The Greater Good – October 23, 2024 Issue Continued
Greater New Orleans Foundation Honors 2024 COHN | GNOF | NOLA | ARTS Award Winner Dr. Michael White
Continued from the 10.23.24 issue of The Greater Good
Cohn continued, “The Cohn Family is grateful to the Greater New Orleans Foundation and members of the advisory committee for their guidance and involvement in making the vision of this annual award possible. Together, we share a passion to discover and recognize artists from within the New Orleans community. In addition to this singular award, grants provided to several New Orleans-based community organizations are made possible by a fund established by our father/grandfather, Dr. Isidore Cohn, Jr. and his wife Marianne Cohn. We are confident that the awardees well represent their wishes and the legacy embodied in their gift.”
“It is a great honor for me to be recognized and selected to receive the 2024 COHN | GNOF | NOLA | ARTS Award. I have worked tirelessly for many years to further the cause of authentic New Orleans Jazz and this award will assist me with a couple of important projects that I have been working on,” said 2024 COHN | GNOF | NOLA | ARTS Award winner Dr. Michael White. “My sincere thanks goes to the Cohn Family and the Greater New Orleans Foundation. Your generosity will help my projects come into fruition and hopefully, impact the image, sound, and performance of this community’s greatest original art form—jazz.”
“I am proud to have volunteered on the panel that selected Dr. Michael White, a quintessential figure in New Orleans jazz, who epitomizes the city’s rich musical heritage as a clarinetist, bandleader, composer, and educator, as the recipient of the 2024 COHN | GNOF | NOLA | ARTS Award,” said Joycelyn Reynolds, COHN | GNOF | NOLA | ARTS Award Committee Member. “From his serendipitous encounter with Kid Sheik Colar in Jackson Square to his tenure at Xavier University, White is an ambassador of New Orleans music and culture. Leading three dynamic bands and performing at prestigious venues like New York’s Village Vanguard, White’s impact resonates far beyond his native city. With 17 albums over 29 years, including the acclaimed ‘Dancing in the Sky’ and ‘Jazz from the Soul of New Orleans,’ his legacy is firmly entrenched in the annals of jazz history.”
In conjunction with this announcement, the Foundation also announced COHN | GNOF | NOLA | ARTS awards will be made to the following nonprofits: Arts New Orleans, Cafe Reconcile, Communities in Schools, Dancing Grounds, Goat in the Road, LSU Health Science Center, Marigny Opera House, Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, New Orleans Museum of Art, Ogden Museum of Art, and Touro Synagogue.
Prior winners of COHN | GNOF | NOLA | ARTS include painter Aaron Belka (2021), Sculptor Ma’Po Kinnord (2022), and Founder of the Marigny Opera House Dave Hulbert (2023).
Courtesy of Billiot Photography
City of New Orleans Awarded $1.2 Million in Funding for Resilient Algiers Project, a project designed by Greater New Orleans Foundation Next 100 Years Challenge Winner, Song CDC
Continued from the 10.23.24 issue of The Greater Good
“BIPOC communities bear the brunt of climate change. This funding not only supports community-led hazard mitigation efforts, but it also contributes to the community’s optimal well-being and preservation of cultural identity,” says Song CDC Co-Executive Director, Tap Bui.
The initial vision for Resilient Algiers developed as the community was looking to repurpose one 6-acre long vacant lot where an apartment complex once stood. After Hurricane Katrina, the community partnered with Tulane Small Center to reimagine the space as an urban farm, to be called Hung Dao Heritage Gardens. After community leaders officially formed Hung Dao Community Development Corporation (CDC), NOHSEP’s Hazard Mitigation branch joined forces and identified an adjacent 3-acre city owned lot, expanding the project footprint and scope into a larger green stormwater drainage improvement project. Song Community Development Corporation (CDC) was then looped in to fill their current role.
To learn more about Song CDC’s Resilient Algiers project, click here.>>
Register for the Charter Board Governance Series Today!
Continued from the 10.23.24 issue of The Greater Good
In Summer 2023, the Greater New Orleans Foundation conducted a survey of charter school board members and school leaders to assess their needs and understand the opportunities and challenges they faced. We designed this series to respond directly to the needs expressed in this survey. Four charter management organizations, managing a total of 12 schools, participated in the first cohort of the Charter Board Governance Series, which concluded in June 2024. Among a range of topics, board members indicated the need to strengthen their understanding of charter school accountability, succession planning, school financial sustainability, and advocacy.
This series presents members of the cohort with an opportunity to invest in board leadership and skill development. The program:
- Is designed by partners who understand charter school governance as practiced in New Orleans;
- Features experienced and trusted facilitators who will share leading and effective practices in governance; and
- Provides opportunities for networking and community-building with other charter school board members.
This series is offered with generous support from the Pro Bono Publico Foundation and in partnership with NOLA Public Schools, New Schools for New Orleans, and experienced local and national consultants.