Baley Marie Champagne

Land Acknowledgement

United Houma Nation Tribal Citizen

Baley Marie Champagne is a Tribal citizen of the United Houma Nation, journalist, marketer, wife, and mom who was raised by her maternal grandmother, Celina Gregoire Martinez, in an Indian French-speaking home on Bayou Grand Caillou in Terrebonne Parish. Baley has been a fierce advocate for saving her maternal French language and heritage since 2015. As the 7th great-granddaughter of the first Creole, Senegal, Chitimacha, and Ishak Family of Southwest Louisiana, the Gregoires, saving the culture is not an option.Baley has been actively involved as a parent to a French Immersion student, a participant in Louisiana French organizations like L’Assemblee de La Louisiane to save French education and French media program funding, an advisory member with the Bayou Culture Collaborative French Language Working Group to advocate for communities who have gone unrecognized for their need for more French and Creole programs in communities and schools. Since 2022, she has been a student of Louisiana French. Baley is a supporter of the efforts of organizations like Alliance Française Nouvelle Orléans, Alliance Francaise de Lafayette, KRVS, CREOLE Inc., Tele Louisiane, and has been an ally to the Pointe Au Chien Indian Tribe for their efforts with Ecole Pointe Au Chien, the only Indigenous French Immersion school in Louisiana, since the very beginning. Baley believes it will take all of us to save French and Creole in Louisiana and you cannot save these languages without its people.

Language

Herb Wiltz

Louisiana Creole

Herbert Wiltz is a founding member of C.R.E.O.L.E. Inc. For many years, he taught French and Spanish in Louisiana. He speaks Louisiana Creole, French and Spanish.

Amanda LaFleur

Louisiana French

Amanda LaFleur was born in Ville Platte in 1957. Her career spreads over more than thirty years during which she taught in elementary and secondary schools but also at a university level. Active in promoting the Louisiana Francophonie since 1970, LaFleur hosted French-speaking programs on the radio, TV and theater. She is a pioneer in the French-language and ancestral culture integration but also in the teaching of French by leading various workshops on the subject for teachers. Author of Tonnerre mes chiens: A Glossary of Louisiana French Figures of Speech and co-author of The Dictionary of Louisiana French: As spoken in Cajun, Creole and American Indian Communities, she is also co-director with Tom Klingler of the Louisiana section of the Base de données lexicographiques panfrancophone (www.bdlp.org), an international-scale project showcasing the lexical variations of the French language around the world. Since 1998, she is in charge of the cadienne study at the Louisiane State University.

Brian Hawkins

Illinois French

Brian Hawkins is an artist and filmmaker whose work explores the subjective, fragmentary nature of our personal and cultural narratives. He has produced a series of intricate, cut-paper animations which draw inspiration from the music, folklore, and history of his native state of Missouri. His most recent body of work, concerned with Missouri’s French Creole community, has received support from ArtsKC, the Center for Independent Documentary, the Charlotte Street Foundation, GLAS Animation, the Nous Foundation, l'Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, the Puffin Foundation, and the Terra Foundation for American Art. His award-winning films have screened at numerous festivals including the Annecy International Animation Festival. Brian often teaches as an adjunct lecturer in the visual arts at the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri - Kansas City, and he recently developed and taught a course on Missouri French culture at the University of Missouri - Columbia. 

Climate and Culture

Scierra LeGarde

Bayou Lacombe Choctaw tribe

Alex Kolker

Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium

I am deeply interested in the ways that coastal systems function. At the coast, human and natural processes interact to produce a myriad of landforms and hydrodynamic conditions that are fascinating, beautiful, and both beneficial and dangerous to people. In my research group we seek to understand the dynamics that govern four major components of coastal change, climate change and sea-level dynamics, pathways of sediment and water transport, subsidence, and how human dynamics govern, and are governed by a changing coastal environment.  The researchers in my laboratory investigate these themes using tools from a range of disciplines including sedimentology, radioisotope geochemistry, climatology, oceanography, hydrology, and data science. During the 2019-2020 academic year, I am serving as a Fulbright Scholar in Morocco, Here I am examining sea level dynamics across North Africa and the Maritime Maghreb, and their impacts on Morocco’s coastal systems.

