Member Spotlight:
Dr. Yvette Green
Professor
Department Chair, School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Administration
Director, Hospitality Research Center
University of New Orleans
Dr. Green has been at UNO for 24 years. Before her career in academia, Dr. Green has professional experience in restaurant management, banquets and catering, and resort mananagement. She serves as the Academic Advisor for the Louisiana Association Education Foundattion as well as a member of the Board of Directors for the Greater New Orlenas Chapter of the Louisiana Restaurant Association. Dr. Green is faculty advisor for the UNO Hospitality Student Association and is a member of Skal International New Orleans and International Council of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Association.
Dr. Green conducts industry training seminars and serves as team ambassador for the National Restaurant Association ProStart Leadership Invitational. She has published numerous articles in hospitality and tourism management journals as well as presented her research at hospitality and tourism conferences worldwide.
Dr. Green is also Yvette, Doc or Granty (if you knew her back in grad school). MSWIT has been honored to have Yvette as an active member since 2017 and we loved having her as a model in our Biennial Fashion Show. Her favorite part about attending MSWIT meetings is the camaraderie, sisterhood, education and opportunities to connect with awesome like-minded women who are making a difference every day.
She is married to Ronald Green for 29yrs and has two great teenagers, Camille, 16, and Ronald, 13, who are attending Kenner Discovery Health and Science Academy. Yvette’s favorite hobby is to unwind with puzzle books. She is a pescatarian who loves all things chocolate and sweets. Her favorite vacations are traveling to see family or taking a trip to the beach to read a good book with her toes in the sand. Finally, she is learning all about the world of Pokémon and catching them with her kids.
|
|
|
********************************************
Member Spotlight:
Nikki Jackson
Director of Sales and Marketing
Hotel Indigo New Orleans French Quarter
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nikki has been in hospitality for over 30 years.
She began her career as a Front Desk Agent and moved her way up to sales over the years. She has a great love for our Louisiana hospitality industry. It’s “home” for her.
Nikki is a graduate of the Louisiana Travel Association’s Louisiana Tourism Leadership Academy’s Inaugural class of 2015 which is a program that unites accomplished leaders who have significantly impacted Louisiana’s tourism industry. Through LTLA, these experts share their knowledge, educate, and train the next generation of tourism leaders, ensuring a bright future for our state’s travel sector.
Outside of Nikki’s sales career, she has been a Brazilian Samba dancer since she was 18 years old, and is currently a NOLA LOLA Dancer. She says dancing stimulates the mind, body and soul. “It has been proven to increase cognitive strengths and prolong life; that is the miracle of dance and why I love it so much”.
Nikki is also a mother to a beautiful daughter and grandmother to a precious little guy. They are the reasons for everything she does!
Nikki has been a member of MSWIT since 2014 and has met so many amazing women in hospitality. Many of these women she considers her mentors and have taught her so much about this industry, especially in her role as Director of Sales. She loves the monthly meetings and spending time with all our likeminded women.
********************************************
|
|
|
|
Member Spotlight:
Amy Kirk Duvoisin
Events and Sponsorship Manager, WWOZ-FM
President & Founder – Joan of Arc Project a.k.a. the Joan of Arc Parade on Twelfth Night in the FQ
|
| |
|
|
Amy has been a busy woman since she moved to New Orleans in 2004. She has worked for Louisiana Children’s Museum, Pelican Publishing, IHeart Radio (then Clear Channel), French Market Corporation, Jefferson Performing Arts, and now at WWOZ as their Events and Sponsorship Manager. Every summer since 2022, she teaches a storytelling and social media course for the Young Public Scholars Program at Tulane University.
In 2008, she founded the Joan of Arc Project, which produces the annual Joan of Arc Parade (on Joan’s birthday, January 6th), Joan of Art Contest, and Salon de Jeanne d’Arc conference. Amy’s story is about entrepreneurship and cultural tourism, taking advantage of the opportunity to combine history and fun in an authentic, non-commercial manner. While the Joan of Arc procession kicks off the Mardi Gras season, it’s not a typical parade. Throws are hand-made and every element has a story, from what people wear to the themes of the vignettes or groups within the parade. People now come in just for this event and it really showcases our French Heritage connection.
She has served on the boards of Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, FestiGals, AFP, FQBA, and currently serves on the board of Alliance Francaise New Orleans.
When not coordinating events for WWOZ or Joan of Arc, or doing freelance writing, marketing, or fundraising, she is hanging out with her awesome teenage daughter; digging in the dirt in her Metairie yard; exploring local cuisine with her husband, reading, and exploring and experiencing our bountiful local arts and culture.
What Amy likes best about being a member of MSWIT are the amazing women who support each other and try to continue to make New Orleans the most interesting place to visit, experience, and live!
|
|
|
|
****************************************
Member Spotlight:
Tanya Leader
VP of Sales & Services
Visit the Northshore
|
|
|
|
Member Spotlight:
Kenisha Richard
Catering & Conference Services Manager
The Windsor Court
|
|
|
|
|
Tanya Leader joined the St. Tammany Parish Tourist and Convention Commission in 2001, bringing with her a background in recruitment, public engagement, event planning, and organizational leadership from her earlier role as an Enrollment Counselor Coordinator at her alma mater, Southeastern Louisiana University. She began her tourism career as Visitor Services Manager before transitioning into the sales department. In 2010, she was promoted to Vice President of Sales, and in 2023, her leadership expanded to include management of the Visitor Services team.
