Louisiana Loyal Leadership Summit: Empowering Louisiana. Leading Change.

Bringing together leaders from diverse sectors across Louisiana, the inaugural Louisiana Loyal Leadership Summit served as a catalyst for learning, collaboration, networking, and thought-provoking conversations all aimed at celebrating and elevating our home state. Partnering with Emergent Method, PAR Louisiana, and Ochsner, LWCC hosted the event in the Foster Learning Center at LWCC. The summit provided an opportunity for members of current leadership programs across Louisiana to leverage their collective wisdom and expertise to ensure the state’s best days are ahead.  

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“Are you concerned or optimistic about the future of Louisiana?” asked Steven Procopio, PAR President, in his opening State of the State presentation.

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The question would stick with participants throughout the rest of the event as they explored how to turn concerns into solutions and optimism into opportunities.  

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LWCC Chief Marketing Officer Seth Irby and business consultant Lauren Songy Hatcher shared a valuable tool with participants to do just this: purpose. In their “Power of Purpose” seminar, Irby and Hatcher defined purpose as “a unifying idea of the problem you want to profitably solve.” Their interactive presentation engaged the audience to show how purpose-based decisions can elevate both your business and Louisiana.

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For Louisiana to truly thrive, it needs confident, authentic leaders that others will want to join in elevating the state. To uncover the components of effective communication and positive self-presentation, keynote speaker Tommy Karam, PhD was welcomed to the stage. Captivating the audience with injected humor and masterful storytelling he presented, “Owning Your Leadership Role: The Impact of Personal Branding and Delivery.” As a senior marketing instructor at LSU and a legendary brand builder for athletes like Shaquille O’Neal and Joe Burrow, Karam invited and inspired participants to take ownership of their personal brand and capitalize on what people think of when they think of you.  

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To round out the day, participants rotated through partner-led breakout sessions that further explored ways they could propel our state, their business, and personal goals simultaneously. These discussions around shared aspirations illustrated a path toward a more vibrant and prosperous Louisiana.

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“Leadership matters. And all too often, we rely on the appointed ‘leaders’ to be the drivers of change,” shared Therese Walker, Managing Director at Emergent Method. “But the reality is, we all have an option and ability to lead.”

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LWCC is Louisiana Loyal. More than our tagline, it’s a movement we launched and continue to lead to celebrate and elevate our home state. We call it a movement because we cannot do this work alone. The Louisiana Loyal Leadership Summit brought that movement to life, convening partners and leaders from across the state under one roof to leverage our collective talents to drive positive change for our home state.  

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