CURRENT AND RECENT PROJECTS

• The impacts of the Mississippi River and its delta on the oceanography, ecology and economy of the Gulf of Mexico
• Groundwater dynamics in the Mississippi River Delta
• Spatial and temporal trends in subsidence in Louisiana
• Impacts of climate change on coastal wetlands
• Sedimentation rates in river-dominated coastal wetlands
• Framework Development Team: Louisiana’s Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast- 2017
• Changing Course Design Competition, Team Studio Mizi-Ziibi
• Sea level dynamics in North Africa and the maritime Maghreb
• Response of wetlands in the Bouregreg River estuary to sea level change
• LUMCON’s Growth and Planning Panel
• Climate Dynamics of the Mississippi River plume

Learn more here

Bayou Cultural Collaborative

The Louisiana Division of the Arts Folklife Program is a partner in the Bayou Culture Collaborative initiated by Louisiana Folklore Society. See their website for more information about the collaborative and its other partners. 

The Folklife Program participates by offering strategies to help ensure traditions are passed on to future generations by producing workshops in addition to offering funds to organizations and individuals to sustain the traditional cultures of coastal Louisiana.  Currently we support two types of workshops. 

Sense of Place—and Loss workshops bring together artists, tradition bearers, folklorists, and scientists to explore the connections between art, tradition, and science and to inspire advocacy and creativity in the face of land loss and cultural shifts. We partner with other non-profits and university centers to produce these workshops. 

Passing It On workshops are taught by a tradition bearer to pass on a tradition. We provide funds to an organization or tradition bearer for workshops or mini-apprenticeships.

Franco-American Identity

Dr. Claire-Marie Brisson

Michigan

Dr. Claire-Marie Brisson is a Franco-Michigander whose identity is situated between Dearborn, Michigan and Québec. She has made significant contributions to the field, both as a researcher and educator. As a leading voice in the study of in Francophone communities and identity in North America, Brisson has been featured in publications such as France-Amérique (2024) and has been invited to deliver keynote addresses on the future of the Francophonie, including notable keynotes at the Assemblée parlementaire de la francophonie (2023) and the Forum des jeunes ambassadeurs de la Francophonie (2024).

Dr. Brisson's teaching methods combine experiential learning, design thinking, and digital tools to create engaging and effective learning environments. Her pedagogical research explores the intersection of language acquisition, cultural identity, environment (waterways, foodways, and infrastructure), and technology. She incorporates authentic texts and media into all levels of her classes, often inviting students to dialogue directly with Francophone authors, filmmakers, government officials, and business leaders in classes. She is committed to fostering global connections and promoting the vitality of the Francophonie.

Rachel Doherty

Georgia

Dr. Rachel Doherty is a scholar of contemporary Francophone art, literature, and creolized identities in Louisiana and Canada. She is an alumna of UL Lafayette's Francophone Studies program, a former lecturer at UL and Université Sainte-Anne, and a former French immersion teacher. Dr. Doherty specializes in occult and magical lore in minority Francophone literatures and arts, and analyzes folklore's place in today's language and identity movements.

Raymond Price

Louisiana

A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Raymond Price studied mass communications and French at Loyola University New Orleans

Brian Hawkins

Illinois 

Brian Hawkins is an artist and filmmaker whose work explores the subjective, fragmentary nature of our personal and cultural narratives. He has produced a series of intricate, cut-paper animations which draw inspiration from the music, folklore, and history of his native state of Missouri. His most recent body of work, concerned with Missouri’s French Creole community, has received support from ArtsKC, the Center for Independent Documentary, the Charlotte Street Foundation, GLAS Animation, the Nous Foundation, l'Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, the Puffin Foundation, and the Terra Foundation for American Art. His award-winning films have screened at numerous festivals including the Annecy International Animation Festival. Brian often teaches as an adjunct lecturer in the visual arts at the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri - Kansas City, and he recently developed and taught a course on Missouri French culture at the University of Missouri - Columbia. 

Camden Martin

Maine 

Camden Martin was born in Lewiston, grew up in Auburn and attended Edward Little High School until his sophomore year when he left to attend the Lycée Albert Camus in Nîmes, France. After graduating from both Edward Little and Lycée Albert Camus. Martin took a year’s sabbatical during which time he worked in French Language customer service and studied Environmental Protection at the Cégep Saint Félicien in Québec, Canada. Upon returning to Maine, he worked at Museum L-A, now known as Maine MILL, before becoming the French teacher/ Director of Enrollment at Saint Dominic Academy where he continues to spread his love of the French language and culture and to inspire future generations. Martin has been involved in promoting the French language across Maine for numerous years. He is a board member of the Franco-American Collection at USM, the Alliance Française du Maine and the Maine Franco-American Genealogical Society.

