Jason Neville | Executive Director

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Jason Neville is an urban planner and affordable housing innovator whose mission is working with people to make cities better.

For over fifteen years, Jason has led neighborhood revitalization projects with an emphasis on inclusivity—working to ensure that new investments in housing, retail, open space, and infrastructure benefit all residents.

His experience includes planning and project management at the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Innovation Team, and the nonprofit affordable housing organization Restore Neighborhoods Los Angeles.

In those capacities Jason has led the development of affordable housing, stormwater management infrastructure projects, arts-driven community events, and small business support programs. He is excited to bring that experience to the Greenway and those that live, work, and play near it.

Jason is a native New Orleanian and holds an undergraduate degree in urban planning and studies from University of New Orleans and a graduate degree in Urban Planning from the University of Southern California. Jason has taught in the Tulane University Sustainable Real Estate Development program and USC’s Price School of Public Policy.

Jason lives near the Lafitte Greenway with his wife and two young daughters.

Camly Tram | Operations & Project Director

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Camly Tram is a proud New Orleans local continuing to work to uplift our city. Camly is a Tulane University graduate with a degree in Psychology and Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship. She is back on the team after serving Friends as a Serve Louisiana AmeriCorps member in 2019-2020. When not working from home, you can find her visiting local coffee shops and diving into a new book.

Alexis Marceaux | Community Relations & Development Manager

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As a proud New Orleanian, Alexis looks forward to creating programming that celebrates the culture of New Orleans. Alexis joins the team with 12 + years in the New Orleans music community and a background in Vocal Performance and Education. Alexis attended high school at NOCCA (New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts) in the Musical Theater Department and Southeastern Louisiana University. She is excited to fuse her music career and education experience with her position at the Greenway. When she is not biking, walking or working on the Greenway, you can find her performing with her bands Sweet Crude and Alexis & the Samurai at venues all throughout the city.

Board of Directors

Emily Bullock is a Principal with Spackman Mossop Michaels landscape architects. She has experience designing open space projects and leading community engagement efforts in dynamic and diverse communities across New Orleans, Detroit, Chattanooga, and many others, including a youth-inclusive design process with middle school students at Paul Habans Charter School in Algiers focused on stormwater management, and a bilingual neighborhood green infrastructure engagement plan in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Emily has enjoyed following the development of the Greenway since its early planning stages and looks forward to contributing to the momentum and continued success of the Greenway.

Kevin Centanni - Board Term: Jan 2023 - Jan 2026

Kevin Centanni is a “retired” entrepreneur, inventor, and hobbyist. Since a teenager, Kevin has designed and produced hundreds of interactive experiences, museum exhibits, trade show displays, and unique electronic gadgets for clients worldwide. For over 30 years, his successful interactive design company, Controlled Entropy, has worked with clients such as Pfizer, Sony, iHeart, NFL, WWE, General Motors, Warner Bros., Rachael Ray, and Steven Colbert. Some of his projects have included AREA15 - a retail and entertainment center in Las Vegas, Remote Lounge - a futuristic interactive bar in New York City, Interfilm - a pioneering interactive cinematic experience, and on-set technology for China Global Television Network’s news studios in Nairobi, Kenya. After 25 years in New York, Kevin returned to his hometown of New Orleans in 2010. Recent projects have included transforming an abandoned historic police station into Rosedale, a neighborhood restaurant for Susan Spicer; producing rock operas and wrestling spectaculars for fun and profit; and helping maintain and enhance The Lafitte Greenway in many different ways.

Laura Carleton Doody - Board Term: Jan 2021 – Jan 2024

Laura Doody is currently serving as AVP Finance of Ochsner Health, where she is responsible for strategic planning, modeling, and overall accountability for the finances of the NSMSCG Region. Originally from Lake Charles, LA, Laura graduated from Louisiana State University with a Masters of Business Administration. While at LSU, Laura competed for the track and field and cross country teams and is still an avid runner and regular user of the Lafitte Greenway. Laura lives in Gentilly with her husband, Cullen, New Orleans based contractor and developer, Reynolds Developments. They enjoy traveling, exploring New Orleans with their goldendoodle, Maddox, and volunteering with the Jesuit High School XC team.

Sergio Gaitan - Board Term: Jan 2023 - Jan 2026

Susan Guidry - Board Term: Jan 2022 - Jan 2025

Susan is a native of New Orleans and retired from the New Orleans City CounciL after serving from 2010 - 2018 as the District “A” representative and Chair of the Criminal Justice Committee. Her professional career also includes working as a teacher and a civil litigation attorney. Susan earned a B.A. degree in Secondary English Education from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and a J.D., cum laude, from Loyola Law School. Susan and her husband Hervin have been members of Friends of Lafitte Greenway for many years. Upon inauguration to the City Council, Susan announced the Greenway as her top priority capital project. Susan presently also serves on the board of the LA/SPCA.

