New Orleans Entrepreneur Week

Jack Biddle

Co-Founder, Novak Biddle Venture Partners

Prior to co-founding NBVP in 1996, Jack was President and CEO of InterCAP, a venture-backed computer software company. InterCAP was number 18 on the "Fast 50" list of the mid-Atlantic's fastest growing companies and was acquired by Intergraph in 1995. From 1987 to 1990, Jack rose from Senior Associate to Partner at Vanguard Atlantic, Ltd., a merchant banking group focused on M&A advisory work and control investments in software companies. At VAL, he served as turnaround CEO of a system software company and then as COO of an application software company. Earlier in his career he was an IT Industry Generalist, focused on Telecommunications Technology, at the Gartner Group, where he was also Executive Assistant to the CEO, Gideon Gartner. He began his career in 1983 in Austin, Texas at Business Development Partners, an early stage venture capital partnership. Jack holds a BA in Economics from the University of Virginia.

Jack currently serves on the Boards of WealthEngine, Vision Chain (Chairman), CorasWorks (Chairman), Triumfant, eMinor, ObjectVideo, Starfish Retention Solutions and Appian Corporation. Past Board or Observer seats include SafeView, Inc. (acquired by L3 Communications), Matrics (acquired by Symbol Technologies), Giga Information Group (Nasdaq: GIGX) (Lead Director), acquired by Forrester), Telogy Networks, (acquired by Texas Instruments), Tantivy (acquired by Interdigital), AnswerLogic (acquired by Primus Knowledge Systems), and Blackboard, Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB). He is a Director of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a member of Business Executives for National Security (BENS), and advises the U.S. Department of Defense on technology and innovation.

He is on the Investment Committee of the University of Maryland's New Markets Growth Fund, an SBA leveraged fund targeting private equity investments in disadvantaged areas. He is a board member of TiE-DC. He is a frequent speaker on entrepreneurship for the U.S. Department of Commerce, and has made presentations for them in Russia, China and Japan. Jack is a Director and former Vice Chairman of the Board of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He is a Trustee serving as Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair of the Sibley Memorial Hospital Foundation and also serves on the Hospital's Investment Committee.

Bob Brown

Managing Director, New Orleans Business Council and the River Region

Brown was appointed to his position at the Business Council after a long career at the University of New Orleans, where he rose to the position of Vice Chancellor for Governmental, Community and Diversity Affairs, a role in which he served from August of 2003 until October, 2007. In that capacity he was responsible for the university's state, regional and local governmental relations activities, coordinated the involvement of university personnel in civic and community boards, commissions and task forces, and managed and promoted the university's efforts to create and sustain a diverse, high-quality workforce and student body.

The Business Council, founded in 1985, is an organization of Chief Executive Officers, or persons of comparable status, representing many of the largest corporations in the greater New Orleans area. Current membership stands at 73. Its purpose is to take such action as will promote and enhance the economic growth, social welfare and civic environment ot the City of New Orleans and the River Region. As Managing Director, Brown coordinates and manages relationships with elected officials, governmental bodies and civic groups, coordinates and executes the initiatives of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors, and compiles and analyzes research aimed at supporting the group's goals and priorities.

He also was an NCAA Division I college baseball umpire from 1974-90 and a Division I basketball referee from 1976-98. He was assigned as an official for basketball games in the Sun Belt, American South, Southland, Southwestern Athletic and Gulf Coast Athletic Conferences. He was selected to officiate the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship games in 1995 and 1996, and the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-America Game during the 1993 NCAA Men's Final Four.

He serves on numerous boards, including, the Legacy Donor Foundation, the Preservation Resource Center, the Bureau of Governmental Research - where he chairs the BGR Breakfast Briefing series, and is a trustee of the Greater New Orleans YMCA. He has been honored with a Role Model award from the Young Leadership Council, and was selected as a Community Hero/Olympic Torch Bearer for the 1996 Olympics.

He was born Robert William Brown on July 27, 1942, in Franklinton, LA. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree (Magna Cum Laude) in history from Park College (Parkville, MO) in 1975 and a Master of Arts degree in human resource management from Pepperdine University (Malibu, CA) in 1979.

Brown spent 20 years in the U.S. Air Force (1961-81) as an air traffic controller and rose to the rank of master sergeant in less than 13 years.

Brown is married to the former Brenda Ball of Lake Charles, LA, and is the father of one daughter, Deborah, and one son, Kevin.

James Carville

Political Consultant

James Carville is America's best-known political consultant. His long list of electoral successes evidences a knack for steering overlooked campaigns to unexpected landslide victories and for re-making political underdogs into upset winners.

