Kristal is an Eco physiologist receiving her MS in Biology from Auburn University and has been a faculty member in the Department of Biology at Xavier University of Louisiana since 2008. Growing up in New Orleans, her grandparents and parents introduced her to the beauty of the Bayou St. John and the connecting bodies of water. Inspired by these memories, Kristal has worked to improve the health of the bayou by volunteering to help identify and remove invasive flora and fauna from the waterway, plant native species along the banks and remove litter. She is a member of Waterway Eco Team, whose efforts are centered on maintaining the health of Bayou St. John and a member of Louisiana Master Naturalist of Greater New Orleans.

Zeller is a lifelong New Orleanian, graduated from Archbishop Shaw High School and the University of New Orleans with a BS in Management. He is also a proud veteran of the United States Army (1992-1996). Zeller founded the Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo Festival in 2006 as a way to revitalize a neighborhood in peril following Hurricane Katrina. This mid-city-based grassroots community festival has become one of New Orleans signature events, drawing thousands of locals and visitors to a once devastated neighborhood. Since its founding, Jared has led the Friends of Bayou St. John organization, a 501c3 that hosts the annual event. In 2015, Zeller was acknowledged with a proclamation from the City of New Orleans for producing an economically and environmentally sustainable festival. The impact has increased tenfold since its founding. Most recently, Jared and his team has commissioned a visioning study for Bayou St. John which will be a guiding template for the future.

Becker Rutledge is a proud New Orleanian who has worked for many years to help her community thrive. Born in Mississippi and raised in Uptown New Orleans, she has called Mid-City home for more than 35 years. She is a CPA who has served national and local clients for decades through first an international CPA company and for the last 30 plus years through her own firm. She has volunteered her time and professional skills to many organizations close to her heart. That includes the Mid-City Neighborhood Organization (MCNO), which she helped guide during the turning point years after Hurricane Katrina. As the treasurer of MCNO she assisted with the finances for first Bayou Boogaloo in 2006.

Chris Barnes is a licensed Landscape Architect and Principal at SCAPE, a landscape architecture and urban design practice with offices in New York, New Orleans, and San Francisco. The practice is dedicated to designing and advocating for ecologically restorative and socially engaged landscapes, urban environments, and natural infrastructure of the future. With over 15 years of experience, Chris has worked on a diverse range of projects regionally and nationally, focusing on open-space park design and restorative landscapes with co-benefits for both communities and ecosystems. Chris excels at integrating regional ecologies, local community interests, and resilient design strategies to develop concise solutions for complex sites. Chris holds a Bachelor’s in Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University (LSU), where he received the LSU Director’s Award, the LSU Design Excellence Award, and an ASLA Student Honor Award. His projects at SCAPE have garnered several national and regional ASLA Awards. Chris resides with his wife and two children in the Bayou St. John neighborhood.

Brandon Robert is an IT Leader at Laitram/Intralox and a Southeast Louisiana native with degrees from LSU and Tulane. A resident of the Bayou St. John neighborhood since 2011, Brandon was married at the historic Pitot House and is a regular at Faubourg St. John Neighborhood Association meetings. His community involvement includes service with YLC, EPNO, and the NOPD Police Community Advisory Board, as well as raising service dogs for Canine Companions and US Veterans Service Dogs. He is a contributing photographer for ANTIGRAVITY magazine, and enjoys rowing on the bayou with the New Orleans Rowing Club.

Bailey is a community development, planning, and disaster recovery professional with over 15 years of experience serving state and local governments in the development and implementation of their community development, disaster recovery and mitigation programs, with a focus on resilience. Through her work, she delivers sustainable, compliant and resilient housing, buyout, economic revitalization, public services, infrastructure and planning programs that prioritize low- and moderate- income households. With a deep and practical understanding of CDBG-DR regulations and years of experience directly implementing the programs with thoughtful colleagues and different levels of public engagement, Bailey has collected a comprehensive inventory of best practices and applied solutions for performing outreach and engagement, and for designing, standing-up and running a program disaster recovery through closeout. Bailey is a native New Orleanian and has a master’s in urban planning with a focus in mitigation from the University of New Orleans and is a certified planner and has a JD with a focus on environmental law from Loyola College of Law, New Orleans.

Contact us at info@bayoustjohn.org