Community Advisory Board

The Purpose of the Community Advisory Board is:

  1. To advise Junior League of Lafayette in areas of finance and public relations
  2. To inform of opportunities for voluntarism and community involvement
  3. To educate community leaders about Junior League
  4. To serve as resources for information for Junior League

The Community Advisory Board for Junior League of Lafayette has been established to enhance public relations and to seek objective opinions from community leaders on certain issues. It is a committee developed to provide a two-way communication link between the League and our community.

The composition of the Community Advisory Board consists of 10 community leaders and seven Junior League of Lafayette members. The representatives from Junior League are the President, President-Elect, Executive Vice President, Community Vice President, Communications Vice President, Secretary, Sustaining Advisor to the Board and the immediate Past President.

Ten community leaders are selected for a two-year term, with half rotating off each year. Terms begin June 1 and end May 31 of each year. No community member shall serve consecutive terms.

Meetings of the Community Advisory Board will be chaired by the President-Elect, who is responsible for the orientation of new board members.

2022-2024 Term

Anita Begnaud Hollis Conway Chris Cook Troy Wayman Captain Sonny Stutes

2023-2025 Term

Kristi Anderson Lindsey Desormeaux James Klock Chuck LaGrange

 

CAB Member Bios

2022-2024 Term

Anita Begnaud

As the leader of Downtown Development Authority and Downtown Lafayette Unlimited, Anita works with Downtown stakeholders, developers, government representatives, and community leaders to create a stronger and more dynamic Downtown for Lafayette. Before joining Downtown Lafayette, Anita worked as the Senior Vice President of Communications and Governmental Affairs for One Acadiana, and she has been actively involved in Lafayette leadership organizations like Leadership Institute of Acadiana and the 705. She currently serves as a board member of South Louisiana Community College Foundation and CASA of SoLA. Anita understands the regional importance of a vibrant urban core and she works to provide a strategic vision for leaders in Lafayette to utilize and grow Downtown as a flagship district for culture and commerce in Acadiana.

Fun fact: Anita is originally from Church Point, Louisiana and has lived her entire life within a 20 mile radius of the heart of our city. As Herman Fuselier likes to say, “It takes a girl from Church Point to run Downtown Lafayette!”

Hollis Conway

Hollis Conway is a track and field All-American and Two-Time Olympic Medalist. Conway was the top ranked high jumper in the U.S. seven straight years from 1988 – 1994 and in the world for two of those years (1990 and 1991). Conway, John Thomas, and Dwight Stones are the only Americans to win two Olympic medals in the high jump.

Born in Chicago, Illinois and a native of Shreveport, Louisiana, Conway went 7-8¾ in the event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea, setting a US collegiate record and earning a silver medal.  He won a bronze medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain after going 7- 8½. 

In 1989, Conway broke the American record twice in the high jump, winning the NCAA outdoor track and field championships at 7-9¾ and the U.S. Olympic festival at 7-10. He earned his first of two world No. 1 rankings in 1990 when he swept both the US indoor and outdoor titles and won the Goodwill Games. He had 10 jumps of 7-8 or better that year.

A six-time NCAA All American and a three-time NCAA champion at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (then university of Southwestern Louisiana) he also won ten United States championships. He established a new NCAA indoor record of 2.37m (7 feet 9 ½ inches) at the 1989 NCAA Indoor Championships. His records remain two of the longest standing NCAA and championship meet records to date. Conway was ranked No. 1 in the world in 1991 by winning the IAAF World Indoor Championships in athletics in Seville, Spain with an American indoor record of 7-10 ½ inches. He still holds that record today.

Since his retirement in 2001, Hollis has rapidly become one of America’s leading motivational and inspirational speakers. With over 25 years of experience, he has fashioned his expertise into world-class programs that are able to help you get the results you desire! These presentations are not just feel-good messages, they are entertaining, informative, inspirational and full of action and direction.