In recent years, Carville has not been a paid political consultant for any domestic politicians or candidates for office, instead focusing on campaigns around the globe. In 1999, Carville led Ehud Barak to victory in his campaign to become the Prime Minister of Israel.

James Carville is an author, actor, producer, talk-show host, speaker and restaurateur. His titles include All's Fair: Love, War, and Running for President (with wife Mary Matalin); We're Right, They're Wrong: A Handbook for Spirited Progressives; And the Horse He Rode In On: The People vs. Kenneth Starr; Buck Up, Suck Up...and Come Back When You Foul Up; Had Enough? A Handbook for Fighting Back; Stickin': The Case for Loyalty; his children's book, Lu and the Swamp Ghost; and 2006's Take it Back. His latest book 40 More Years: How the Democrats will Rule the Next Generation was released in May 2009.

Most recently, Carville is hosting Sirius XM radio's "60/20 Sports" show with Luke Russert, and is a frequent political commentator and contributor on CNN. He also serves as a Professor of Practice at Tulane University in New Orleans, where he lives with his wife Mary Matalin and their two daughters.

General Wesley Clark

Businessman, Educator, Writer and Commentator

General Clark serves as Chairman and CEO of Wesley K. Clark & Associates, a strategic consulting firm; Chairman of investment bank Rodman & Renshaw; Co-Chairman of Growth Energy; senior fellow at UCLA's Burkle Center for International Relations; Director of International Crisis Group; Chairman of City Year Little Rock; as well as numerous corporate boards. General Clark has authored three books and serves as a member of the Clinton Global Initiative's Energy & Climate Change Advisory Board, and ACORE's Advisory Board.

Clark retired a four star general after 38 years in the United States Army. He graduated first in his class at West Point and completed degrees in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University (B.A. and M.A.) as a Rhodes Scholar. While serving in Vietnam, he commanded an infantry company in combat, where he was severely wounded and evacuated home on a stretcher. He later commanded at the battalion, brigade and division level, and served in a number of significant staff positions, including service as the Director Strategic Plans and Policy (J-5). In his last assignment as Supreme Allied Commander Europe he led NATO forces to victory in Operation Allied Force, saving 1.5 million Albanians from ethnic cleansing.

His awards include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Defense Distinguished Service Medal (five awards), Silver star, bronze star, purple heart, honorary knighthoods from the British and Dutch governments, and numerous other awards from other governments, including award of Commander of the Legion of Honor (France).

Penny and Jim Coulter

Jim Coulter is a Founding Partner of TPG Capital, Inc. TPG, Capital, Inc. (also known as the Texas Pacific Group) is a leading global private equity firm with 15 offices around the world and assets under management in excess of $50 billion. TPG is a lead investor in a portfolio over 70 diverse companies including Neiman Marcus, Burger King, Petco, Avaya, Harrahs, Mey Icki (the largest spirits company in Turkey) and China Grand Auto (the largest auto dealership network in China). Jim has served on numerous corporate and charitable Boards including the Stanford Board of Trustees, Lenovo Group International, Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines, IMS Health, J Crew Group, Inc., Neiman Marcus Group and Common Sense Media. Jim is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Penny Coulter is a native of New Orleans and is active in civic and philanthropic pursuits. Penny has served on the Boards of the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, The California Academy of Sciences and was a founding National Board Member for Summer Search, a non-profit focused on underprivileged youth. She is active in educational pursuits as a past member of the University of Virginia Foundation Board and as a former Board Member of the Little School in San Francisco. Currently, Penny serves on the University of Virginia Jefferson Scholar Selection Committee. Penny is a graduate of the University of Virginia.

Penny and Jim and their three children are residents of San Francisco but are long time supporters of New Orleans and The Idea Village. In the after-math of Katrina they founded the Crescent City Relief Fund, which has been an active contributor to New Orleans causes from the arts to education. Through the Stanford GSB they sponsored the initial group of Stanford GSB students who came to New Orleans to support The Idea Village. They have funded The Coulter Challenge in support of the development of New Orleans as a center of entrepreneurism.

Amy Cosper

VP/Editor in Chief, Entrepreneur Media, Inc.

Amy Cosper, vice president/editor-in chief of Entrepreneur Media Inc., knows what it means to drive a business idea forward with passion, creativity, savvy, and yes, even a little moxie. For Cosper, the media addiction started with a fervor for technology and love at first dial-up. But it was at WiesnerMedia that Cosper delved into the essence of what it means to be an entrepreneur. As the company's entrepreneur in residence, she solicited and evaluated new business plans, ventures and partnerships to drive the company's initiative to diversify its portfolio. Transform innovative ideas into full-fledged realities by raising capital from the VC community? No problem for this business development pro. Having been in the entrepreneurial trenches with her media consulting business prior to joining Wiesner, Cosper has a deep understanding of what entrepreneurs want and need. She knows that without the right information, tools and resources, small businesses stay small.