Tanya is a proud graduate of Leadership St. Tammany and the Louisiana Tourism Leadership Academy. Most recently she earned the prestigious Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) credential from Destinations International.
Known by her family as the “Appetizer Queen,” Tanya is always ready to whip up a quick nibble and entertain. On most weekends, Tanya can be found welcoming guests at 30 by Ninety Theatre, a nonprofit community playhouse co-founded by her husband, Jason, over a decade ago. The theater remains a cherished passion project for both.
Favorite Part of MSWIT: The support and mentorship that is genuinely shared with each other.
*******************************************
|
|
|
Kenisha Richard is a seasoned hotel sales and event execution professional with over 18 years of experience in the hospitality industry. She specializes in catering sales, meetings and event planning with a passion for crafting unforgettable experiences and bringing a unique blend of creativity, precision, and strategic insight into every event.
Originally from Alexandria, LA, but raised in San Antonio, TX, Kenisha graduated from the Stephen F. Austin State University Hospitality program. During her spare time, she owns and operates Kennidy + Camron Event Consulting, where she provides sales advice, event logistic strategies, and offers Day of Wedding Coordination.
Her spare time is spent traveling! Fun fact about Kenisha…her initial career path was to be OBGYN.
Her favorite part of being a MSWIT member for the past 2 years has been learning how so many arms of the travel and tourism industry make up the wide world of Hospitality!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Member Spotlight:
Meg Ruch
Retired Travel Counselor
Meg became a travel agent nearly 50 years ago and worked as a Travel Counselor for various local agencies. Her longest amount of years were with AAA Travel and most recently, Professional Travel Consultants.
Meg has been a member of MSWIT since 1979 and proudly holds the record as the longest active (consecutive years) member of our great organization. Had we kept meeting attendance records back then, we are certain she would hold that top record as well just based on the past 10 years! As long as she wasn’t traveling or sick…Meg attended meetings!
As our most tenured member, Meg has always been our go-to person for historical information and traditionally installs the new board every two years. When she was asked what she liked most about our club, her quick response was “While there are many competitive businesses within our membership, there is great comradery with the ladies that are in the same field.”
Meg has been married to Dave Ruch for 42 years and they reside in Old Jefferson, just a short walk to the river. They have five 4- legged kids… 2 black Labs, 2 beige rescue Poodles and a rescue feral Tabby cat! In her spare time, Meg has always loved to cook and enjoys looking at new recipes!
*******************************************
Member Spotlight:
Lois Sutton
Co-Publisher
French Quarterly Magazine
|
| |
|
|
An honors graduate of the University of Texas School of Communications, Lois moved to New Orleans in 1969 with her family. She worked in several positions over the years but many of our members know Lois Sutton as the Publisher of Where Magazine for 26 years! When that publication ended its presence in our area, she became partners with Donna Horowitz as Co-Publisher of French Quarterly Magazine.
Additionally, she is owner of a beautiful French Quarter gallery, Vintage 329 on Royal Street across from the police station. This unique store carries vintage jewelry including Chanel, Tiffany, YSL, etc. “Vintage” showcases exquisite mid-century barware, sunglasses, paintings and posters, as well.
Before being rooted in the New Orleans Tourism Industry with these great media publications, Lois was Regional Marketing Director for Merrill Lynch Realty’s Southwestern Region. However, one of her most unique jobs was Regional Marketing Director at Chuck E Cheese! She handled parties, got to take Chucky to school events and her lucky children got unlimited tokens.
She’s very excited that her son Scott just came out with a book called The Pursuit of Home, a guide to buying and selling real estate. He owns a real estate company in Manhattan and has 20 years of experience selling high-end property. Recently, he opened his own New York company called Magnetic.
Lois is a true Taurus and both UT and Merril Lynch had “Bulls” for their mascots…so she just couldn’t get away from the bull.
She loves palates, needlepoint, early morning walks, candy and her seven beautiful grandchildren!
What Lois likes most about being a MSWIT member is the camaraderie and interesting events.
|
|
*****************************************
Member Spotlight:
Judy Weitz
Owner/CEO
Compucast Web
|
|
|
|
|
Judy has been called the local Pioneer of Internet Marketing as she created the very first website promoting New Orleans on the “World Wide Web” back in 1994 (before most people even used email!).
Compucast Web has built at least 1000 websites over the past 30 years for clients primarily in the tourism industry in addition to creating popular marketing portal sites such as ExperienceNewOrleans.com, MardiGrasNewOrleans.com NewOrleansRestaurants.com + more!
She has been married to her husband Marc for nearly 50 years and has two sons, Matthew and Michael, and 5 beautiful grandkids! Judy has sponsored the MSWIT website for the past 15 years and loves the relationships she has made over the years!
|
|
|
|