Development in Louisiana

Joseph Dunn

Louisiana Tourism

For more than 25 years, Joseph Dunn’s understanding of Louisiana’s distinct cultures, languages, and heritage has afforded him the opportunity to work at the highest levels of the state’s tourism and cultural industries.

After three years as Executive Director of the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL), he began work as an independent tourism & cultural entrepreneur in 2014. Currently, his primary role is to oversee the communications, public relations, and marketing efforts at Laura: Louisiana's Creole Heritage Site, where he also participates in research projects and the construction of the interpretive narrative of the historic site.

He has held management positions at the Louisiana Office of Tourism; the Louisiana Travel Promotion Association; the Louisiana Office of Cultural Development; the Office of the Lieutenant Governor; and the Consulate General of France in New Orleans.

Internationally, he has twice worked as a product development and interpretation consultant with Parks Canada. While with the Office of Cultural Development and the Lt. Governor's Office, he played an integral role in the early development of the Lt. Governor’s World Cultural Economic Forum. Later, as executive director of CODOFIL, Joseph led the renegotiation of Louisiana’s cultural and educational accords with the governments of France and Belgium. In 2018, Joseph Dunn was a lead contributor to the dossier that led to Louisiana’s admission into the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie as an observer member.

Joseph has presented in English and French at conferences, workshops, and political and economic trade missions in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and Europe. As a recognized thought-leader in matters related to the social, professional, and economic value of Louisiana’s French and Creole heritage languages, he regularly consults and collaborates on a variety of projects, research, print and broadcast media, and documentaries to that end.

For his outspoken advocacy and contributions to the development of the French language in Louisiana, Joseph Dunn was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Mérite by the Republic of France in 2021 and was inducted into the Ordre des francophones d’Amérique by Québec’s Ministry of the French language in 2022. Since January 2024, Joseph Dunn has served as the Honorary Consul of Canada in New Orleans.

Alexandre Vialou

Business and Economic Analyst

Alex Vialou is a Louisiana based economist specializing in natural resource management, urban revitalization strategies and systems operational productivity. He has extensive experience in project management, including developing and tracking key performance indicators (KPIs), tracking regulatory compliance, executing queries, analyzing large datasets, producing reports for top-level executives, developing implementation models and risks assessment, convening and engaging stakeholders and conducting deep quantitative research and analysis. Mr. Vialou has strong written and oral communications skills, and he participated in many conferences, wrote successful federal grant applications and submitted several articles for publication in peer-reviewed journals. He is fluent in English, French, and Portuguese.

Luc Soleau

Fondateur The Soleau Group

Luc Soleau est le fondateur et président de The Soleau Group, une société basée à La Nouvelle Orleans qui commercialise des pièces détachées agricoles et de construction en Afrique et aux Antilles. Après un Master en droit des affaires internationales en France, M. Soleau devient juriste pour plusieurs sociétés et cabinets d’avocat au Québec, aux Etats Unis, puis au Luxembourg. Après l’obtention de son MBA de Tulane University, il travaille en tant que directeur Marketing, Juridique et Ressources Humaines pour un distributeur de matériel agricole en Louisiane, avant de créer en 2016 sa propre société.

M. Soleau est marié et a 2 enfants et il est également Vice-Président de la Chambre de Commerce Franco Américaine, Chapitre du Golfe et Conseiller du Commerce Extérieur de la France.

Kevin Fitzwilliam

Training and Development Specialist - Sustainability Professional

Kevin Fitzwilliam provides strategic direction for training and workforce development initiatives for Entergy New Orleans' Energy Smart Program through the recruitment and expansion of the Trade Ally Network of energy-efficiency professionals. He drives customer participation in the program by recruiting small businesses to take advantage of energy-efficiency incentives. Through the development of a series of webinars called Green Tech Month, Kevin has have helped to connect students to professionals working in green technologies such as energy efficiency and renewable energy.

William Saunders

Civil Engineer - Louisiana Department of Transportation 

William is a civil engineer with a passion for languages ​​and structural engineering. He began his graduate studies in civil engineering at LSU, but after two years, he changed his major to Francophone studies in Lafayette. He comes from a small village in Evangeline Parish and a large Cajun family. He was torn between two worlds: linguistics and engineering. After graduating from LSU, he participated in an internship in France thanks to a CODOFIL scholarship. This trip rekindled his passion for engineering. After returning to Louisiana, he did odd jobs and eventually returned to LSU to finish his studies. He began working for the Department in a laboratory in Baton Rouge, specializing in the science of construction materials, particularly concrete. He now works in bridge and road construction in New Orleans.