Cosper's journalism roots began in the tech world, where she cut her teeth as a reporter on assignment in Israel, Norway, Brazil, Luxembourg, Paris and London covering broadband, broadcasting and satellites. Eventually she became publisher/editor-in-chief for Satellite Broadband magazine at Primedia, and later moved on to redesign and direct five ASBPE award-winning financial magazines at WiesnerMedia.

Scott Cowen

President, Tulane University

Scott S. Cowen is Tulane University's 14th President. He also holds joint appointments as the Seymour S. Goodman Memorial Professor of Business in Tulane's A.B. Freeman School of Business and Professor of Economics in the School of Liberal Arts.

Since President Cowen's arrival in 1998, Tulane University has more than quintupled its undergraduate applications while experiencing all-time highs in student quality. In addition, Tulane has more than doubled the level of total private giving to the university and received a record level of research awards. The university has implemented a number of innovative academic and research program initiatives and significantly increased its community outreach. In recognition of Tulane's accomplishments, it was noted as one of the "Hottest Schools in America" by Newsweek magazine in 2002 and 2008, and has been nationally recognized on multiple occasions for its civic engagement programs, while also being consistently ranked in the top tier of national research universities.

On March 17, 2005, President Cowen announced the public launch of "Promise and Distinction: The Campaign for Tulane." By 2008 the campaign had raised more than $700 million, making it one of the largest university fundraising efforts in the history of Louisiana. In 2009 TIME Magazine named President Cowen one of the nation's top 10 Best College Presidents and he was one of four university leaders nationwide to receive the 2009 Carnegie Corporation Academic Leadership Award.

In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans, flooding 70 percent of Tulane's uptown campus and all the buildings of its downtown health sciences campus. The storm dispersed Tulane faculty, staff and students around the country for an entire semester. On December 8, 2005, the Board of Tulane approved President Cowen's Renewal Plan, a sweeping effort that strengthens and focuses the university's academic mission while strategically addressing its current and future operations in the post-Katrina era. Under President Cowen's leadership the campus was repaired and a remarkable 87 percent of its students returned for classes in January of 2006.

In response to Katrina, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin appointed President Cowen to the city's Bring New Orleans Back Commission and charged him with leading a committee to reform and rebuild the city's failing public school system. President Cowen has devoted his days and nights to these monumental tasks and has already had impressive results. As part of this effort, Tulane chartered a K-12 school in New Orleans and created an Institute for Public Education Initiatives to support the transformation of public education in New Orleans. In addition, President Cowen has served as a commissioner of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, which plays a major role in the rebuilding of Orleans Parish in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He is currently chairman of the Southeast Regional Airport Authority, which is charged with turning Louis Armstrong International Airport into a world-class transportation center and a significant economic development powerhouse.

President Cowen is also the co-founder of the Fleur-de-lis Ambassadors program, a group of New Orleans civic leaders dedicated to spreading the message nationwide that post-Katrina New Orleans is an economically viable, livable city with a recovery plan in progress. The Ambassadors also actively seek additional support for the recovery of New Orleans from businesses and philanthropic organizations around the country.

Prior to coming to Tulane, President Cowen was a professor-and later dean-at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio for 23 years. He is the author of four books and more than 100 academic and professional articles, essays, and reviews, as well as the recipient of several national awards/ honors, including receiving multiple honorary degrees from such institutions as Brown University, Yeshiva University and George Mason University. Dr. Cowen's areas of scholarship and teaching focus on strategic financial management systems, corporate governance and leadership.

He has held leadership positions in national academic and professional associations, including the American Council on Education, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and the NCAA. In 2003, President Cowen led an effort with his fellow university leaders to reform intercollegiate athletics and ensure that their sports programs are consistent with the values, missions and aspirations of their institutions. President Cowen also currently serves as a board member for the National Merit Scholarship Corporation and the Council of Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

President Cowen has consulted with dozens of companies, from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies. He is currently a board member of Newell Rubbermaid, Inc., American Greetings, JoAnn Stores and Forest City Enterprises.

President Cowen received his bachelor's degree from the University of Connecticut in 1968. After serving a three-year term in the U.S. Army as an infantry officer from 1968-1971, he went back to school and received his masters and doctoral degrees, respectively, from The George Washington University in the fields of finance and management.

President Cowen and his wife, Marjorie, are the parents of four adult children.

