The 2016 Silicon Bayou 100 is the sixth annual list of the 100 most influential and active people in tech and entrepreneurship in Louisiana. The list is compiled by you, the community, through an anonymous nomination process.
Over the next two weeks we will be sharing the bios of each of the 100 in alphabetical order. Meet group 4 below:
Dade Orgeron
Dade has provided an essential creative vision that helped TurboSquid launch a successful new product called PixelSquid. He’s also helping drive key technical innovations that have the potential to change the 3D industry in 2017. He’s a LA native with national agency experience as a creative director. On LinkedIn.
David Ray Smith
David is the Executive Director of Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program, a division of BRF (formerly Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana). The program nurtures and educates entrepreneurs while introducing them to qualified investors to increase their chances of success. The EAP portfolio currently has 27 companies across industries such as medical, security, and entertainment. On LinkedIn.
Emily Madero
Emily is an expert in strategy, entrepreneurship and startups. This past August, she took over at CEO of The Idea Village. Shortly after joining The Idea Village team in 2007, Emily became an Adjunct Professor at Tulane where she developed and delivered innovative experiential learning curriculum, a position she held for over four years. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.
Erik Frank
Erik feeds his lifelong passion for health and fitness as the CEO of Your Nutrition Delivered. Founded in 2012, Your Nutrition Delivered produces delicious convenient meals that are dietitian designed chef created and sold through corporations and Direct to Consumer. He is also the President of AJAX Executive Wellness and Protection, a consulting firm focused on helping corporations in building wellness programs. On Twitter. On LinkedIn.
Felipe Massa
Felipe has helped advance the Entrepreneurship program at Loyola since he came on board in 2012. He has worked on the development of an entrepreneurship curriculum that connects students at the undergraduate level and at the graduate level with community projects integrating Idea Village, Propeller, and LSBDC programs directly into the student experience. He has also been a judge at Startup Weekend and PitchNOLA. On LinkedIn.
Flor Serna
As founder of Electric Girls, Flor is very active in the New Orleans tech scene. She teaches girls and women vital skills in electronics, programming and science. In 2016, the company was named the #1 education start-up by the Times Picayune. Flor is currently working on gathering a board for Electric Girls because it just gained non-profit status. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.
Gerard Ramos
Gerard is well-versed in product design and development, application architecture, e-commerce, internet marketing and mobile and web development. He is the founder of Revelry Labs, a group of software and product engineers based in New Orleans, LA focused on web, mobile and enterprise software development. Prior to that, he started Unawkward, a social network for meeting new people around local experiences. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.
Golden Richard
Golden runs the Information Assurance program within the Computer Science department at UNO. His former students have also founded their own local companies including 504ensics Labs. He is also active within the local technology community by teaching computer forensics skills to local and state law enforcement, giving lectures on information security and computer forensics to a wide range of professional audiences, and helping to grow the NolaSec community. On LinkedIn. On Twitter.
Haley Burns
As Founder and Executive Director of Fund 17, Haley works to help create a new economic system of opportunity in New Orleans. The organization is dedicated to combating opportunity inequality in the 17 wards of the city by providing micro-entrepreneurs with financial tools for self-empowerment. Haley and her team recently received a grant from the Kellogg Foundation to continue to support entrepreneurs throughout the city. On LinkedIn.
Harold Callais
Harold is the managing director and chief investment officer at Callais Capital Management based in Thibodaux. He has made multiple investments in Louisiana, specifically in New Orleans based technology start-ups. Harold has sourced, negotiated and closed on financing deals for more than 25 companies in the last 2 years, for more than a total of 110 million. On LinkedIn.
The 2016 Silicon Bayou 100 is made possible by Susco, 365 Connect, and The Warehouse.
