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Keeping Louisiana’s head above water

On this week’s episode of Work Green, Earn Green, host Jay Tipton sets sail to Louisiana, where he discovers that the very same waters that have helped blessed the state’s fishing and shipping industries are also cause for serious concern. From coastal erosion and groundwater contamination to disaster recovery, Jay explores the green jobs that are contributing to the state’s resiliency.
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From the Mississippi River to the Cajun Bayou, Louisiana is a state renowned for its close connection to water. While the gulf coast has blessed Louisianans with ample resources to develop robust seafood, shrimping, and shipping industries, it also comes with some troubling downsides. However, resilient Louisianans are finding green solutions to keep their blues at bay.

To kick things off, Jay hears from nationally recognized expert in coastal policy Justin Ehrenwerth about how the Mississippi delta is losing land by the minute, and how coastal restoration projects may hold the key to rebuilding what has been washed out to sea. Next, Jay talks to water resource engineer Bob Jacobsen about the jobs associated with observing and monitoring groundwater levels in order to preserve Louisiana’s clean water supply. From there, Jay chats with Jessica Dandridge, Executive Director of the Water Collective, about the boom that green infrastructure businesses have experienced in the wake of Hurricane Ida, which decimated Louisiana’s fragile water infrastructure.

While on the subject of hurricanes, Jay reaches out to resiliency expert Camille Manning-Broome for clarity on whether disaster relief and recovery jobs can be considered green. Her answer leads him to a local contractor, Kendra Graves, whose life changed after a burst pipe in her home inspired her to enroll in an environmental career training program. She speaks candidly to Jay about how this decision enabled her to start her own business helping others recover from water damage and flooding.

Before hitting the road again, Jay speaks to Sunny Dawn Summers and Mervin Smith, co-founding leader and graduating senior, respectively, at New Harmony High School to see how environmental education is informing the next generation of workers about Louisiana’s water woes and priming them to find solutions.

CREDITS:
Featuring
: Jay Tipton, Justin Ehrenwerth, Paula DiPerna, Bob Jacobsen, Jessica Dandridge, Camille Manning-Broome, Kendra Graves, Sunny Dawn Summers, Mervin Smith
Produced by: Alicia Clark
Executive Produced by: Melissa Panzer, Joan Lynch, Art Bilger
Written by: Jay Tipton, Alicia Clark, Mike Zunic
Edited and Sound Mixed by: Lynz Floren
Music by: Avocado Junkie
Made possible by: the Walton Family Foundation

Check out all the other podcasts here: Work Green, Earn Green

Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.