Dr. Beverly Brooks Thompson Welcomes the Delegation

Meet Dr. Beverly Brooks Thompson 

Beverly Brooks Thompson, President and Executive Counsel, Brooks Thompson Consulting        

Beverly Brooks Thompson is a published academic and practitioner in the field of philanthropic leadership.  She holds a Doctorate in Human Resource Development specializing in Organizational Leadership with more than 20 years of fundraising campaign experience.  Beverly is the founder of Brooks Thompson Consulting, an international fundraising advising and philanthropic management consulting firm.

She was recognized by the Baton Rouge Business Report in the 2008 class of Top Forty under 40 and 2018 class of Most Influential Women in Business, has been recognized as the Marketer of the Year by Sales and Marketing Association, and was named the 2017 Alumna of the Yearby Louisiana State University College of Human Science and Education.

Onward you go....

After one last time singing our theme songs - “Brother” by Need to Breathe and “No Man is an Island”  (and the LYS fight song), everyone shared some bittersweet goodbyes. As LYS 2017 comes to a close and we leave the Union, remember that just because seminar is over does not mean that it’s out of your life! LYS does not end on Friday afternoon; it’s something that stays with you forever. It is in the lessons you learn that you take back to your schools and your communities. It is in the true friendships that you made that will continue for years to come. It is the comfort in knowing that you can be accepted for being yourself and so much more!

We encourage you to live everyday as if you were at LYS (well, maybe not the cheering part). We hope that you never forget your experience here and what you learned about yourself and others. Those are the lessons, moments, friendships, and memories that will stay with you for a lifetime.

The 2017 Staff would like to thank each and every delegate for making this week such a success! Now, go back to your communities, apply what you learned, make a difference, and never forget ”NO MAN IS AN ISLAND!”

Lifetime Achievement Patrick Dobard

During the banquet, we give out awards to honor those that are truly living out the meaning of LYS in their own lives and are making a difference in their community and world around them. Each year we award one of our most prestigious awards to a recipient whom we find is doing just that through the Roddy Richard Award.

Roddy Richard came to LYS from Teurlings Catholic High and joined Staff in 1983. Roddy was an exceptional young man whose life was taken in a tragic accident. To celebrate his life and honor his spirit, LYS created the Roddy Richard Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes an outstanding individual whose character and purpose in life has lessened the burden of others and made their community  a better place for their fellow man.

In honor of his memory, we select a Louisiana native who shows the same compassion and fervor as Roddy himself.  We are very pleased to announce that this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient is Patrick Dobard.

Patrick Dobard is the CEO of New Schools for New Orleans (NSNO), a nonprofit organization committed to delivery on the promise of excellent public schools for every child in New Orleans. NSNO serves the city as a strategic leader, accelerates the development of high-quality schools, and provides financial and advisory support to grow, connect, and sustain school support organizations.

Dobard served as the Superintendent of the Louisiana Recovery School District (RSD) from 2012 to 2017. In 2014, the New Orleans RSD became the nation’s first school district comprised entirely of charter schools. Under his leadership, the RSD made significant progress in transforming the most chronically low performing schools in Louisiana—nearly eliminating failing schools in New Orleans. Patrick helped design EnrollNOLA, the centralized enrollment system for New Orleans that provides families with equitable, transparent access to schools. Under his leadership, the RSD reduced expulsions through a common hearing office, passed an equitable school funding policy that takes the unique needs of each student into account, and progressed through the largest school construction project in the nation’s history. Dobard also led efforts to develop New Orleans Youth Opportunity Center to serve high-needs students at risk of dropping out and the Therapeutic Day Program, which serves students with severe behavioral health disabilities. Prior to leaving the RSD, Dobard, in collaboration with the Orleans Parish School Board, managed the process to unify New Orleans two school districts (RSD and OPSB).

Patrick is a native New Orleanian and career educator. He began his teaching career in his hometown after graduating from Southern University of New Orleans.

Monica Hof Wallace, No Man Is An Island Award Winner

Monica Hof Wallace is the Dean Marcel Garsaud, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Law at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.  Professor Wallace joined the law faculty in 2002 after practicing at the New Orleans firm of Correro Fishman Haygood Phelps Walmsley & Casteix (now Fishman Haygood et al).  Professor Wallace graduated first in her class at Loyola College of Law and while attending law school, served on the Law Review and as Chairman of the Moot Court Program.  After graduation, Professor Wallace served as a law clerk for the Honorable Jacques L. Wiener, Jr. of the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Honorable Barry Ted Moskowitz of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.  Professor Wallace is a frequent speaker and author in the areas of family law, successions, donations and trusts, and community property, all of which she teaches at the College of Law. She also lectures on Family Law for Barbri nationally.  Professor Wallace is an active member of many professional organizations, including the Louisiana Bar Association, the Louisiana Law Institute, and the St. Thomas More Inn of Court, and she is an active Fellow for Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers and the Louisiana Bar Foundation.  She has received numerous awards for her teaching, scholarship, and public service and was named a CityBusiness Leader in Law for 2017.

Speaker: Donald Cravins, Jr.

Don Cravins, Jr. serves as the National Urban League’s Senior Vice President for Policy and Executive Director of the Washington Bureau. Cravins leads the development of the National Urban League’s policy, research, and advocacy agenda, while expending the organization’s impact and influence inside the Capital Beltway.

Since 1998, Cravins has been a practicing attorney and a member of the Louisiana Bar Association. In 2004, he was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives. At that time, he and his father, State Senator Don Cravins, Sr., made Louisiana history by becoming the first and only father and son to serve in the Louisiana Legislature at the same time. In 2006, Cravins was elected to the Louisiana Senate for the seat vacated by his father. During his tenure in the Louisiana Senate, Cravins was heavily involved in post-Hurricane Katrina issues as the Chairman of the Senate Insurance Committee and was an active member of the Juvenile Justice Commission of Louisiana.

In January of 2009, Cravins left the Louisiana Legislature to serve as Staff Director and Chief Counsel for the United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship where he oversaw the legislative activities of the Committee. In January of 2013, Cravins began serving as Chief of Staff for U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana.

In addition to his duties at the National Urban League, Cravins is an adjunct professor at George Washington University where he teaches Prosecution and Litigation in Intellectual Property and Constitutional Law. He also serves as a captain in the District of Columbia Army National Guard Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps with the 352nd Legal Operations Detachment.

Cravins is a native of Southwest Louisiana and a graduate of Teurlings Catholic High and Louisiana State University where he received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. He attended Southern University Law Center where he graduated with honors. He was presented the Southern University Law Center Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015 and named a 2015 LSU Legend by the LSU Black Alumni Chapter.

Don attended LYS in 1988 and 1989 and served as a counselor from 1990-1994. He was an Assistant Program Director in 1995 and served as Program Director in 1996 and 1997. Don has also been named to the LYS Hall of Fame and he serves as a member of the LYS Advisory Committee.

He is married to Attorney Yvette Puckett Cravins and they have three children, Dominique Claire, Trey and Chloe Denise. Yvette serves as Chief of Staff for Congressman William Lacy Clay, Jr. of Missouri. Cravins and his family reside in Opelousas, Louisiana and in Washington, DC.