Chris Cook

Chris Cook – Vice President and General Manager of broadcast and digital operations KLFY-TV. Throughout his more than 20-year career in broadcasting, Chris has worked to grow ratings while building effective sales teams and forging relationships with the community. He is extremely familiar with the Laffy market and KLFY-TV, having lived and worked in the Hub City for nearly 25 years.

His appointment as Vice President and General Manager of KLFY-TV is only the newest challenge in his years of service to the station and the Laffy community. His previous roles at the television station included videographer for the news department before moving on to become promotions coordinator, marketing director, digital sales manager, and local sales manager.

Chris returns to Lafayette from WISH-TV in Indianapolis where he served as Director of Sales. He also worked as General Sales Manager for KLAF-TV and KADN-TV in Lafayette, overseeing sales strategy and operations for both television stations and their digital operations. Chris has been very involved in the Lafayette community throughout his career, working with The Boys & Girls Clubs of Acadiana on their annual fundraiser, the “Food for Families” food drive benefiting FoodNet, and The Knights of Columbus “Coats for Kids” drive.

Troy Wayman

Troy Wayman serves as president and CEO of One Acadiana (1A), the leading economic development agency for the nine-parish Acadiana region located in South Louisiana.

Mr. Wayman joined the organization in 2018. Under his stewardship, 1A is focused on improving the regional business environment, cultivating diversified economic development, and building on 1A’s nationally recognized success in implementing programs that spur economic growth and competitiveness.

With more than 20 years of experience, and as a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), Mr. Wayman has earned a reputation as a dynamic and trusted professional. Prior to joining 1A, he served as the vice president of economic development for the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, where under his leadership, the region experienced the creation of more than 8,000 jobs and nearly $3 billion in capital investment. His previous experience also includes roles as the business development director for JESCO Construction, and tourism sales manager and director of economic development for the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce.

As a civic leader, Mr. Wayman served as a founding board member of the Montgomery chapter of the First Tee, a youth golfing program that teaches life skills through the game of golf. He is a past president of the Economic Development Association of Alabama (EDAA) and past chairman of the Southwest Alabama Workforce Development Council (SAWDC). Mr. Wayman also served on the boards of Goodwill Easter Seals and the Warrior Tombigbee Waterway Association while in Alabama.

Mr. Wayman is a graduate of Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama and the Economic Development Institute through the department of continuing education at the University of Oklahoma. He was credentialed as a Certified Economic Developer through the American Economic Development Council in 1997. Mr. Wayman and his wife, Beatriz, are proud parents to daughter, Sophia and son, Ethan.

Sonny Stutes

Captain Sonny Stutes has served our community for over three decades. Having grown up in the heart of Acadiana and spending much of his time specifically in the downtown area, Captain Stutes attended the University of Southwest Louisiana. During his tenure at USL, he began his career with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office. For Captain Stutes, his career as a law enforcement officer was not just about serving the community, but truly became his passion. Currently serving in his 34th year with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, he oversees and serves as the Commander for the Criminal Investigations Division.

Before rising in the ranks, he served in corrections, patrol, investigations, criminal intelligence, and narcotics. In his tenure, he has consistently built a team of Acadiana’s best and brightest law enforcement officers.

In addition to his duties with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, Captain Stutes oversees security for the CAJUNDOME & Convention Center. Through all the different facets of his public service, Captain Stutes maintains a strong philosophy of always working to leave every situation, person, or assignment better than how
he found it. He has been married to Ellen Stutes for 24 years and together they are the proud parents of two daughters.

2023-2025 Term

Kristi Anderson

Kristi Anderson is an experienced health care leader, researcher, and educator and serves as the Chief Strategy Officer for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. In this role, she works with President E. Joseph Savoie and the senior leadership to create and build visionary pathways, partnerships, and growth opportunities for the university.

