PAR elects officers and directors for 2011-2012
R. Hunter Pierson Jr., President of Pierson Investments in New Orleans, was elected chairman of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana Board of Directors at the organization’s recent annual conference in Baton Rouge.
The PAR Board also elected Richard B. Crowell of Crowell & Owens in Alexandria as vice chairman. Jacob Giardina of HONIRON Corporation was elected as secretary, and Allan Bissinger of Electrical Sales Corporation of Metairie was elected as treasurer.
In addition to officers, the PAR membership elected four new board members for three-year terms ending in 2014. New members of the Board of Directors are:
- Stephanie Cargile, public and government affairs manager, ExxonMobil, Baton Rouge. Cargile has worked with ExxonMobil since 1998 and has managed various activities including advertising campaigns, media relations, emergency response and community outreach. She also chaired ExxonMobil Baton Rouge’s 100th anniversary. She is a board member of HOPE Ministries, as well as being a volunteer with several other local organizations.
- Blake Chatelain, president, CEO and co-founder of Red River Bank in Alexandria. He previously served as chairman of the Louisiana State University System Board of Supervisors. He also has been a leader of the Cenla Advantage Partnership, a regional economic development group for Central Louisiana. He is involved in many civic and community organizations in Central Louisiana.
- Henson Moore, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Baton Rouge. Moore served as the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy from 1989-1992 and assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff from 1992-1993. Moore served as president and CEO of the American Forest & Paper Association, the national trade association of the forest products industry in the United States. He was chairman of Forever LSU, a fundraising campaign that raised more than $750 million.
- Donald Washington, Partner, Jones Walker, Lafayette. Washington is a former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Louisiana and now a partner with Jones Walker in the law firm’s Lafayette office. His focus is on oil and gas and commercial litigation, health care litigation, corporate investigations, white collar crime and other civil and criminal litigation. Washington previously held various positions at Conoco Inc., including serving as chief counsel for Conoco’s Gulf of Mexico Division until 1996.
The PAR membership also re-elected four directors to serve another three-year term ending in 2014. They are:Beth Courtney, president/CEO, Louisiana Public Broadcasting, Baton Rouge; Fred Loy, president, Government Corporate Consultants, Baton Rouge; Freddie Pitcher Jr., chancellor, Southern University Law Center, Baton Rouge; Luis Zervigon, principal, Investment Management Consultant, Crescent Capital Consulting, LLC, New Orleans.
The Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana (PAR) is a private, nonprofit, non-partisan public policy research organization focused on pointing the way toward a more efficient, effective, transparent and accountable Louisiana government. PAR was founded in 1950 and is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations. PAR has never accepted state government funds.