Reilly Center Advisory Board

Glenn L. Coleman

Regional President, General Manager of TelevisaUnivision Houston, Inc.

Glenn L. Coleman serves as President, General Manager for TelevisaUnivision Houston, Inc. He oversees all Sales, News Content, Community Empowerment, Promotional and Technical Operations for the company’s Houston Local Media cluster of 2 TV stations, 4 Radio stations, and supporting Digital assets. His team produces and monetizes daily content that informs, entertains and empowers Houston’s Hispanic community.  

Prior to joining TU in 2014 as Vice President, Director of Sales, Coleman was with Tribune Media for 5 years at their Washington, D.C. affiliate as General Sales Manager. He started his career with CBS Television Stations Group as a Business Development Account Executive in Atlanta and later went on to work for the Dallas-Fort Worth stations as a Senior Account Executive and Local Sales Manager.

Coleman is a graduate of LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication, with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and Marketing. He is also a graduate of the National Association of Broadcasters’, Broadcast Leadership Training Program. He is a native of New Orleans, LA, and currently resides in Houston with his wife and their 3 children. 

Melinda Deslatte

Research Director, Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana

Melinda joined PAR Louisiana in January 2022 as Research Director after serving as an Associated Press reporter for 22 years. She has a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from LSU and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland.

Melinda is known for her expertise in covering the Louisiana state budget and finances, as well as the governor, the Legislature, elections, redistricting, education, health care and partisan shifts in politics. She has covered hurricanes, the coronavirus pandemic, racial justice protests and the trials of former Gov. Edwin Edwards and a Baton Rouge serial killer. As Research Director, Melinda will lead PAR’s primary mission of producing research that promotes best practices and accountability in state and local government.

She is on the board of the Capitol Correspondents Association, which produces the Gridiron Show. She is a former member of the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication Alumni Board and the Press Club of Baton Rouge Board.

Melinda was born and raised in LaPlace and lives in Baton Rouge.

Johanna L. Dunaway

Professor and Research Director, Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship 

 Johanna L. Dunaway is a professor of political science in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and is research director of the Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism, and Citizenship (IDJC) in Washington, D.C. She will teach classes in American politics, political communications, public opinion and mass media.

She joins Syracuse University from Texas A&M University’s Department of Political Science, where she was a professor. Her previous roles also include serving as the Joan Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center for Media, Politics and Public Policy, and serving as an associate and assistant professor in Louisiana State University’s Department of Political Science and Manship School of Mass Communication. She began her academic teaching career on the faculty of  Sam Houston State University’s Department of Political Science.

Dunaway’s awards include the shared 2019 Walter Lippmann Best Published Article Award from the American Political Science Association’s Political Communication Division and the shared 2018 Lynda Lee Kaid Best Published Article in Political Communication from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s Political Communication Division. 
Dunaway earned a Ph.D. (2006) and an M.A. (2004) in political science, both from Rice University, and a B.A. in political science in 1999 from the University of North Texas. 

Edmund J. Giering IV

General Counsel, Baton Rouge Area Foundation 

 Edmund J. Giering IV is general counsel to the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, a community foundation which serves the needs and interests of South Louisiana by helping donors connect with nonprofit organizations to create a lasting legacy and fulfill their philanthropic goals and by leading and investing in civic leadership initiatives that build a more equitable community and address larger social outcomes.

Licensed to practice law in Louisiana and Texas, his practice emphasizes corporate law and governance, corporate, real estate and complex gift transactions, risk management and nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations. He is a 2018 graduate of Council for a Better Louisiana’s Leadership Louisiana program and in 2020 received the Outstanding In-House Counsel Award for distinguished service by a nonprofit in-house counsel from the Nonprofit Organizations Committee of the American Bar Association, Business Law Section. Edmund is actively involved in the community and serves on the boards of numerous local and statewide professional, civic and charitable organizations including the Louisiana Bar Foundation,  the Association of Corporate Counsel and YMCA of the Capital Area.

Sara Judson

President & CEO, Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana

 Sara McLeod Judson is the CEO of the Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana, a role she has held for eight years. Her professional experience includes marketing, public relations and organizational development for CHRISTUS St. Patrick Hospital, former Mayor Willie Mount, Lake Area Medical Center and former U.S. Senator J. Bennett Johnston. She also served clients through her entrepreneurial business, Training Pathways, where one of her consulting roles was as a trainer with Franklin Covey for the Leader in Me program.  

