Born in New Orleans, Ryan has a deep loyalty to this city. Over the last sixteen years, Ryan's academic and professional efforts have been guided by the goal of helping transform our city’s neighborhoods into healthy communities by improving quality access to education, jobs, and housing for all.  After seeing the destruction from Hurricane Katrina firsthand, Ryan immediately knew he wanted to be part of the solution as the city recovered. During this time, he has worked closely with a wide range of New Orleans youth, employers and training providers, as a college and career readiness program manager, school transformation facilitator and as a classroom teacher. Most recently, Ryan led the workforce development functions of the City of New Orleans YouthWorks program. Prior to serving as the leader of the city's YouthWorks program, Ryan served as the Senior Manager for the Earn and Learn Career Pathways Program at Tulane University and as the Louisiana Field Manager of the Johns Hopkins Diplomas Now dropout prevention program. Ryan lives with his wife and two children, Lucinda and Wes, in the Fairgrounds neighborhood of New Orleans.

Born and raised in New Orleans and of Honduran descent, Maria Andrade holds more than a decade of experience in workforce development, implementing programs that train, award industry-based credentials, and secure employment for youth and adults in healthcare, advanced manufacturing, construction, and green infrastructure. Maria previously served as training manager for Delgado Community College’s Office of Workforce Development and Technical Education, leading and overseeing training and grant initiatives and strategically coordinating training programs with community-based organizations and business and industry partners. She obtained a B.A. in Public Administration from Southern University at New Orleans and her M.A. in Public Administration at the University of New Orleans. Having raised three sons as a single mother, Maria understands the value of social programs that helped her achieve a better life for herself and her family. She now seeks ways to pay it forward through her career in public service, working to effect systemic change that will provide underserved and hardest-to-serve communities with equal access to educational and employment opportunities. 

Jansom Jones, born and raised in White Castle, LA, has over 5 years of experience providing support and services to young adults and their families. Jansom found his passion of wanting to help others better themselves while in high school, which lead him to pursue an undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice from Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, LA in the spring of 2016 and an Executive Master's of Public Administration in the spring of 2018, also from Southern University. 

Tracy Landry is a proud native of New Orleans she was educated at Warren Easton Fundamental High School.   Tracy attended Southern University at New Orleans, where she earned a Bachelor and Master Degree in Social Work with a concentration in Mental Health.

Having begun her professional career as a Health and Mental Health Case Manager with various Nonfit agencies, Tracy felt that it was time for a change.  She began working in the Secondary Educational level in the Department of Recruitment, Admissions, and Retention.

Shortly thereafter, Tracy transition into the arena as a Career Placement Specialist with New Orleans Job Corps.  She began to see the need for her community’s youth to be educated in gainful employment skills.  Tracy is very passionate about putting back into the youth of the world today.   

In the words of the Dolia Lama, “When educating the minds of our youth, we must not forget to educate their hearts”. Therefore, all that Tracy does is not for accolades it’s her commitment as a parent to set an example for her children that it’s not always about what someone can do for you, but what you can do to uplift and pour into others.

Originally from Buffalo, New York, Maggie came to New Orleans in 2011 to serve as an Americorps member with City Year New Orleans. She worked as a full-time tutor and mentor at an alternative high school, and then as a Team Leader, supervising mentors at a local elementary school, and partnering with community organizations on community-informed outreach. Maggie's work has always revolved around education and service to community, whether serving as a SELA Community Liaison for the Sewerage & Water Board, or as an adjunct instuctor in Sociology at Tulane University.

Most recently Maggie worked as a Data Consultant with The Children's Bureau of New Orleans, and as the Case Manager at Louisiana Green Corps. In addition to her data and operations role at LAGC, she is currently writing her dissertation at Tulane University's City, Culture, and Community PhD program on the social factors in the wrongful convictions of women.

Sydney Gray is an internationally recognized grant writer, social entrepreneur, and community organizer. Over the last 10 years, she has honed her expertise in business development, systems engineering, impact investing and advancement, design thinking, and lean data. She has raised over $11 million from governmental and institutional funders to support economic and workforce development and has facilitated 2.1 million USD in seed investments for social enterprises.

She specializes in data-driven storytelling and supporting the development of fundraising systems & strategies based on data. Sydney supports the revenue strategy of impact organizations as Principal of GRAY Ink.