Mark Cuban

Owner, Dallas Mavericks

Mark Cuban is the famous American entrepreneur, investor, and sports franchise owner. As owner of the Dallas Mavericks, owner of HD Net television stations, and owner of Landmark Theatres, he has had unparalleled success in the start-up game and a commitment to the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Cuban has invested in countless start-ups that he believes in, including New Orleans' own (and friend of The Idea Village) Naked Pizza, a healthy pizza company that launched in the Crescent City and is soon looking to expand with franchises nationwide.

Michael Hecht

CEO, GNO Inc.

President and CEO Michael Hecht brings a diverse background to the task of leading economic development for the Greater New Orleans region.

As the Chief Executive of Greater New Orleans, Inc., Michael leads an organization whose mission falls broadly into two categories: business development - marketing the region to businesses - and product development - creating better conditions for business. The ultimate vision of GNO, Inc. is to make the Greater New Orleans region one of the best places in the country for both a business, and a family.

Before being tapped by the area's business community to lead GNO, Inc., Michael served as Director of Business Recovery Services for Louisiana Economic Development, where he led the federally-funded $232M Small Business Recovery Program. Designed to revitalize the independent and small business sector devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Recovery Program helped over 5,000 Louisiana businesses with grants, loans and technical assistance. Prior to repatriating to Louisiana, Michael worked for Mayor Michael Bloomberg in New York City. As Assistant Commissioner for NYC Business Solutions, Michael designed and ran a nationally-recognized initiative to help the 200,000+ small businesses of New York City prosper and grow.

Michael also brings the experience of starting and managing his own business, having founded a conglomerate of restaurant ventures in San Francisco, including the award-winning "Foreign Cinema," which just celebrated its 10th anniversary.

In addition to his public and private ventures, Michael also has experience in the nonprofit sector, where he was Director of Business Development for the Food Bank for New York City, the largest of its kind in the country. Michael began his career as a strategic management consultant to Fortune 100 multinationals including Coca-Cola, Kellogg's and IBM, in Europe, North America and Australia.

Michael holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was a member of the Public Management Program, and an undergraduate degree in Race Relations from Yale University, magna cum laude. He is a member of Coro Leadership New York, and has lectured nationally and internationally on entrepreneurship and economic development.

Recently Michael has been recognized as one of the 25 "Most Powerful" People in the 10/12 Corridor, a New Orleans Living "Person to Watch," and a Junior Achievement "Rising Star."

With family roots in Louisiana back to the 1830's, Michael now lives in New Orleans with his wife, Marlene, an ESL professor at Delgado, and his two small boys, Dexter and Kaj.

Walter Isaacson

CEO, Aspen Institute

Walter Isaacson is the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan educational and policy studies institute based in Washington, D.C. He has been the Chairman and CEO of CNN and the editor of Time Magazine.

He is the author of Einstein: His Life and Universe (April 2007), Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003), and Kissinger: A Biography (1992), and coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made (1986).

Isaacson was born on May 20, 1952, in New Orleans. He is a graduate of Harvard College and of Pembroke College of Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

He began his career at the Sunday Times of London and then the New Orleans Times-Picayune/States-Item. He joined Time Magazine in 1978 and served as a political correspondent, national editor and editor of new media before becoming the magazine's 14th editor in 1996. He became Chairman and CEO of CNN in 2001, and then president and CEO of the Aspen Institute in 2003.

He is the chairman of the board of Teach for America, which recruits recent college graduates to teach in underserved communities. He is also chairman of the board of the U.S.-Palestinian Partnership, set up by the U.S. State Department to promote economic and educational opportunities for the Palestinian people. He is on the Board of United Airlines, Tulane University, Society for Science & the Public, and the Bipartisan Policy Center. He was appointed after Hurricane Katrina to be the vice-chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority and now lives with his wife and daughter in Washington, DC.

Julie Silard Kantor

Executive Director, NFTE Washington & National VP, Government Affairs

Julie Silard Kantor is a veteran in the field of entrepreneurship education and has taught entrepreneurship to urban youth since 1992. As Executive Director of the NFTE Greater Washington DC program office for 15 years, Kantor is responsible for enhancing and expanding NFTE programs throughout the region and building 'best practice' templates for the organization both locally nationally and internationally. Over 22,000 youth have completed NFTE's 'Mini-MBA' curriculum in the Washington Region and NFTE globally has trained over 280,000 youth in 12 countries.

