over 12 years in NATO-related assignments in the UK, Germany, and Italy. A fighter pilot, General Renuart flew over 60 combat missions in four different U.S. and Coalition combat operations.
Since retiring, General Renuart has served as a senior consultant for a number of global, defense-related corporations and agencies. General Renuart serves both locally and nationally as Corporate Director and Finance Committee member, The Griffon Corporation; as Chairman and Compensation Committee member, Board of Directors, HAECO Special Services dba TIMCO Line Services, LLC; as Director, Capco Incorporated; as Boar Chair, Memorial Hospital, an affiliate of UCHealth, as well as Director, UCHealth, Colorado’s largest health care system. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Energy Systems Network, an energy technology initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP).
General Renuart is a member of the Military Advisory Group of the U.S. Global Leadership Council, a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, and a member of the Dean’s Council at Indiana University’s School of Global and International Studies.
Education
As the Chief Executive Officer of East Baton Rouge Parish Housing Authority (EBRPHA) and Partners Southeast, J. is tasked with leading the organization with innovative housing strategies and solutions. He views EBRPHA as a unique and ideal opportunity to broaden and strengthen the organization’s position as a leading affordable housing provider leveraging public and private resources. “We are mission-driven with private sector discipline” touts Daniels. Also, J. is the CEO of Partners Southeast, the development arm of EBRPHA that operates throughout the Southeast region. His leadership ensures that all EBRPHA’s investment strategies fully address measurable outcomes in Education, Economic Opportunities and Health & Wellness.
As a recognized real estate professional known for crafting the requisite strategic vision to achieve success, J. offers a unique blend of executive acumen, relationship building, and solutions development credited with success and long-term positive outcomes. J. has built a responsive “partnership” platform which creates aligned interests and collaborative relationships to execute comprehensive solutions.
J. credits himself with being the “connective tissue” between public and private sectors. Over the past twenty-five years, he has created a successful, multi-disciplined track record as an experienced leader in, Atlanta, GA and Charlotte, NC, in multifamily development, public/private partnerships (P3), mixed-income housing, green building design, economic development and urban revitalization. J.’s professional career has included various experiences with private and public sector organizations such as Dynasty Capital Partners and Horizon Development Properties which utilized real estate as a redevelopment tool. Specifically, during his tenures at the Atlanta Housing Authority and Charlotte Housing Authority, J. created a reputation for building internal infrastructure to execute direct (or “self”) development programs. He has been instrumental in providing organizations with innovative policies, strategic and tactical capabilities critical to the success of developing sustainable communities by delivering successful, tangible outcomes that have been nationally recognized.
Since arriving in Baton Rouge in 2016, J. successfully repositioned Partners Southeast into regional, affordable housing developer by attracting new capital sources and increasing the deal pipeline. Once appointed as CEO in 2018, J. effectively lead the organizational transformation of EBRPHA and Partners Southeast. Most notably, he led the local, stakeholder collaborative which secured the $30M Choice Neighborhoods grant from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) to transform an EBRPHA community and the surrounding neighborhoods to create over $330M in leveraged investments. In addition, J. is leading the transformation of EBRPHA’s housing portfolio via an innovative, asset repositioning strategy which will yield over 2,500 new residential units totaling over $500M over the next 5-7 years.
While in Charlotte, J. developed and implemented a $53M “green/sustainability”, redevelopment strategy for three, residential high-rises utilizing P3 models. These achievements include:
• NAHRO – 2014 “Award of Excellence” winner
• USGBC North Carolina – 2014 “Building & Design Award” winner
• USGBC Charlotte Region – 2013 “Building & Design Award” winner
• Multi-Housing News 2012 “Community of the Year”
• Multifamily Executive 2012 “Green Project of the Year”
• Multifamily Executive 2012 “Apartment Renovation of the Year”
• USGBC Charlotte Region – 2012 “Building & Design Award” winner
• Development of first, LEED Gold, residential high-rise in North Carolina
• Development of first, LEED Gold, 100% public housing high-rise in U.S.
• Minority and women business enterprises (MWBE) participation exceeding 50%
J. holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance/Real Estate from Morehouse College and master’s degree in International Real Estate (MSIRE) from Florida International University. He also holds professional designation of Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM). His wife is a Baton Rouge native and they have four beautiful children.
