Samantha Fleurinor, a native of South Florida, manages the direction and operations of the New Orleans Food Policy Action Council (NOLA FPAC), the flagship regional council of the emerging Louisiana Food Policy Action Council (LA FPAC). Samantha combines design thinking and social justice frameworks to empower individuals and organizations to co-create  community-driven solutions across social issues and to promote systemic change.

Marguerite Sheffer is the author of the collection The Man in the Banana Trees (University of Iowa Press, 2024) which won the Iowa Short Fiction Award and was a Finalist for the 2025 PEN America Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection. The collection was also named a “Best Debut Book” by Debutiful and a “Most Exciting Debut Story Collection” by Electric Literature. Her short fiction has appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Cosmic Background, Epiphany, BOMB, Literary Hub and other magazines.

Susan Morrison is the articles editor of The New Yorker. She is the former editor in chief of the New York Observer and an original editor of SPY magazine. She lives in New York City.

Mr. Morris is the President of Holly and Smith Architects and has served as the Founder and Director of the New Orleans Studio for over 14 years. As a licensed professional with 30 years of diverse experience, Kevin’s tenacity has led the team to successfully complete many technically-sophisticated and logistically-challenging projects throughout southeast Louisiana. With an inability to sit still, Kevin is actively involved in numerous facets of a project’s development, including Programming, Planning, Design, Production, and Construction Administration.

Brandon M. Terry is the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University and the co-director of the Institute on Policing, Incarceration, and Public Safety at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. Born in Baltimore, Terry earned a PhD with distinction in Political Science and African American Studies from Yale University, an MSc in Political Theory Research at the University of Oxford, and an AB, magna cum laude, in Government and African and African American Studies from Harvard College.

Ayo Scott was born from and into art. By age 7, he'd cast bronze and made paper from blue jeans under the tutelage of his renowned father, Macarthur fellow John Scott. A lifelong resident of New Orleans, Ayo attended St. Augustine High School for a year, graduating from Ben Franklin in 1998. On any given day, Ron Bechet, Martin Payton, Ellis Marsalis and a host of other artists could be found at the Scott home talking art and inspiring Ayo’s path.

Judy Reese Morse is the President and CEO of the Urban League of Louisiana.

Madeleine M. Landrieu became Dean of Loyola University New Orleans College of Law (Alma Mater) on July 1, 2017.  Prior to her appointment, she served as a judge on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal for the State of Louisiana, and prior to that as a trial court judge on the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans. During her 16-year tenure in the judiciary, Dean Landrieu served as President of the both the Louisiana District Judges Association and the Louisiana Judicial College.