Prior to joining the UL family, Dr. Anderson held several positions at LSU Health Sciences Center/University Hospital and Clinics in Lafayette, where she was an Assistant Professor of Research in the Department of Medicine with interests in health disparities and equity in healthcare. She served as the campus ombudsman; director of Graduate Medical Education; and created and chaired a grant program within LSU’s School of Medicine for healthcare disparities and inequities.

She serves on the Louisiana Health Works Commission and was appointed by Gov. John Bel Edwards to the state’s COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, to which she was honored with a Senate Resolution, No.66.  She was named the 2021-2022 Scholar in Residence for Dillard University’s Minority Health and Health Disparities Center.

Dr. Anderson currently serves on the LEDA Board, Ochsner Lafayette General Community Health Advisory Committee, Southern Humanities Executive Board Member, and the Louisiana Health Works Commission.

Lindsey Desormeaux

Lindsey Desormeaux is a proud University of Louisiana at Lafayette alumna, where she graduated with a degree in Early Childhood Education and was a member of the Phi Nu chapter of Delta Delta Delta Sorority.

Over the last 14 years, Lindsey has been an educator with most of her time being spent in the kindergarten classroom. She has served as a lead teacher and has sat on different academic and leadership committees. While in the classroom, her passions included promoting early literacy, developing confidence in young children, and fostering a safe, inclusive, and nurturing environment.

Lindsey serves on Cathedral-Carmel School’s Parent Booster Association and, even though she is currently out of the classroom, she enjoys volunteering and substituting when she is needed. She is looking forward to using her time and talents to serve alongside other Junior League of Lafayette Community Advisory Board members.

She and her husband, Michael Desormeaux, have been married for 14 years. They have two children, Thomas and Elle. When she is not wearing her mom hat, you can find her cheering for and supporting UL Athletics in various ways. She loves promoting Lafayette and talking about our down-home Cajun Culture to many of the families considering UL as a second home for their incoming student athlete! In her free time, she enjoys reading, being anywhere on a boat, going for a good run, and spending quality time together with friends and family at home.

James Klock

James Klock is an Assistant District Attorney who prosecutes felony offenses in Lafayette Parish. James is a graduate of Louisiana State University, where he obtained a juris doctorate, a master’s degree in finance, and an economics degree in international trade and finance.

An Alexandria native, James adopted Lafayette as his home in 2014 when he opened a firm as a solo practitioner concentrating in criminal, family, and immigration law. He then transitioned to exclusively practice federal criminal defense as a trial attorney with the Federal Public Defender’s Office in the Middle and Western Districts of Louisiana. In 2022, James left his federal practice and was sworn in with the 15th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

Outside of the courtroom, James is a member of the Kiwanis Club of Lafayette and teaches business law at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Past community involvement includes serving as a House of Delegates member with the Louisiana State Bar Association, on the faculty senate at ULL, as a student member of Louisiana’s Board of Regents that oversees higher education, past employment in Louisiana’s Governor’s office, a board member of TownFolk, Inc., a member of the I-49 Lafayette Connector Advisory Group and a brief tenure on the EPA’s Brownfield committee. James also served as founder of a young professionals’ organization for Habitat for Humanity and held membership in Forum 35 in Baton Rouge, was president of student government and Circle K at LSU at Alexandria and did board service training through the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations.

Chuck LaGrange

Chuck LaGrange serves as the Executive Director of the Stuller Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports education, humanitarian, animal welfare, ecclesiastical, and environmental initiatives in Lafayette and surrounding parishes. He is also the Chief Strategist for Parish Proud, a grassroots movement that promotes civic engagement and placemaking projects in Lafayette Parish. Chuck holds a degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he studied political science and history. He has extensive experience in public affairs and advocacy, having worked as the Director of Membership & Government Affairs for the Society of the Plastics Industry, a trade association in Washington D.C., and as the Public Information Officer for the Greater Greenville Sanitation District in South Carolina. Chuck spends his spare time with family, friends, and relaxing on his farm outside Leonville, Louisiana.