This special event will help to highlight the complex issues that the Greater New Orleans region still faces on the road to recovery, in addition to celebrating the progress that local NOLA leaders and residents have accomplished. Distinguished panelists include: Dr. Benjamin Sachs (head of Tulane Medical School)
Dr. Jim Doty (Stanford University Professor of Neurosurgery, on boards of Tulane University and FONO), Dr. Albert Ruesga (President/CEO, Greater New Orleans Foundation), Drs. Howard and Joy Osofsky, (Chair, LSU Dept of Psychiatry and directors of the St. Bernard Mental Health clinic), Harry Shearer (comedian, actor, musician, New Orleans resident and celebrity blogger), Tony Recasner (Chairman of the Board of New Schools New Orleans, and Vice Chair of the Greater New Orleans Foundation), Kristin Palmer (Executive Director of Rebuilding Together New Orleans), and Karen Gadbois (Carrollton Neighborhood Leader and Watchdog Blogger). The event will be moderated by Walter Isaacson, President/CEO of The Aspen Insitute and FONO Founder, and the MC for the evening will be Stephen DeBerry (CIO at Kapor Enterprises and FONO Board Chair).
"Housing, Education and Health in New Orleans Today" will take place at the Aspen Institute, Aspen, CO, from 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM and it is open to the public. This will be followed by private VIP reception at a FONO donor's home in Aspen. For more information on this event and how you can support FONO please click the following link.
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The Aspen Institute talk is free and open to the public, however space is limited so please send an RSVP to prdenise@aol.com if you would like to attend. To make events like this possible, FONO depends on the generous contributions of its donors. All contributions to FONO are tax deductible and may be made on line (click the "Join Now" button to make a donation). You can also mail your check made out to Friends of New Orleans at 4536 N. 25th Rd. Arlington,VA 22207.
If you would like to become an official FONO sponsor and be listed in the August 12, 2009 Aspen event's evening program please send an email to prdenise@aol.com and select from the following sponsorship levels:
Friends of New Orleans Sponsorship Levels:
New Orleans Saint - $10,000 or more
NOLA Patron - $5,000 and up
Crescent City Chair - $2,000 and up
Big Easy Sponsor - $1,000 and up
August 12, 2009 FONO Aspen CO Event Speaker Biographies:
Harry Shearer -- Comedian, Actor, Musician, FONO Board Member and Blogger
Harry Shearer continues his multiple roles for a 20th season on The Simpsons, which he also reprised for The Simpsons Movie. His weekly radio series Le Show is heard in over 90 markets, and Shearer is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post. Shearer's recent comic novel Not Enough Indians was a national bestseller. Shearer's recent albums Songs of the Bushmen (2008) and Songs Pointed and Pointless (2007) both received GRAMMY nominations for Best Comedy Album. Shearer's film credits include Spinal Tap, Real Life, The Right Stuff, Portrait of a White Marriage, The Fisher King, Godzilla, The Truman Show, Small Soldiers, Dick and A Mighty Wind. In 2002 he wrote and directed his first feature film, Teddy Bears' Picnic. He has won two Cable Ace Awards. In July, 2007, Shearer plunged into the online video universe when the Harry Shearer Channel became a cornerstone of My Damn Channel), an entertainment studio and new media platform specifically created to empower artists to co-produce, distribute and monetize original, episodic video content. Each week, a new political or pop culture satire written by and featuring Shearer is unveiled. Theatrically, Shearer has collaborated with writer Tom Leopold and composer Peter Matz to create the book and lyrics for an original musical about J. Edgar Hoover simply called J. Edgar!: The Musical. The play premiered to sold out houses and critical raves at The Aspen Comedy Festival and is currently being developed as a film. As a child of Hollywood, Shearer portrayed the original Eddie Haskell on Leave it to Beaver, appeared in Abbott & Costello Go To Mars, and made appearances on such A-List TV shows as The Jack Benny Show, General Electric Theatre and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. After a break to collect a political science degree from UCLA and a stint at Harvard, Harry was back on stage, radio and television. Highlights of his two seasons on Saturday Night Live include his legendary synchronized swimming sketch with Martin Short. Shearer just wrapped up a 30 city tour with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean called Unwigged and Unplugged, an acoustical show featuring songs for Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind, Waiting For Guffman and more. Shearer and Judith Owen, his wife, split their time between LA and their adopted home of New Orleans.