John Byrne is Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy (CEEP) and Distinguished Professor of Energy and Climate Policy at the University of Delaware. He has contributed to Working Group III of the United Nations-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 1992. The 2007 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Panel. Dr. Byrne is Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Renewable Energy and Environment (FREE), an international 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization originally founded as a supporting organization of Provident Resources Group Inc. FREE was established to promote a better future based on energy, water and materials conservation, renewable energy use, environmental resilience, and sustainable livelihoods. FREE is now an independent organization. Dr. Byrne’s work in the United States includes service as an advisor to the National Council for Science and the Environment (U.S.) and the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice, coordinated by the U.S. EPA. He conceived the Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) model and co-chaired the nation’s first SEU (created by the Delaware General Assembly) during 2007-2012. He is the architect of its innovative energy efficiency finance program which executed its first tax-exempt bond sale in 2011 with a rating of AA+. This bond model received White House recognition as part of the Obama Administration’s Better Buildings Challenge. His work has been funded by the World Bank, UNDP, UNEP, the W. Alton Jones Foundation, the Asia Foundation, the Blue Moon Fund, the National Science Foundation (U.S.), U.S. Department of Energy, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, among others. He has published 17 books and over 160 research articles. He is co-founder and co-executive director of the Joint Institute for a Sustainable Energy and Environmental Future, an innovative research and policy advocacy organization headquartered in South Korea with the mission of promoting sustainable policy options in East Asia. He is also a founding member of and served as the first research chair for the International Solar Cities Initiative, a pioneering program to assist cities around the world in building sustainable futures. In 2011, Dr. Byrne was appointed Distinguished Professor of Sustainable Energy at the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, a new university created by South Korea to lead its plan for green energy technology and policy development. He received a Fulbright Senior Lecturer/Researcher Award to teach environmental policy at the Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University and to conduct research on a National Greenhouse Gas Abatement Strategy for the Korea Energy Economics Institute. He was appointed a Policy Advisor to the Environmental Forum of the Korea National Assembly (the only non-Korean to serve in this capacity) and he has held advisory appointments with China’s State Environmental Protection Agency, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI in India) and the Korea Energy Economics Institute, among others.
Education
John Giere has over 20 years of wireless industry management experience in sales, product management, marketing and business development. Prior to his role as President and CEO of Openwave Mobility, John served as GM of the mediation business unit for Openwave Systems. Before Openwave Systems, John served as CMO for Alcatel-Lucent and CMO for Lucent Technologies. Before joining Lucent in 2003, John worked for Ericsson in various strategic marketing and business development roles. John currently serves on the Board of Sonim Technologies.
Education
Seán McCarthy co-founded Build America Mutual Assurance Company, the first mutual municipal bond issuer, in July 2012. Prior to that, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of Assured Guaranty (NYSE: AGO), following its acquisition of Financial Security Assurance in July 2009. He was formerly President and COO of FSA. Mr. McCarthy joined FSA in 1988 as head of the Asia-Pacific business, opening that market for public finance. He subsequently headed all business groups prior to becoming COO and, in that position, was instrumental in developing the necessary resources for FSA to enter the municipal business in 1990. He also chaired the Association of Financial Guaranty Insurers from 2006 to 2011. In earlier positions, Mr. McCarthy was a vice president in the municipal group of PaineWebber and served at E. F. Hutton in the public finance group.
Education
Thomas Hudson currently serves as President of G2 LNG. He is an attorney who has focused on the energy sector his entire career. He held management positions in the oil and gas field, as well as represented independent and major energy companies. Previously, Mr. Hudson served as Chief of Staff for US Senator John Breaux and Executive Assistant to US Senator Bennett Johnston. Mr. Hudson also served as a Louisiana State Senator from 1976 to 1988 and chaired the Senate Commerce Committee during his term. He was the Managing Partner of Brownstein, Hyatt, and Farber, where he participated in the permitting of a US LNG Import Facility and counseled global interests engaged in the CFIUS process.
Education
Vicki has more than 30 years of experience in the health care industry including CEO and CFO of Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge LA, President of the Baton Rouge Market for HCA, and CEO of hospitals in Texas and Alabama with Triad Hospitals. She has held leadership positions in numerous organizations including the Federation of American Hospitals, American Hospital Association, Texas Hospital Association, Louisiana Hospital Association, Alabama Hospital Association, Healthcare Financial Management Association, Alabama Chapter of the March of Dimes, United Way in Louisiana, Texas and Alabama, and the National Perinatal Information Center.
Vicki was the recipient of a number of awards including Modern Healthcare’s “Up and Comers” in 1991 and 1991 Notable in the 2007 Modern Healthcare Yearbook of “Up and Comers”, 2007 Birmingham Top 100 in Healthcare, and a 1994 Emerging Leader by The Healthcare Forum.
In March 2018 Vicki was appointed Chief Executive Officer of UT Health Tyler (formerly East Texas Medical Center). Throughout her 30-year healthcare career, Vicki has held responsibility for leading more than 22 hospitals ranging from small facilities to large tertiary hospitals with teaching programs. She most recently served as President and CEO of St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport CT and prior to that appointment led St. Vincent’s Health System in Birmingham AL. She also served as the Chief Executive Officer of The Regional Health System of Acadiana, which includes Lafayette-based Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Southwest Medical Center, and Dauterive Medical Center in New Iberia; the Vice President of Operations for Healthcare Management Associates (HMA) based in Naples FL with responsibility for strategy and operations for 12 hospitals in North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Pennsylvania; and as CEO of Longview Medical Center from 1998 until 2005.
Education
Master of Business Administration, Brock School of Business, Samford University, Birmingham AL (2009), Bachelor of Science in Accounting, Nicholls State University, Thibodaux LA (named one of Nicholls’ top 50 graduates in school history, distinguished recipient of the Nicholls State University Alumni Federation’s James Lynn Powell Award)
