Fleur-de-lis Ambassadors visit New York on
nationwide tour to foster the rebuilding of New Orleans

Community leaders establishing relationships, providing
recovery updates, and giving thanks for ongoing support

NEW ORLEANS (September 28, 2007) – In a proactive effort to build important relationships and reach various key audiences in New York and nationally, community leaders from New Orleans will visit the city October 4-5, to meet with political leadership, major foundations, and numerous national media outlets to provide a recovery update and impart the importance of New Orleans to the country as a whole.

These prominent New Orleans leaders, who are part of the Fleur-de-lis Ambassadors Program created by Tulane University President Scott Cowen and New Orleans City Council President Arnie Fielkow, have volunteered to represent New Orleans and give their own personal accounts of why it is important to rebuild this unique American cultural icon, restore its coast, and protect the vital energy resources it provides the nation.

“New York has been instrumental in supporting New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina, and for that we are most grateful,” said Tulane University President Scott Cowen. “Both of our cities have suffered horrible national tragedies this decade, and in planning our visit to New York to talk about our own ongoing recovery, we’ve been welcomed with a spirit that reflects our own appreciation for New York and all that it has been through since 9/11.”
Cowen added that similar to New York, New Orleans has a unique and special cultural and economic importance, and a continued federal commitment to its ongoing recovery is crucial to the future of the nation. Fielkow, the former Executive Vice President of the New Orleans Saints before being elected to the City Council, agreed, and added an additional thought.

"It is important that people in New York and around the country know that New Orleans is working very hard to help itself, including making numerous political reforms, revamping the public education system, enacting criminal justice reform, and creating and implementing a strategic rebuilding plan,” Fielkow said. “We have made great strides in working to correct issues that have hurt us in the past, and our community and its citizens continue to strive to make the new New Orleans a great city we are proud to call home."
Fielkow also stated that New Orleans cannot recover fully on its own – it needs the federal government to keep its promise to make New Orleans whole again.

The New Orleans contingent visiting New York consists of:

• Dr. Scott Cowen, President, Tulane University
• Dr. Michael White, Professor, Xavier University
• Ron Forman, CEO, Audubon Nature Institute
• Ruthie Frierson, Founder, Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans

Cowen says each Ambassador has a compelling personal story that relates to Hurricane Katrina – as do all New Orleanians – in addition to a special commitment to the city they all call home and a dedication to making it a better place for future generations.

Cowen has led the recovery and renewal of Tulane such that it is now the largest employer in Orleans Parish and one of the most sought after schools by students in the country; White, the famed traditional New Orleans jazz musician has returned to his historically-black New Orleans university to continue teaching the legacy of the city’s musical culture; Forman reopened two of the cities top tourist attractions – the Audubon Zoo and Aquarium of the Americas/IMAX Theatre; and Frierson retired from real estate to form a grassroots initiative responsible for creating a consolidated and professional levee board system and reform and consolidation of the city’s antiquated system of property tax assessors. She is also working to push new criminal justice reforms.

While in New York, the Fleur-de-lis Ambassadors will meet with editors at the Wall Street Journal and Fortune magazine; Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office; top leadership at the Rockefeller and Wallace foundations; and Cowen will appear on Bloomberg TV’s “Money and Politics” program.

To date, the Fleur-de-lis Ambassadors have made similar visits to Boston, Birmingham, Jacksonville, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. Future market visits will include Chicago, Houston, Miami, and Seattle.

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 fleurdelis.tulane.edu.