Dr. Benjamin Sachs -- Senior Vice President of Tulane University and Dean of Tulane School of Medicine
Sachs joined Tulane post Katrina, in November of 2007. Under Sachs, Tulane School of Medicine has experienced a major turnaround despite the many challenges: the clinical faculty is larger, the school and faculty practice plan are operating in the black, medical school applications have increased 39% and the university's biomedical research submissions (despite the loss of many funded faculty) have increased approximately 20%. In 2008 the school moved into a 240,000sq foot donated building that now houses a state of the art simulation and team training center and educational facility for team based and "Just in time" learning. Tulane is also playing a major role in improving both the access to and the quality of healthcare in New Orleans by helping fund and build 3 neighborhood health centers. Before joining Tulane University, Benjamin Sachs was at Harvard Medical School (HMS 1978-2007) and was the Professor and Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at HMS - Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (1989-2007) and the elected President of the BIDMC Physician Organization, an organization of 1,500 physicians for three terms. While at Harvard: Sachs helped create the research team led by Dr Ananth Karumanchi that discovered the probable cause of preeclampsia, one of the leading causes of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity worldwide. Internationally known for his work in improving patient care and reducing medical errors, Sachs' team in 2007, received the John M. Eisenberg national award for patient safety and quality from The Joint Commission - National Quality Forum. This award recognized the team's groundbreaking approach to reducing medical errors. Their work on team training was funded by the Department of Defense and Harvard's Risk Management Foundation. Born in London UK, Sachs graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School now Imperial College. He received a degree in public health from the University of Toronto and completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology and a fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the Brigham & Women's Hospital (HMS). In addition, he was a visiting scientist at the Centers for Disease Control in 1980 and completed the PMD program (business management) at the Harvard Business School in 1987. Sachs has been involved in international healthcare initiatives including fundraising for and the development of women's and children's health centers in Philippines, Armenia and Ukraine. For example, the center in Dnieperpetrovsk Ukraine provides free care to 20,000 women and children per year.
Dr. Jim Doty -- Stanford University Professor of Neurosurgery and Member of Tulane University and FONO Boards
James R. Doty, M.D. is a neurosurgeon, entrepreneur and philanthropist presently a Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is a graduate of Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans and is a member of the Board of Governors of the Tulane Health Sciences Center and a member of the Dean's Advisory Council. He maintains a close relationship with his alma mater recently endowing a chair for the new dean of the medical school and a scholarship for socioeconomically disadvantaged medical students at Tulane. He has recently been named a 2008 Health Care Hero by the New Orleans City Business Newspaper for his contributions to health care in New Orleans. In addition, to holding patents on a variety of medical devices, he has also started numerous health related companies and remains an advisor to a variety of healthcare related venture capital firms. Dr. Doty is the former CEO of Accuray, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARAY) and also the Founder and Director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University, a multi-disciplinary consortium of scientists examining the neural bases of compassion and altruistic behavior. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Dalai Lama Foundation and the USC Brain and Creativity Institute. He is also on the Advisory Board of the Fogarty Institute of Innovation.
Dr. Howard Osofsky -- Chair, LSU Dept. of Psychiatry and Director of LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans
Howard J. Osofsky, M.D., Ph.D. is Kathleen and John Bricker Chair, Department of Psychiatry at LSU Health Sciences Center. Under his leadership, LSU's Department of Psychiatry has expanded services for the underserved in New Orleans, developing community psychosocial preparedness programs for first responders and mental health professionals to improve responses following disaster and terrorism. Since 2003, he has served as co-director of the Louisiana Rural Trauma Services Center (LRTSC) which is funded as part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). LRTSC is designed to enhance access and improve quality of services for underserved youth and their families who are exposed to trauma; currently, focus is on evidenced based programs for children and families impacted by Hurricane Katrina and for those impacted by family members deployed to or returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dr. Osofsky is co-chair of NCTSN working group on Terrorism and Disasters. He has consulted with several key groups related to training of providers and best treatment practices for children and families including: the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, the Louisiana Department of Education in developing a statewide disaster and terrorism plan, the Louisiana State Police and National Guard (with a grant from the U. S. Bureau of Justice Assistance to develop model programs) and the Mayor, City Health Department Director and the City Homeland Security Director in setting up a center to address preparedness and to strengthen coping strategies to help the city's families and children. He serves as Director of the Mental Health and Resilience Services at the nationally acclaimed St. Bernard Project, which serves to rebuild homes and the lives of the people returning to their homes. In 1998, Dr. Howard Osofsky received the award as "Best Department Chair" from American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in recognition of his efforts for children and adolescents. In 2007, he was recognized by Family Service of New Orleans for outstanding service to the community and by St. Bernard Parish School Board for outstanding service to schools. In 2007, he received the Sarah Haley Award for Clinical Excellence from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and was recognized by the St. Bernard Parish Board of Education for the work that he and our LSUHSC team is doing to help the children and adolescents in St. Bernard Parish. He graduated from State University College of Medicine, Syracuse with honors and received his Ph. D. from Syracuse University.