David Harms - Board Term: Jan 2023 - Jan 2026

David is a manager in the real estate advisory practice of Baker Tilly, where he advises clients on affordable housing development and structuring. He previously served as the VP of real estate development for one of the nation's largest nonprofit developers. David holds a B.A. from Rice University and an M.S. from LSU, and also teaches as an adjunct at Tulane in their Masters of Sustainable Real Estate Development program. He has previously served on the board of Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative. He and his wife enjoy living in Mid City, which has been home for most of the past 15 years.

Onika Jervis - Board Term: Jan 2023 - Jan 2026

Vann Joines - Board Term: Jan 2021 – Jan 2024

Vann has over 15 years of experience in affordable housing, renewable energy and commercial real estate development. His company, JOIN Development, specializes in utilizing public private partnerships and tax credit financing to build more sustainable communities. Vann has also held positions at the City of New Orleans, on their Infrastructure Development Team, and at Gulf Coast Housing Partnership. He holds a master's degree in Sustainable Real Estate Development from Tulane University and undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from Haverford College. Vann has lived in New Orleans since 2006 and prefers biking as his primary form of transportation.

Greg Lawson - Board Term: Jan 2022 – Jan 2025

Greg Lawson is the Senior Vice President for Strategic Neighborhood Development at the New Orleans Business Alliance. He is a social change leader, with a focus on advocacy, community building, and engagement. Over the years, he has consulted with national nonprofit, government agencies, and social enterprises on equitable community development strategies, program, and public participation policies. With nearly a decade of experience, Greg has extensive knowledge in community development, nonprofit management and implementation of community-based initiatives that addressed social/racial justice issues in the Greater New Orleans area. Greg has worked both in the nonprofit and government sectors, where he oversaw the capacity building and advocacy programs designed to enhance the community development infrastructure across the gulf coast region through training, skills development, and coordination of grants assistance for grassroots leaders and organizations; raising over $5 million to implement community-based programming such as Civic Leadership Academy and more recently the Resilient Corridor Initiative (RCI). He has proven experience in working alongside communities securing representative community involvement and participation in government decision-making. He holds a B.S. in Management/Business Administration from Xavier University of Louisiana and is a Master of Public Administration from the University of Phoenix. He is currently studying to become a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) with the International Economic Development Council.

Montgomery (Monty) Lunn - Board Term: Jan 2022 - Jan 2025

Monty Lunn is the current Vice Chairman of Friends of Lafitte Greenway as well as leading the Fund Development Committee. He is a licensed Commercial Realtor with NAI Latter & Blum. Monty has an extensive background in management and legal consulting while in career positions with Deloitte & Touche, Thomson Reuters and Huron Consulting. He and his wife Kathleen are native New Orleanians and have lived, worked and traveled extensively. A passion for the City of New Orleans(Kathleen currently serves on the City Planning Commission) brought them home and both are deeply engaged in public and private sector initiatives and community service. Monty holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Mount St. Mary’s in Los Angeles.

Amanda Menniti - Board Term: Jan 2023 - Jan 2026

Amanda Menniti is an accountant by trade, and enjoys using her number-crunching skills to support the exciting work of the Friends of Lafitte Greenway. She has a Bachelors and a Masters degree from Tulane University, and currently works in External Reporting at Entergy Services. She has always been very active in the New Orleans community, most recently with the Young Leadership Council, and is drawn to the intersection of environmental sustainability, accessibility, and community engagement that the Friends of Lafitte Greenway is committed to. She spends her spare time reading, listening to live music, and chasing her toddler.

Justin Morgan - Board Term: Jan 2022 – Jan 2025

Justin Morgan is a lifelong resident of Louisiana who hold a BS in Mechanical Engineering from LSU as well as an MBA from Southeastern Louisiana University. During his eighteen years in the recycling business he has held a variety of roles involving metal procurement, transportation, import/export, and marine demolition. He currently serves as the Regional Manager for the New Orleans area and oversees two operating facilities. When not working, he enjoys spending time in nature with his wife and son.

Sarah Olivier - Board Term: Jan 2023 - Jan 2026

Sarah has worked in the planning field in New Orleans for 20 years, mainly for non-profits focused on access to green space, climate planning, and affordable housing. She is currently Senior Planner at CSRS, a planning firm where the majority of her work is assisting municipalities access federal funding. Prior to this, she was Director of Planning for City Park and New Orleans Program Director for the Trust for Public Land. Sarah lives in Bayou St. John with her family and loves taking advantage of City Park and the Greenway.