In her previous position as the Regional Director of NFTE New England, Ms. Kantor served the most economically challenged neighborhoods of Massachusetts. She established and personally taught NFTE classes at numerous public schools and youth programs Ms. Kantor received the NFTE Leadership Award in 2005 and 2007 for the top operating unit in the country, was NFTE Executive of the Year in 1999, Washingtonian Magazine's 100 people to watch under 40 in its millennium edition, SmartCEO Magazine's "Top 20 Leaders Who Impress Us the Most" in 2007, Leadership Washington 2008 Community Business Partnership Award, 2007 Bravo SmartCEO Women Business Achievement Award, and she received the prestigious Bank of Boston "Yellow Star Service Award" in 1995. Kantor has raised over $11 million in revenue for NFTE and has been catalytic in expanding or launching NFTE programs in India, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Boston.

Kantor is a national spokesperson and her recent speaking engagements include the National Urban League, Women's Business Network International Conference, the National Black MBA Conference, Diversity Best Practice, European Union/ US Roundtable on Youth Employment in Brussels 2008, Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (MAVA), Tavis Smiley's SuccessSoul, and the George Washington University Hoffman Lecture Series, The Booker T Washington Society, New Orleans Entrepreneurship Week (March 2010). Ms. Kantor has recruited and built a high performing; results oriented board of Advisors for 17 years and has served on many boards, including the Washington District's School to Career Governing Board and Youth Leadership Washington's Strategic Planning Committee.

In her new book, I SAID YES: Real Life Stories of Students, Teachers and Leaders Saying YES! To Youth Entrepreneurship in America's Schools, Ms. Kantor gives her first-person account as an entrepreneurial leader, taking the reader inside the real-life stories of inner-city youth and others whose lives have been influenced, inspired and forever changed through an interest in becoming an entrepreneur. Ms. Kantor's interest in working with inner-city youth was sparked in 1991 by NFTE founder, Steve Mariotti when he addressed more than 800 CEOs and guests at the Tenth Annual Inc. 500 Conference.

Born and raised in Washington, DC, Ms. Kantor started working in small business at the age of eleven. The daughter of a Hungarian Refugee who escaped to America in 1956 to build a better life away from a Socialist economy, Ms. Kantor experienced first-hand the value of teaching the 'American Dream.' She attended Sidwell Friends School where she directed the Women's and Men's Teen Awareness group. She earned a Bachelor's Degree in Communications and English from Simmons College in Boston, and served as Editor-in- Chief of Sidelines, the college literary magazine.

Ms. Kantor lives in Washington, DC with her husband, daughter and two dogs.

Robin Keegan

Executive Director, LRA

Bio coming soon.

The Honorable Mitch Landrieu

Lieutenant Governor, Louisiana & Mayor-Elect, New Orleans

Mitch Landrieu grew up as one of nine children in the Broadmoor neighborhood. It was here on South Prieur Street that Mitch developed a love for the City of New Orleans. Today, Landrieu and his wife Cheryl are raising five children of their own.

Mitch's governing philosophy is rooted in his Jesuit education, where he learned to be committed to service. He was educated at Jesuit High School, Catholic University, and earned a law degree from Loyola University.

Mitch had a successful law practice for 15 years. He became an expert mediator, focusing on alternative dispute resolution. In life, law and government, he always seeks to bring people together to find common ground.

As a State Legislator, Mitch represented the Broadmoor neighborhood for 16 years. During his tenure, he made his mark as a reformer who could get the job done.

As Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, Mitch has served as an executive, managing a $127 million budget and 800 employees. To deliver results, he put in place strict standards of accountability.

After Hurricane Katrina, he led the effort to rebuild the tourism industry, and the thousands of jobs it creates. And when other government agencies failed, Mitch's team got more than $22 million in grant money from Congress into the hands of hundreds of homeowners quickly.

During his tenure, Mitch has focused on creating jobs. He launched the Cultural Economy initiative to grow jobs through our culture, music, food, film and art. The cultural economy accounts for 144,000 jobs in our state.

Now, Mitch is Mayor-Elect of New Orleans. After more than 20 years of government experience, his top priorities as mayor will be creating jobs, improving our schools and making our streets safer.

Mary Matalin

Political Strategist

Mary Matalin's experience in politics, public affairs, crisis management and media spans three decades and multiple venues.

Matalin has served Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. Most recently, she joined the Bush/Cheney administration in the first term as Assistant to the President and Counselor to the Vice President. In that capacity, she preformed as senior advisor on major initiatives, including national security, homeland security, energy, economic growth and corporate governance policies. She oversaw the Vice President's political and communications departments, advancing administration policies from the Middle East, Europe and across America to Capitol Hill.

Before joining the Bush/Cheney White House, Matalin hosted CNN's critically acclaimed debate show, Crossfire. Matalin was also a former founding co-host of the Washington based CNBC political weeknight talk show, Equal Time.