As a fourth generation citizen of Lake Charles, she enjoys continuing the family tradition of being an active member of the community. Her current volunteer experience includes the Junior League of Lake Charles, Inc., where she was named the 2013 Sustainer of the Year, board member for CABL (Council for a Better Louisiana) and a 2nd grade reading tutor at Oak Park Elementary School. She and her husband, Mark, and 21 year old daughter, Rachel, enjoy participating in their church, First Presbyterian, as well as many community projects. Their latest adventure is that Rachel is a junior at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where she is regularly identifying things that she wants to make happen in Southwest Louisiana!  

Jared Llorens

Professor, Department of Public Administration, E.J. Ourso College of Business

In 2020, Professor Jared Llorens assumed the role of dean of the E.J. Ourso College of Business. Previously, Llorens was the chair of the Department of Public Administration, and he currently holds the E. J. Ourso Professor and Dean Endowed Chair. As department chair, Llorens was responsible for leading LSU’s Master of Public Administration program, which has successfully prepared local, regional, and national leaders for over 40 years. In 2020 he was elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and in 2022 he was appointed by President Joseph Biden to the U.S. Federal Salary Council. His scholarly research focuses primarily on public management, with particular interests in automation, compensation and recruitment. His research has been widely published in various academic outlets, and he is a co-author of the widely adopted textbook Public Personnel Management: Context and Strategies 6th & 7th ed.

Before beginning his academic career, Llorens worked in human resource management with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and U.S. Department of Labor in both Dallas, TX and Washington, D.C. Llorens is a native of Baton Rouge, La. and received his BA from Loyola University of New Orleans, his MPAff from the University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs, and his PhD in Public Administration from the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs. 

Pasha Moore

Founder and Principal, Holland Taucher Consulting

 Pasha Moore is the founder of Holland Taucher Consulting Group (HTCG), a full-service firm covering all aspects of development and strategy, with a focus on corporate partnerships and major donor cultivation; public affairs, lobbying and advocacy in various roles, representing clients in both state legislatures and Congress; business development strategies; and coalition building. The 2020 election cycle was devoted to clients focused on educating campaigns and volunteers in election cybersecurity, engaging key stakeholders and coalitions in each of the 50 states; where, under the Prevail masthead, her work contributed to winning both a Reed Award for Best Civic Education Resource and a Peer Choice Golden Eagle Award for Overall Grassroots Advocacy/Education Campaign Excellence. 

With almost 20 years of political experience, Pasha has previously worked in various roles with over 125 campaigns, political organizations, tech organizations, and not-for-profits. Under the HTCG masthead, Pasha has directed the fundraising and development of numerous national, state and local campaigns and Republican political organizations in Texas and beyond, including state judicial campaigns, legislative races and congressional races; national campaigns and PACs; and state-based political GOTV organizations. 

Dr. Markey Pierré

President and Managing PartnerThe Strategy Group of North Louisiana

 Dr. Markey Pierré’s lifetime commitment to professional excellence, community service and good public policy has led to substantive progress for the State of Louisiana in many areas, including K-12 and higher education, construction, health care, maritime law and municipal government. During her 20+ year career as a successful business owner and executive, author, motivational speaker, lobbyist and adjunct professor, Dr. Pierré’s philosophy of inclusive leadership resulted in pioneering legislation that has had far-reaching positive consequences for generations to come.

For the past 13 years, Dr. Pierré championed the interest of her clients as the president and managing partner of Southern Strategy Group of North Louisiana, a full-service governmental consulting firm based in Shreveport, Louisiana. Dr. Pierré has been extremely successful in building partnerships across different ideologies, bridging deep divides to drive public policies that benefited everyone involved. In her new role as the Vice Chancellor of External Affairs & Chief of Staff for LSU Health Sciences Center, Dr. Pierré is the point of contact for critical initiatives and responsible for the development and implementation of the strategic agenda to represent both organizational and operational initiatives. 

Alicia Ray

Senior Director of Product Marketing, CBRE

Alicia Ray is a highly sought-after leader in the Global Marketing industry. From driving records in business development to delivering exemplary products, her track record extends from AT&T to Twitter, spanning print, radio, and digital platforms. Beyond her expertise with both start-ups and Fortune 500 companies, she also founded an organization to amplify Black-owned, Long Island based brands and their founders.

