2021 Hall of Famers

We are proud to announce the new 2021 Hall of Fame Inductees:

Jeanne Harang Boughton

High School:  Ascension Catholic High School, Donaldsonville, LA 

First Delegate Year:  MOD 1987

First JC Year:  1988

Last year on staff:  1991

Staff Duties:  JC and SC 

Involvement post LYS:  2016 to present, Served as Chair of the BOD for 2.  Served as Chair of the Risk Management Committee of the BOD.  Currently serves as Chair of the Structure Committee of the BOD.

Current Employment:  Associated Broker for RE/MAX N.O. Properties, (Self employed)

What does LYS mean to you?  

With LYS, the gifts just keep on giving.  Over the last 30 years, LYS has given me the most amazing role models one could ever want. 

LYS friends continue to fill my life with enthusiasm, intellect and a desire to bring leadership to the rising generation.

With the commitment of each and every LYS volunteer, the programs grows each day and each year.

I am proud to be part of LYS; even more proud that LYS is part of me.

Glynn Gross

High School: Dutchtown High School

First Delegate Year: 2011

First JC Year: 2012

Last year on staff: stilly partying in a red shirt

Staff Duties: JC (2), Counselor (2) Head Table (3) PD (3)

Involvement post time on staff: I am still heavily involved in staff and serving as my third year as program director. Once I am not on staff I would love to continue to work with the alumni association to help make the week seamless for staff and the delegates.

Current Employment: Special Needs Counselor in Ascension Parish Schools

What does LYS mean to you?

LYS means family to me. LYS has given me the opportunity to learn and grow in different leadership roles. I have role models throughout staff and alumni that teach me how to be a more effective leader and hold me accountable when I am not showing up with my best self. LYS has allowed me to take back the No Man Is An Island motto and love and learn from those around me. I have gained valuable leadership lessons through seeing things with an inclusive mindset.

Will Syll

High School:Saint Paul’s 

July 2011 Delegate

July 2012 New JC

July 2018 Last staff year 

Staff Duties: Laundry, Travel Leader, DE, IGL, Staff Ass, APD, PD

Involvement Post: Dorm Dad, LYS Webinar Content debugger, EC

Current Employment: Deloitte, Senior Consultant

 LYS is where I learned how to operate within a group, where I learned that leadership is an action not a position, and most importantly the value of servant leadership. When I believe in the mission of an organization, or even in the purpose of a team, putting that purpose before myself in all of my decision making not only makes me a better leader but also helps me spring out of bed in the morning. 

Connor Bueche

High School: Catholic High School, Baton Rouge

First Delegate Year: 2011

First JC Year: 2012

Last year on staff: 2018

Staff Duties: Poltical Parties, Tech-hand, Music, General Problem Solver

Involvement post time on staff: Dorm Dad 2019, Assisted with Webinar Programming Efforts in 2020

Current Employment: Defense Contractor with CACI Incm Washington, D.C.

What does LYS mean to you?

LYS is place where we invite and challenge one another to be the best versions of ourseleves and actively encourage one another to do so and incorporate these lessons into a lifetime of learning and selflessness.

Andre Delaunay

High School: St. Thomas More - Lafayette

First Delegate Year: 1989 I believe.

First JC Year: 1991

Last year on staff: 1993

Staff Duties: Seriously, I do not recall!  Taking 20 years off was not conducive to retaining specific memories.  I know I worked Caucus as well as Dreams to Reality.  I know I slept very little, spending most of the down time walking the dorms or preparing the next day’s staff engagements.  I feel like I took daily direction at staff meetings to put out fires or fill in gaps more than taking on any established role each year.  But again…my memories are suspect.  In fact, I even get them mixed up with other people’s stories related down the years.  Which means I probably remember the running jokes better than the “jobs” from my time on staff.

Involvement post time on staff:  I generally stayed in touch – had plenty of friends and a brother who would be involved with LYS in the years following my departure from staff.  Around 2012 or so, Jo reached out to those of us living in Houston (where she was at the time) and we would talk about how things were going etc.  Things progressed naturally from there to me agreeing to join the Board of Directors, and with which I am still involved.  On the Board, in addition to general Board duties I serve on the Investment, Risk Management, and Alumni Reconnect committees, and have committed to another term starting this coming year.

Current Employment: General Counsel; Doggett Equipment Services Group

What does LYS mean to you? 

LYS is the most personal experience I have had outside of family.  As a result, its impact has been considerable.  My early experiences as a delegate and staff member built confidence and frankly laid the groundwork for most of my professional relationships.  While I suppose I was always open to more cooperative solutions, I learned to fine-tune how to encourage those solutions through buy-in and mutual respect.  And I learned to enjoy solving problems.

As I re-engaged some 15-20 years later, LYS took on a different meaning for me.  In some respects it started as a way for me to give back or volunteer in general – but with the benefits of seeing and working with old friends I had lost touch with.  And while that remains a positive aspect, LYS is the only program I have any personal knowledge of that truly promotes leadership from a grass-roots level all the way to the national level.  Looking at some of the kids coming through the program, and realizing that they are finding out the same things about themselves that I did – well it’s hard not to want a program like that to succeed.  Which is why I’ve felt so good about convincing friends to send their kids, why I sent my own.   

So while the program explicitly touts leadership and confidence as 2 of its pillars, it implicitly promotes service and giving back to your community.  And that regenerative societal effect is probably what I respect most about it.