Dr. Joy Osofsky -- Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans
Joy D. Osofsky, Ph.D. is a psychologist and psychoanalyst and Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC) in New Orleans. She is Head of the Division of Pediatric Mental Health. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the University of New Orleans. As Co-Director of the Louisiana Rural Trauma Services Center and Director of the Harris Center for Infant Mental Health at LSUHSC, Dr. Osofsky has conducted research, intervention, and clinical work with adolescent mothers as well as infants, children, and families exposed to community and domestic violence and maltreatment. Dr. Joy Osofsky is Past-President of Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families and Past-President of the World Association for Infant Mental Health. She served on the Pew National Commission for Children in Foster Care. Following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, Dr. Osofsky was asked to serve as Clinical Director for Child and Adolescent Initiatives for Louisiana Spirit for Health and Human Services, Office of Mental Health and the Department of Education. On August 29, 2006, she was
honored with a Proclamation from the New Orleans City Council recognizing her work helping children and families in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In November 2007, she received the Sarah Haley Award for Clinical Excellence for work with trauma from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. In September 2008, she received an award from LSU Health Sciences Center for extraordinary effort and commitment during Hurricane Gustav. In June 2009, the LSUHSC team from the Department of Psychiatry was awarded a 2009 Distinguished Partners in Education Award by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education of the State Department of Education for their work in schools following Hurricane Katrina.
Dr. Albert Ruesga -- President and CEO, Greater New Orleans Foundation
Dr. Ruesga is currently the President and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the community foundation serving the ten-parish region of metropolitan New Orleans. The Greater New Orleans Foundation is known for its leadership in the region after Hurricane Katrina and for its work in housing and community development. Before coming to New Orleans, he served for seven years as Vice President for Programs and Communications at the Meyer Foundation in Washington, DC , one of the oldest and largest foundations in Greater Washington. Dr. Ruesga was the founding director of New Ventures in Philanthropy, a national initiative that has helped generate more than $500 million in new philanthropic resources against an investment of $14 million. His knowledge of the nonprofit community comes from many years of nonprofit management and fundraising consulting. Dr. Ruesga currently serves on the board of Hispanics in Philanthropy, a transnational network of grantmakers committed to strengthening Latino communities across the Americas; as a member of the Ford Foundation Working Group for Peace and Social Justice; and as an advisor to the Caring to Change project. He earned his Ph.D. at MIT and taught ethics and aesthetics at Gettysburg College before entering the world of philanthropy. He also served as a teaching fellow at Harvard University. An accomplished writer, his articles have appeared in Social Theory and Practice, The Journal of Popular Culture, and other publications. He was for many years a contributing writer to The Boston Book Review, and was the founding editor of the White Courtesy Telephone, a popular blog about nonprofits and philanthropy.
Kristin Gisleson Palmer -- Director, Rebuilding Together New Orleans
Kristin Gisleson Palmer is the director of Rebuilding Together New Orleans (RTNO), a program of the Preservation Resource Center and a local affiliate of a national organization that improves the quality of life of low-income elderly and physically disabled homeowners through home repair and neighborhood revitalization. Under Ms. Gisleson Palmer's leadership, RTNO has evolved from an annual weekend building blitz to a full-time, year-round rebuilding program now ranked as the top-producing home repair nonprofit in New Orleans. Through Ms. Gisleson Palmer's long-term strategic planning in conjunction with active participation from local neighborhood associations, RTNO has served as a catalyst in accelerating the post-Katrina recovery of storm-damaged communities with high rates of blight and abandonment. Since Hurricane Katrina, the program has repaired 160 housing units with the assistance of 10,500 volunteers across the nation who have invested $3.4 million in volunteer labor in the city. To help preserve the iconic streetscape of New Orleans and divert usable building materials from the landfill, Ms. Gisleson Palmer recently instituted an innovative Selective Salvage and Deconstruction Program to reclaim architectural elements and building supplies from homes facing demolition. Prior to joining RTNO as Program Director, Ms. Gisleson Palmer served as Founder and President of Confetti Kids, Inc.=E2=80=94a nonprofit designed to improve the quality of life of the children of Old Algiers through the renovation of playgrounds and parks. From 2003-2004, she coordinated the Historic Preservation Education Program for the Preservation Resource Center. Since 1998, Kristin has helped in the transformation of the historic Algiers Point by privately renovating nearly one dozen blighted homes. From 1993-1998, Ms. Gisleson Palmer served as Executive Director of Christmas in October (now known as RTNO). Ms. Gisleson Palmer has served as Program Manager of the United Way Day of Caring Project and serves on several boards throughout the city including the St. Roch Project, Louisiana Smart Growth, District 4 Advisory Council, and Lusher School PTSA. In recognition for her outstanding service and leadership in the New Orleans community, Ms. Gisleson Palmer has received numerous awards including Honoree of the 2007 City Business Women of the Year, New Orleans Magazine Renaissance Award, Mayor's Golden Hammer Runner-Up, and Honorable Mention for the Historic District Landmarks Commission.