Currently, Alicia is the Sr. Director of Product Marketing for North America at CBRE. Before this role, she was the Lead Global Product Marketing Manager for Twitter, leading a team of managers who delivered ad products to the market. Before Twitter, she was the Sr. Manager of Product Commercialization & Strategy for FreeWheel, leading a go-to-market strategy for their media and monetization business. Her professional experience extends to include being a Product Marketing Manager at AT&T, a Web Content Producer for Cox Media, and an adjunct instructor for Long Island University. She brings transformative thinking and surpasses customers' expectations to build a positive long-term experience around any product or service. 

In addition to Alicia’s contributions to the adtech industry, she is an accomplished artist who has shared her body of work with many viewers across the world. Alicia is reminded to “Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations,” Mae Jemison. Already overcoming many adversities, Alicia intends to transcend beyond the limits.  

Alicia is also a featured speaker at several events from the United Nations ReSolve Conference, Urban League's Jobs Network Forum, ad:Tech, AT&T STEM Forum, and a host of career development programs. She is a member of the Advertising Club of New York and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Additionally, she was recently featured on Ad Monsters, Adweek.com, Thegrio.com, and Afrotech.com, recognized as one of the Top 25 Women in Marketing, Woman of Influence by the Urban League and for her contributions to the community by New York State Senator. 

Alicia holds a Master of Arts degree in Interactive Media Arts from Long Island University and a bachelor's degree in Studio Art and Graphic Design from Florida State University.

Mendi Robinson

Vice President of Creative, Lamar Advertising

 Mendi Robinson began her career at Lamar Advertising in 1997, where she is currently the vice president of Creative at the corporate office. She is responsible for training Lamar's sales force and designers to sell and create effective out-of-home advertising.  Her responsibilities also include managing the marketing team of designers who are responsible for Lamar’s brand and all corporate and sales collateral.

A graduate of the Louisiana Art Institute, she is active in the Baton Rouge community as a member of the local Advertising Federation. She served as the chair for the board of directors for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Louisiana and now sits on their advisory group to the board of governors. She was elected to the Baton Rouge Business Report Forty Under 40 class in 2015. Nationally, she serves on the creative committee for the Out of Home Association of America and serves on the advisory board of Colossal Media.

Mendi resides in Baton Rouge with her husband, Donnie, and their two children.

Robyn Stiles 

Managing Director, Emergent Method

Robyn Stiles is an accomplished consultant who blends qualitative and quantitative research to guide complex organizational planning and strengthen client leadership. At Emergent Method, she oversees a wide range of strategic planning initiatives, designing and managing national and statewide surveys, facilitating focus groups and interviews, and coordinating diverse data-gathering efforts to deliver clear, actionable insights. She also leads leadership and talent development programs for clients across multiple industries.

Before joining Emergent Method, Robyn served as principal of Stiles Consulting, where she directed public policy research, field experiments, and statewide strategy for campaigns, public-sector entities, and advocacy organizations. Her earlier work in Washington, D.C., focused on communications and campaign strategy for nonprofits, PACs, and issue-advocacy groups. 

Robyn holds a Ph.D. in Media & Public Affairs from LSU, an MPS in Political Management from George Washington University, and a B.A. in Political Science from UC Berkeley. She is a Certified Hogan Assessment Leadership Coach and was named a 2024 Rising Star of the Profession by Consulting Magazine. She is active in her community through the Manship School Alumni Board, the Junior League of Sacramento, and the Woodland Opera House Guild.

Laura Vinsant

Executive Director, Teach For America South Louisiana

Laura Vinsant is a graduate of Louisiana State University’s Manship School of Mass Communication and Harvard Graduate School of Education. After tutoring as an undergraduate, she was drawn to Teach For America’s mission. Laura began her career as a 2007 South Louisiana corps member with Teach For America, teaching second and third grade in Baton Rouge. She now leads the South Louisiana region of Teach For America and is committed to ensuring that every student in South Louisiana has access to the excellent educational opportunities they deserve. 

Laura is a graduate of the 2018 Council For A Better Louisiana Leadership Louisiana Class, is a graduate of the 2015 Baton Rouge Area Leadership Program, and was a 2015 Top 40 Under 40 honoree. Laura proudly serves as the Immediate Past Chair of the Leadership Baton Rouge Alumni Board. The Baton Rouge Area Foundation recognized her with the Rising Star in Non-Profit Leadership Award. She lives in Baton Rouge with her husband, Win, and their three dogs.