Matalin and her husband James Carville, who was the chief campaign strategist for Clinton/Gore in 1992, co-authored the best-selling political campaign book All’s Fair: Love, War and Running for President.

Her most recent book, Letters to My Daughters was named a Book of the Month Club selection as well as The New York Times and The Washington Post best-seller lists. Letters to My Daughters was also selected for a condensed version by Reader's Digest.

Currently, Matalin is Editor-in-Chief of Threshold Editions, a conservative imprint at Simon & Schuster. In addition, Matalin sits on the board of directors of the Cheney Cardiovascular Institute, the Washington Humane Society and closer to home, the Bureau of Governmental Research in Louisiana. She also recently joined CNN in April of 2009 as a political contributor.

Matalin and her husband split time between their homes in Virginia and Louisiana with their daughters Matalin “Matty” Carville and Emerson “Emma” Carville and their 5 dogs, multiple cats and two birds.

Irvin Mayfield

Trumpeter, Bandleader, Composer, Arranger, Professor, Cultural Ambassador & Recording Artist

At only 32 years old, Irvin Mayfield represents the continuity of the unfolding Jazz legacy of New Orleans. Winning both a Grammy and Billboard-award, this versatile trumpeter, bandleader, composer, arranger, professor, cultural ambassador and recording artist is on a path to position Jazz at the center of American culture. His musical virtuosity and devotion to the music has made Mayfield one of the most recorded and decorated Jazz musicians of his generation. In 2002, Mayfield created the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO), a performing arts institution dedicated to presenting engaging and transformative Jazz experiences. Under his artistic direction, NOJO won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble for its critically acclaimed CD Book One on the World Village/Harmonia Mundi label. The 20-piece orchestra, which is one of the most sought after touring Jazz orchestras in the country includes such respected musicians as Victor Atkins on piano, Ed "Sweetbread" Petersen on saxophone and Evan Christopher on clarinet, to name a few.

Mayfield's latest commission, the Elysian Fields Jazz Suite, is a big band composition that will premiere as a musical commencement address at the University of New Orleans' graduation ceremonies in May 2010. The Elysian Fields Jazz Suite is an exploration of liberty, family, death, and rebirth. The suite is inspired by Elysian Fields, the historic avenue in New Orleans that connects the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain, as well as the mythological abode of blessed souls. Elysian Fields is also the location where the body of Mayfield's father, Irvin Mayfield Sr., was found in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Metaphorically, the Elysian Fields Jazz Suite recognizes New Orleans' historical ties to France and its namesake, the Champs Elysees, the storied boulevard where liberty is honored. The Elysian Fields Jazz Suite will serve as the musical platform for the Road To Carnegie Hall Tour in 2010.

Other notable commissions by Mayfield include the Art of Passion, which premiered in 2009 with the Minnesota Orchestra where Mayfield serves as artistic director of Jazz programs. In 2008, Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra presented All The Saints, a spiritual work commissioned by the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana. All The Saints was the first concert in the city after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. In 2006, Mayfield premiered Rising Tide, a commission from the New Jersey Performing Arts Center that celebrated the indigenous musical culture of New Orleans. Mayfield composed Strange Fruit in 2003, which featured the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and Dillard University's Concert Choir. The Half past Autumn Suite, Mayfield's first commission, is a musical tribute to renowned African-American artist Gordon Parks. This musical score was commissioned by the New Orleans Museum of Art in 2000 and it accompanied an exhibition of the photographer's work. The score was later recorded with Parks, Wynton Marsalis, and the Irvin Mayfield Quintet, and released on Basin Street Records in 2003.

A proponent of linking Jazz with academia, Mayfield established the New Orleans Jazz Institute (NOJI) at the University of New Orleans in 2008 Since its inception, NOJI launched the Saturday Music School for local elementary students, established a consortium of Jazz professionals throughout the New Orleans area, initiated a high school scholarship competition in partnership with the Satchmo Summer Fest, and created the UNOJO (the University of New Orleans Jazz Orchestra)-a student orchestra patterned after Mayfield's own NOJO ( the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra). He is currently a professor of professional practice at UNO's College of Liberal Arts and teaches New Orleans As Discourse, a forum where students interact with nationally recognized cultural, business, and political leaders. The class is streamed on the UNO website and students are required to blog on each guest lecturer. For more information on the class, visit http://cola.uno.edu/mayfield/.