BP & Shell Encourage Leadership Through LA Youth Seminar

Last week, Shell and BP joined other corporations as sponsors of the 49th annual Louisiana Youth Seminar (LYS). LYS is a week long leadership camp for high school students held at Louisiana State University every third week of July. During the week, students participate in skill-building activities focused on leadership. Through the activities and a series of hands-on experiences, they’re encouraged to use their newly developed skills in a group setting, which aims to help them discover that leadership is more than a position or authority, but a matter of action. 

“The Louisiana Youth Seminar is grateful for the continuous support from corporations like Shell and BP. The seminar would not be possible without their longtime generosity and commitment to the program,” said Jo Pease, co-founder of the Louisiana Youth Seminar. “They are granting students the opportunity to become effective, strong leaders who will create a bright future for our state.” 

“LYS strives to keep the seminar affordable for potential high school leaders. The seminar relies on the generosity of sponsors to both underwrite the program and provide scholarships for students who may not be able to afford the tuition fee. This year, the industry companies sponsored almost 90 student participants. Both Shell and BP have served as sponsors of the program for many years, showing their unwavering commitment to the future of Louisiana. LYS 2019 had about 300 students from 125 different high schools attend. To learn more about LYS, visit their website at LouisianaYouthSeminar.org or visit their social media pages @LouisianaYouthSeminar. “

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Loren Carriere, Life Achievement Awardee 2019

Loren Carriere was born and raised in Opelousas, LA. 

 Loren was a 1999 graduate of Beau Chene high school, but his loving family and large support system did not protect him from the struggles many of our youth face.  At a young age he found himself in jail and addicted to drugs. There, at his lowest point, he called out for help, finding love and forgiveness from people he will frankly say, “should not have helped him.”  In this recovery Loren found the love of Christ, went to college, and put down roots in Opelousas.

 Loren took this new start as an opportunity to finish with a degree in General Studies at the University of Louisiana in 2005 where he was named the Outstanding Graduate of his class. Following graduation, he channeled his passions for ministry, the outdoors, youth, and his hometown into Hope for Opelousas.   

 Since co-founding Hope for Opelousas (HFO) in 2008, Loren has grown the program from 12 students in the 4-8th grades to a vibrant community partner and a philanthropic example throughout Acadiana. He leads a committed staff that are there for the kids and families of Opelousas children. Eleven years later HFO has grown to serve 100 kids in 1st-12th grades. 

 What is unique about Loren’s ability to connect with and make such an impact on a young person’s life is his belief in the premise that “Love Changes Everything.”  Like the unconditional love of a parent, Loren and his staff work with each individual child and their family. Loren loves Opelousas and works every day to make it a better place for his four children and for his HFO kids as well.  

Loren has channeled his work at HFO to include community-wide development efforts. He has served in local churches and is a past chair of the St. Landry Parish Chamber of Commerce. He has been recognized statewide as a 2016 Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation Angel for his work with Opelousas youth, was awarded the Our Lady of Lourdes Franciscan Medal of Honor in 2015, and in June of 2019 was selected as a Father of the Year Honoree by 100 Black Men of Greater Lafayette.

Loren and his wife Tory and their four children, Ivy, Autumn, Loren Jr., and Jesse live near Opelousas Junior High and are renovating an old house built in 1920’s and they plan to impact Opelousas for many years to come. 

Kimberly Lewis Robinson, Secretary of Revenue, State of Louisana

DREAM STATE SPEAKER

Secretary Robinson is a 1998 graduate of the LSU Law Center. She attended LSU where she received her B.A. in Political Science in 1993 and a M.A. in Public Administration in 1995. 

 Before becoming Secretary of Revenue, Ms. Robinson was a partner in the Tax & Estates Practice Group at Jones Walker, LLP focusing primarily on state and local tax matters, economic development financing, incentives and government relations.

Before joining Jones Walker, Ms. Robinson served as Special Counsel for the Office of the Governor of the State of Louisiana, where she provided legal counsel to Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and served as Senior Policy Advisor on Revenue, Economic Development and Insurance Policy. She also worked for six years at the Louisiana Department of Revenue, serving as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Legal Affairs and Confidential Assistant to the Secretary. From 1998-2000, she served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Justice Bernette J. Johnson of the Louisiana Supreme Court. 

 Secretary Robinson currently serves as a board member of the Federation of Tax Administrators Board of Trustees. She was the 2016-2017 President of the Southeastern Association of Tax Administrators (SEATA) and is a highly sought-after speaker on matters involving income, franchise, sales/use, severance, ad valorem property, and other tax issues. Since 2016, she has been a member of the Sales Tax Streamlining and Modernization Commission, the Task Force on Ad Valorem Tax Structure, and the Transportation Infrastructure Funding Task Force. She co-chaired the Task Force on Structural Changes in Budget and Tax Policy and currently chairs the Louisiana Sales and Use Tax Commission for Remote Sellers and the Louisiana Retail Food and Beverage E-Commerce Task Force. 

 Ms. Robinson was State Tax Notes Notable Person of 2017. She was listed in The Best Lawyers in America in 2015 in the area of Tax Law, and in the 2014 edition of Louisiana Super Lawyers in the area of Tax. She has chaired the Section of Taxation for the Louisiana State Bar Association. In 2015, she received the Distinguished Achievement award from LSU Law Center and the Diversity Journal recognized her as one of the “Women Worth Watching.” In 2016, The LSU E.J. Ourso College of Business Public Administration Institute honored Ms. Robinson as the Distinguished MPA Alumnus.