Naim Peress - Board Term: Jan 2023 - Jan 2026

Naim Jonathan Peress just (semi-)retired after a 37 year career practicing environmental and energy law, working with law firms, energy companies and environmental advocacy organizations. He recently relocated to Mid City as part of a longstanding plan to live in and contribute to our extraordinary city and has been an active volunteer in several Friends projects over the past year. Naim is a committed environmental advocate and held leadership positions with the Conservation Law Foundation and Environmental Defense Fund. Most recently he managed development of the climate adaptation and decarbonization strategies for Sempra Energy. He also has extensive land use experience having been a member of the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment in his hometown of Lebanon, New Hampshire. He spent the early part of his career working for the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation representing the agency in environmental permit appeal proceedings and reviewing agency-issued permits. He enjoys gardening, live music and swimming and cycling for exercise. Naim looks forward to learning from and contributing to the growth of the Greenway as a unique and important community asset.

Christina Ruffins - Board Term: Jan 2022 – Jan 2025

Christina is a native of the Treme neighborhood and working in Human Resources at ESPN for The Walt Disney Company. Her goal is to align her passions for arts with culture preservation through selfless acts of service, driving her interest in the Friends of Lafitte Greenway. She is also a 400-hr certified yoga instructor (via scholarship at Swan River Yoga) and founder of Ruffins & Co. LLC which offers accessible, affordable, and convenient yoga resources to the BIPOC community. Ruffins’ connections with communities along the Lafitte Greenway run deeply through familial ties - a daughter of Kermit Ruffins and a great-granddaughter of the late Andrew Robertson Sr. who founded the Little People’s Place in the Treme. She is an alumna of Spelman College, McDonogh 35 Senior High School, and St. Peter Claver Elementary School.

Matt Rufo - Board Term: Jan 2023 - Jan 2026

Matt Rufo is an urban planning consultant and champion for healthy, resilient cities. He studies how public investments in place-making infrastructure generate equitable community growth and development. Matt has led numerous processes to create active transportation and sustainable land use plans adopted by local governments throughout southeast Louisiana. Matt previously served on the Friends board from 2011 to 2013, volunteering as Chair in 2012, and often  the Greenway’s businesses, playgrounds, and festivals with his family. Since 2020, he has served as a Commissioner on the City’s Board of Zoning Adjustments. Matt enjoys hiking, camping, biking, birding, and kayaking, and is currently training to become certified as a Louisiana Master Naturalist. He earned a Master of City Planning degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from Brown University.

Anna Wilson Schnitzler - Board Term: Jan 2022 – Jan 2025

Anna Wilson Schnitzler is an artist, graphic designer and founder of her small stationery business Sassy Banana Design Co. In 2020, Anna founded a nonprofit called Bayou Yacht Club (BYC) where she is currently the Executive Director. BYC provides opportunities to artists and musicians, while giving back to the community through collaborative projects and special events. Anna received a BFA in Illustration from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Savannah, Georgia in 2012. After SCAD, Anna worked for four years as a marketing designer and art director at several agencies in St. Petersburg, FL before accepting a design role at a tech startup, which brought her back home in NOLA in 2016. These experiences helped build skills that would later help her serve in the nonprofit sector toward causes close to heart and home. When she’s not working, Anna enjoys spending time with her husband Ian, dog RZA, and large cat Vince. She also loves yoga, kayaking, and long walks on Bayou St. John. Anna is a proud native New Orleanian and an alumna of Academy of the Sacred Heart and New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA).

Reed Wiley - Current Board President - Board Term: Jan 2021 - Jan 2024

Reed Wiley is currently a commercial associate broker with Latter and Blum, Inc. and has called New Orleans home for the last 7 years after spending the previous 11 years in Los Angeles. As a commercial associate broker, Reed has worked in a multitude of real estate sectors and has experience working alongside State and City economic agencies in showcasing our remarkable City. Reed is also a passionate advocate for the current/future development of the Greenway and, through his occupation, is exceedingly knowledgeable of the Greenway and the surrounding neighborhoods/communities it connects. Having previously enjoyed wonderful experiences working alongside members of the Friends in a volunteer capacity including the Greenway Hikefest and a few mural/art projects along the Greenway, Reed looks forward to having the opportunity to work with his fellow board members to continue championing/building upon the growth of the Greenway and focusing on the long-term goals/plans needed to ensure this vital public asset further establishes itself as the central conduit bringing together family, friends, neighbors, tourists, and experiential explorers alike.