Mayfield is on a mission to fortify Jazz through performances, audience building, education and cultural rebirth. In 2009, he entered into a historic partnership with the Royal Sonesta Hotels, opening Irvin Mayfield's Jazz Playhouse on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. The Playhouse provides over 50 Jazz musicians an opportunity to perform and build new audiences on a weekly basis. Mayfield has also expanded his media platforms with his radio show, The Life & Times of Irvin Mayfield which airs on WGSO 990am and streams on wgso.com.

In early 2010, President Barack Obama appointed Mayfield to the National Council of the Arts after being nominated by President George W. Bush. He also serves as Cultural Ambassador for the City of New Orleans, an appointment recognized by the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Governor of the State of Louisiana and other governmental bodies.

In 1998, Mayfield co-founded the Latin jazz band Los Hombres Calientes with drummer Jason Marsalis and percussionist Bill Summers. Their debut CD-Los Hombres Calientes on Basin Street Records won Billboard's Latin Music Award for Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year. They also recorded Volume 2: Los Hombres Calientes in 1999, the Grammy-nominated Volume 3: New Congo Square in 2001, Volume 4: Vodou Dance in 2003 and Volume 5: Carnival in 2005, all released on Basin Street Records.

Prior to Book One, Mayfield recorded Love Songs, Ballads & Standards with Ellis Marsalis, an early mentor and patriarch of the Marsalis family. His discography also includes Higher Ground on Blue Note Records, 2005; Strange Fruit, 2005; Half past Autumn Suite, 2003; How Passion Falls, 2001; and Irvin Mayfield: Irvin Mayfield in 1999, on the Basin Street Record label. His early recordings include Jaz Sawyer/Irvin Mayfield 20/20: Live at the Blue Note in 2000 on Half Note Records and The Irvin Mayfield Sextet: Live at the Blue Note in 1999.

Mayfield received his first trumpet in the fourth grade and graduated from the famous New Orleans Center of Creative Arts in 1995. After turning down a scholarship to the Julliard School of Music, Mayfield studied at the University of New Orleans Jazz Studies program under the mentorship of Ellis Marsalis. Eager to perform, Mayfield left college in 1997 and formed the Irvin Mayfield Septet.

A passionate advocate for New Orleans, Mayfield is Chairman of the Board of the New Orleans Public Library. He also serves on the boards of the New Orleans Recovery Authority, the New Orleans Arts Council, the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation, the Louisiana State University's Department of Psychiatry and Health Science, Unity of New Orleans, the New Orleans Public Library Foundation and Tulane University's School of Architecture.

Stephen Perry

President/CEO New Orleans Convention and Visitor Bureau

Under Stephen Perry's direction, the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) has routinely been ranked as one of the top five CVBs in America and won multiple national awards for excellence in sales, marketing, public relations, branding, customer service and corporate relations.

Mr. Perry has won many national accolades for his work immediately following Hurricane Katrina in rebuilding tourism in New Orleans, becoming a regular guest on CNN, NPR, MSNBC, CNBC and other national news outlets. He has been featured on the cover and in leading articles in many national trade publications.

In February 2010, Mr. Perry became one of only two urban destination CEOs in the country selected by the Obama Administration to serve on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board and advise U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Locke and the President of the United States on all key matters relating to national travel and tourism policy.

The nomination is a tremendous honor for New Orleans' hospitality industry, as Perry is one of 29 hospitality industry CEOs appointed to serve on this board.

Mr. Perry also served on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board in 2008 under the Bush Administration and Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, and is one of only two members asked to continue service with the Obama Administration board.

In addition, Mr. Perry will ascend to the Chairman of the Board position this summer for Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI), the international governing body of convention and visitor bureaus. He continues to serve as an Executive Committee member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Travel Association, the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the $770 billion travel industry. Through Perry's service, New Orleans now has unprecedented representation in national travel and tourism matters.

Perry will not only have an opportunity to shape national travel policy, but to advance the cause of New Orleans, its assets, its attractiveness and value as a destination and as a center of best practices, and will afford him routine contact with some of the Crescent City's most important customers and partners. Through his participation on these major panels, the New Orleans brand will be placed front and center in American tourism. Prior to joining the New Orleans CVB in 2002, he served as Chief of Staff to Louisiana Governor Mike Foster.

Mr. Perry holds B.A. degrees in History and Russian Area Studies from LSU, and an M.A. in Anthropology from LSU. He also completed the Senior Executives Program in State and Local Government of the Kennedy School at Harvard University.

Peter Reiling

Executive VP, Leadership and Seminar Programs & Executive Director, Henry Crown Fellowship The Aspen Institute

Peter A. Reiling is Executive Vice President for Leadership and Seminar Programs and Executive Director of the Henry Crown Fellowship Program at the Aspen Institute. In these roles, he oversees the Institute's growing portfolio of leadership initiatives (the Aspen Global Leadership Network) and seminars (including The Aspen Seminar, offered at the Institute since 1950) as well as its flagship leadership program.

