Fleur-de-lis Ambassadors Visit Los Angeles

Community leaders confront misperceptions about New Orleans’ recovery and thank L.A. citizens and organizations for ongoing recovery support

NEW ORLEANS (September 24, 2007) – In a proactive effort to express gratitude to Los Angeles citizens and organizations for ongoing support for New Orleans’ recovery and to confront national misperceptions regarding the state of the city, community leaders from New Orleans will visit Los Angeles September 25-27 to meet with political, business, civic, philanthropic leadership and media to provide a balanced update on post-Katrina development.

The New Orleans contingent visiting Los Angeles will include Arnie Fielkow, New Orleans City Council President; Ben Johnson, President and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Foundation; Anthony Patton, President and CEO of Ebonetworks, LLC;  and Phyllis Taylor, Chairman and CEO of Taylor Energy.

The Ambassadors will meet with media, including KNBC, MarketWatch, L.A. Times, City Beat, Korea Central Daily News, and L.A. Weekly, and  top L.A. funders, the City Council of Los Angeles and, to promote the film industry in New Orleans, prominent film director and part-time New Orleans resident, David Gordon Greene.

Fielkow says its important that people in Los Angeles know that New Orleans is doing much to help its own recovery, including making numerous political reforms, revamping the public education system, and creating and implementing a strategic rebuilding plan.

“New Orleans has made great strides in working to correct issues from the past,” Fielkow says, “but we need to spread this message far and wide while continuing to reach out to cities around the country, like Los Angeles, which continue to send volunteer groups to help our communities recover and rebuild.”

To date, the Fleur-de-lis Ambassadors have visited Atlanta, Birmingham, Boston, D.C., and Jacksonville. In the coming weeks, the Ambassadors will visit New York and Chicago.

Founded by Tulane University President Scott Cowen and City Council President Arnie Fielkow, the Fleur-de-lis Ambassadors seek to share positive news of New Orleans’ economic and cultural revitalization with key target audiences around the country and to combat misperceptions about the city’s recovery. Funding for the Fleur-de-lis Ambassadors Program is being provided by the Greater New Orleans Foundation, the New Orleans Business Council, Tulane University, and Bill Goldring, Republic Beverage. The program is named after the fleur-de-lis, a stylized representation of an iris with three petals tied by a band, which has become one of the enduring symbols of the City of New Orleans.  Comprehensive information about New Orleans ongoing recovery can be found online at www.fleurdelis.tulane.edu.