PRAL gives out honors, Ochsner pharmacist elected president of state association

The Public Relations Association of Louisiana Baton Rouge Chapter recently held its annual Red Stick Awards Program.

Dr. Jonas Fontenot, CEO of Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, was named communicator of the year.

Cheryl Michelet, director of communications for BREC, was presented with the First Circle Award, the organization’s highest honor. The award honors public relations practitioners who hold the utmost standards of professional and personal integrity.

Chris Yandle, assistant commissioner for public affairs with the Louisiana Board of Regents, was named practitioner of the year.

Alannie Broussard of SASSO, was named member of the year.

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The Woman’s Hospital Board of Directors has elected officers for 2023-24.

Rose Hudson, president and CEO of the Louisiana Lottery Corporation, will serve as board chair. Hudson has been on the Woman’s board since 2016. 

Dr. Cheree Schwartzenburg, an OB-GYN with Schwartzenburg, Lafranca, Guidry & Magee, was selected chair-elect while Chris Ciesielski, managing director of NFP Corporate Services LA, is secretary/treasurer.

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Renesha Yarbrough, pharmacy manager-operations for Ochsner Baton Rouge, has been elected incoming president of the Louisiana Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

She will serve as president-elect for 2023-24 and as president from 2024-25.

Yarbrough has been a member of the group for eight years and previously served as president of its south-central region.

She joined Ochsner in 2019.

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Donovan L. Segura, associate vice chancellor for equity, diversity, inclusion and Title IX at Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center, has been sworn in as president-elect of the Conference of Minority of Public Administrators.

Segura is a professor of public policy and public administration at Southern.

Gregory L. Amedee, a professor of political science at Southern University at New Orleans, is the current president of the conference.

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Rollin’ Yöggler’s Turkey Durkeys won first place in the 2023 J Terrell Brown Venture Challenge, held by the LSU Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute. 

The business, founded by brothers Sam and Joe Shapiro, took home a $20,000 award in the annual business pitch competition for LSU students.

Rollin’ Yöggler’s would sell fried turkey fingers and stuffing fries from food trucks.

Second place went to Mitchell Mason, who created MediRail, a device designed to reduce the time first responders spend preparing patients for transport by combining a backboard and an automated CPR device. Mason earned a $10,000 prize.

Kamryn Huggins finished third and won $5,000 for PuzzLove, a business that seeks to support people with autism through products such as the Shoe Sleeve, which makes shoes more comfortable for children.