BGR New Orleans Welcomes Four New Directors and Announces Officers for 2025

By Staff Report

January 30, 2025

NEW ORLEANS (press release) – The Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) announced the appointment of four new members to its Board of Directors and the election of its officers for 2025.

The board’s newly elected members, who will serve for three-year terms beginning in 2025, are Kheri Billy, CEO of Reconcile New Orleans, Inc./Café Reconcile; Patrick Hernandez, Director of Capital Access at Propeller; Mike Katz, Senior Managing Director at Benson Capital Partners; and Lauren Mastio, Partner and Board Member at Jones Walker LLP.

Officers of the board for 2025 are Steven W. Usdin as Chair, Anne P. Baños as Vice Chair, Nathalie Simon as Secretary, Louis M. Freeman Jr. as Treasurer, Ronald P. McClain as Assistant Secretary, and Vanessa B. Claiborne as Assistant Treasurer.

These board members are joined by returning members Elizabeth Boh, Melanie Bronfin, Carlin Conner, Mollye Demosthenidy, R. Foster Duncan, Perry Eastman IV, Jessie Haynes, H. Merritt Lane, Graham Ralston, Patty Riddlebarger, David C. Rieveschl, Kenneth St. Charles, Syrita Steib, Douglas M. Stokes, Vera Triplett, Lamar Villere and Charles West.

“BGR’s Board of Directors consists of community leaders who want to contribute to the betterment of local government,” BGR President and CEO Rebecca Mowbray said. “We look forward to working alongside the board’s new and current members to achieve positive outcomes throughout the metropolitan New Orleans area.”

About the Bureau of Governmental Research

BGR is a private, nonprofit, independent research organization. Since its founding in 1932, it has been dedicated to informed public policymaking and the effective use of public resources in the Greater New Orleans area.

BGR is a proud member of the Governmental Research Association, the national organization for governmental research professionals. The GRA began in 1914, with the realization that effective policymaking requires good information, not just good intention. The GRA is home to independent organizations providing this information — trusted, objective, non-partisan, and practical research and data to local and state leaders.

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