Peter is a trustee, officer, and senior moderator of the Aspen Institute, a Henry Crown Fellow (Class of 1998), and the founder of the Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI), a joint venture between the Aspen Institute and five African business leaders. ALI has since been replicated in Central America as "CALI", in India as "ILI" and in the Middle East as "MELI", with plans to expand into China and Central Europe in 2010. Similar programs have also been launched in the fields of politics, education and the environment with plans to expand into health and social entrepreneurship. The goal of all these ventures is to stimulate a new generation of accomplished, entrepreneurial leaders to play a greater role in the social and political development of their communities and countries.

Prior to joining the Aspen Institute, from 1996 to 2004, Peter was President and CEO of TechnoServe, an international organization helping entrepreneurs across Africa, Latin America, India and Central Europe to build businesses in their communities (www.technoserve.org). He is co-founder of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs and currently serves as chairman of the board of the CALI Foundation as well as on the boards of ALI/East Africa, ALI/West Africa, ALI/South Africa, Agora Partnerships and the Energy Access Foundation. Peter is a former adjunct professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and guest lecturer at the Institute for Developing Economies in Tokyo. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations as well as the Bretton Woods Committee, and was named "Outstanding Social Entrepreneur" by the Schwab Foundation in Geneva. A graduate of Georgetown University (BSFS) and the University of California/Berkeley (MBA), with additional studies at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Peter is married to Denise Byrne and is the father of two children, Dylan and Eva Luna.

Hugh Weber

President, New Orleans Hornets

As president of the New Orleans Hornets, Hugh Weber facilitates all business aspects of the Hornets franchise, including strategic planning, business development, marketing/branding and day-to-day operations for more than 125 employees. Following the direction of Hornets Owner George Shinn, Weber is tasked to instill the Hornets values at every level of the organization, encouraging the entire Hornets family to display passion, purpose and pride in every aspect of life.

Prior to his role as team president, Weber served as chief operations officer and vice president of business operations, overseeing all aspects of the New Orleans market while the team was headquartered temporarily in Oklahoma City.

The organization, guided by Weber's strategic vision and extensive leadership, has experienced as much success off the court as the team has produced on the court. The Hornets have exceeded the 10,000 season tickets sold benchmark for the first time in New Orleans and are committed to numerous community initiatives set forth by the Shinn family as the entire Hornets organization continues to assist with the revitalization of the New Orleans area.

Kurt Weigle

CEO Downtown Development District

Kurt Weigle is President & CEO of the Downtown Development District (DDD) in New Orleans. During his seven year tenure, the DDD has adopted & aggressively implemented its Canal Street Development Strategy resulting in millions of dollars of new residential and retail investment; completed construction of the $17 million Canal Street Streetscape; completed the award-winning Unified New Orleans Plan (UNOP) Katrina recovery plan; and undertaken groundbreaking planning efforts aimed at increasing investment in historic districts, encouraging workforce housing, and improving mobility & parking.

The DDD's focus on place-based economic development strategies to retain & attract Industries of the Mind, specifically bio-medical, digital media, and the arts, has led to a $750,000 grant from the U. S. Economic Development Administration to enhance Downtown New Orleans as a creative hub. The DDD also has worked to create or expand other development incentives such as Louisiana Historic Tax Credits, federal GO Zone incentives, Louisiana New Markets and Performing Arts tax credits, and facade improvement grants. Under Mr. Weigle's leadership, the DDD has been instrumental in securing commitment for new LSU and VA teaching hospitals after Katrina - more than $2 billion of new investment.

The DDD's Continuous Quality Improvement program for public space maintenance has become a national model for improving downtown cleanliness and increasing productivity.

Likewise, the DDD has created the most aggressive enhanced code enforcement operation in North America, resulting in properties being brought into compliance with City Code during the program's first twenty months.

The DDD also is a national leader in its advocacy for Permanent Supportive Housing to reduce downtown homelessness.

Prior to his time at the DDD, Mr. Weigle was Vice President of New Center Council in Detroit. He serves on the boards of the International Downtown Association, National New Markets Fund, New Orleans Police & Justice Foundation, New Orleans Medical Complex, and Committee for a Better New Orleans/ Metropolitan Affairs Committee. Mr. Weigle received the Excellence in Government Award in 2007 from the Bureau of Governmental Research and is a graduate of the New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute and International Economic Development Council. Mr. Weigle earned his Master of Urban Planning and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.