Local community and business leaders work together to advance our mission to ensure public schools are places all students can thrive.
Dionne Rousseau is a partner at Jones Walker Law Firm with more than 25 years of experience handling corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions transactions for public and private companies. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in history from Georgetown University and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. Dionne has served on the City Year Baton Rouge Board since 2015.
Lori Bertman currently serves as president and CEO of the Irene W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation, one of Louisiana’s largest private family foundations. She holds a bachelor’s degree from University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a master’s degree from Louisiana State University. Lori has served on the City Year Baton Rouge Board since its inception in 2005.
Dennis Blunt is a Partner at Phelps Dunbar and is an experienced trial litigator having developed a solid reputation for guiding clients through complex legal disputes. Dennis has an LLM in litigation and has served as an adjunct professor teaching trial advocacy for over 15 years. Dennis is an active member of a number of community, civic and charitable organizations.
Jonathan H. Earle, Ph.D. serves as Dean of the Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College at Louisiana State University, a position he has held since 2014. He is also a professor, historian and author, who focuses on American politics and culture, particularly the antebellum period in the U.S. He holds a Ph.D. from Princeton and a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University. He joined the City Year Baton Rouge Board in 2023.
Gwen has a long and deep commitment of service to the Baton Rouge community and connects with this work in a personal way through owning GPH Consulting, LLC. She also leads on community affairs work for New Schools for Baton Rouge. Gwen holds a degree from Southern University and has served on the City Year Baton Rouge Board since 2010.
Mikki Mathews is a public finance banker at Piper Sandler providing investment banking and underwriting services to a broad segment of local governments and public agencies in Louisiana and Mississippi. She holds a Bachelor of Science in finance from Southern University and has served on the City Year Baton Rouge board since 2023.
Phillip May is the president and CEO of Entergy Louisiana, which serves over one million electric customers in the state. Phillip received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and an MBA from the University of New Orleans. Phillip has served on the City Year Baton Rouge Board since 2014.
Erin Monroe currently serves as the market vice president for Greater Louisiana Cox Communications. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in internal auditing from LSU and a Juris Doctorate from the Southern University Law Center. Erin has served on the City Year Baton Rouge board since 2013.
Jennifer Eplett Reilly is a civic leader who co-founded City Year Inc. and led the launch of City Year Louisiana in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Jennifer received her Bachelor of Arts in political Science from Wellesley College and an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. She is a founding board chair of City Year Baton Rouge.
Sean Reilly is Chief Executive Officer of Lamar Advertising Company headquartered in Baton Rouge, LA. Sean has served in various capacities at Lamar since 1989, then a family-owned private business. He is a Harvard University and Harvard Law School graduate and began working on acquisitions and real estate for Lamar in 1989. He served as President of TLC Properties and became the Chief Operating Officer of Lamar in 2001. In 2011 he was promoted to Chief Executive Officer.
Theo served on the founding team of City Year Louisiana, right after Hurrican Katrina and Rita. Over the four years he spent serving with City Year and rebuilding the community, Theo received the President’s National Service Award from President Bush. Theo is currently working at Capital Area Transit System.
Dr. Sharmayne Rutledge serves as chief impact strategy officer for New Schools for Baton Rouge working to transform the lives of students through high-quality education between the East Baton Rouge Parish School System and Pointe Coupee Parish School System. Sharmayne received her doctorate of Philosophy from Louisiana State University in 2016. She has served on the City Year Baton Rouge Board since 2023.
Robert Schneckenburger is the regional market president at Hancock Whitney Bank, overseeing all of Hancock Whitney’s operations in the Baton Rouge area. Robert graduated from LSU with a Bachelor of Science in economics in 1980 and a Master of Science in economics in 1982. He has served on the City Year Baton Rouge Board since 2014.
Tommy has recently retired as the chief marketing officer for Lamar Advertising Company, one of the largest publicly held outdoor companies in the United States. He graduated from Louisiana State University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Tommy is a founding board member of City Year Baton Rouge, having served since 2005.
Prior to joining FRANU, Tinicia spent 15 years gaining valuable experience in education and non-profit. Tinicia holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and a Master of Public Administration from the Southern University Nelson Mandela School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs. Tinicia is an AmeriCorps alum.