Tony Recasner -- Chairman, New Schools New Orleans, Vice Chair of Greater New Orleans Foundation and Aspen Institute Education Fellow
As the first charter school operator in New Orleans, Tony is one of the city's driving forces in the charter school movement. He is co-founder and director of New Orleans Charter Middle School and the Samuel J. Green Charter School. Previously, he was on the faculty at Loyola University. Tony is a trained child psychologist, having earned his Doctorate in Psychology degree from Tulane University. In addition to serving as Chairman of New Schools New Orleans, Tony is Vice Chair of the Greater New Orleans Foundation Board and serves on the boards of Children's Hospital in New Orleans, Teach for America Advisory Board and New Orleans Outreach. Tony has received numerous awards for his leadership in the charter school movement.
Karen Gadbois -- Community Activist and Watchdog Blogger
Karen is a community activist dedicated to conserving New Orleans' unique built environment and promoting accountable governance. The local Gambit newspaper named Gadbois 2008's "Person of the Year" for investigative blogging that exposed widespread misuse of public recovery funds and eventually won Lee Zurik, a local television reporter, a prestigious Peabody Award and an Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Medal. An artist by training, Gadbois befriended members of the local blogging community and created http://www.squanderedheritage.com, which has become the online repository for the eroding built environment of New Orleans. Her vigilance has challenged local residents to demand their rights to information and due process. This website has been used by both community members as well as elected officials attempting to track the rampant misuse of demolition as a solution. Gadbois' efforts have also fostered conversations between preservation activists and fair housing advocates -- not always on the same sides of contention in this city -- leading to a federal lawsuit to prohibit the ongoing unlawful destruction of property. Gadbois is currently working with a team of journalists, including noted New Orleans journalist Jed Horne, to build a digital news outlet that will deliver groundbreaking local investigative news on critical regional issues such as land use, the environment, education, housing and health care.
Stephen DeBerry -- Chief Investment Officer of Kapor Enterprises and FONO Chairman Stephen DeBerry is Chief Investment Officer at Kapor Enterprises and founder of Bronze Investments. At Kapor, Stephen manages a portfolio that exceeds $4 billion, making angel and venture capital investments in companies that align strong financial returns with positive social impact. Previously, Stephen was Investment Director at Omidyar Network, the mission-based investment firm started by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. Before that Stephen was a senior manager of business development at Interval Research, the research lab established by Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen. Stephen is a Trustee and Member of the Investment Committee at The California Endowment. He also serves on the boards of The Association of Marshall Scholars and The Dalai Lama Foundation. Stephen earned a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology with highest honors from UCLA. Stephen has a Master's degree in Social Anthropology and a Master of Business Administration degree from Oxford University. Stephen is a Marshall Scholar and a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. He lives in East Palo Alto, California with his wife Christine and daughter Clio.
Walter Isaacson -- President and CEO, The Aspen Institute and FONO Founder
Walter Isaacson is the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute. He has been the Chairman and CEO of CNN and the Managing Editor of Time Magazine. He is the author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (2003) and of Kissinger: A Biography (1992) and is the coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made (1986). His biography of Albert Einstein: His Life and Universe - was released in April 2007. 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 managing editor in 1996. He became Chairman and CEO of CNN in 2001, and then president and CEO of the Aspen Institute in 2003. He was appointed after Hurricane Katrina to be the vice-chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. He is on the Board of Directors of United Airlines, Tulane University, the National Constitution Center, and he is chairman of the board of Teach for America. He lives with his wife and daughter in Washington, DC.
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