Green Corps Staff

Suzanne (Suzy) Mason

Program Director, Louisiana Green Corps

Suzy hails from Asheville, North Carolina. She earned a degree in Sociology and Spanish from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington while managing her own cleaning company. After working as an Executive Search Associate for a Human Resources consulting firm in North Carolina, she moved to New Orleans post-Katrina to assist in the rebuilding efforts. Since then she has worked in the non-profit sector managing economic development, deconstruction, and green initiatives.

Ray Guidry

Program Manager, Louisiana Green Corps

Ray earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics from Xavier University. After graduating college, he sold computers for NCR and Sun Microsystems. After being transferred to Houston, Texas with Sun Microsystems, he became a sales manager, eventually managing a 22 state area. Ray most recently attended the Chevron Project Management Academy and obtained a Masters Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University. In 2008, Ray returned to New Orleans and was the project manager of steel frame home construction and several renovations of Katrina damaged properties. He is excited to be Program Manager of the Louisiana Green Corps at Alliance for Affordable Energy. He looks forward to helping many New Orleanian youth.

Vance Levesque

Controller & Program Administrator, Louisiana Green Corps

Vance is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Louisiana State Society of CPA's. He has worked as the Controller at Arc GNO since 1994 managing a budget of $10,000,000. He coordinated a $900,000 Americorps grant between 3 non-profits to promote Green Jobs for 17-24 year olds 2008/2009. Vance is the current chair of the New Orleans Group Sierra Club from 2009-2010.

Forest Bradley-Wright

Site Director, Alliance for Affordable Energy

Since Hurricane Katrina, Forest has advanced a broad set of programs to catalyze market transformation in the areas of energy efficiency, green building, and solar technology. Starting in Spring 2006, Forest organized the annual BuildSmart Expo which now operates year round as a 2,000 sq foot educational facility called the BuildSmart Learning Center. With an AmeriCorps team and community volunteers, he directed a project to install radiant barrier, weatherization, and other efficiency improvements in over 100 homes in the Lower 9th Ward and beyond. That work has since transformed from its reliance on volunteers to the Louisiana Green Corps, a full time job training program that continues to improve the energy efficiency of low income households throughout the city.

Dawn Loebig-Falgout

Site Director, Old City Building Center

Dawn is a Native New Orleanian who comes from a family steeped in traditions of civic, industrial and business leadership. Dawn co-owns Falgout's Interiors, with her Mother, Mae Falgout, specializing in historic preservation and salvaged building materials. In 1997 Dawn returned to Mid City New Orleans after having lived in Los Angeles for almost 20 years. Dawn joined Mid City Neighborhood Organization in 2005 and was voted to the Board of Directors in 2007. In 2008, she committed to work full time at the Old City Building Center, an architectural salvage depot, to ensure the project’s success. Her background in human resources for Nitro Gaming, Target, and Old Navy has been an asset to the Louisiana Green Corps.

Tilman Hardy

Job Placement Coordinator, Louisiana Green Corps

Gregory Aycock

Field Supervisor, Old City Building Center

Greg, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, has worked in the construction and deconstruction trade since moving to New Orleans in the summer of 2004. Post Hurricane Katrina Greg learned of the tremendous historical and financial significance of salvaging old lumber, brick, and architectural pieces. Additionally, Greg has extensive training as a carpenter, which began while he was in high school when he volunteered to build theatrical sets for area high schools. In his free time, Greg has managed to turn his full time job into his part time passion as he constructs and sells custom painting and photography frames.

Rick Yelton

Field Supervisor, Alliance for Affordable Energy

Rick is originally from Chicago, but is proud to call himself (though some true locals scoff) a New Orleanian.  He received his bachelor's degree in Music Therapy from Loyola University New Orleans, and recently earned a master's of Urban Studies from the University of New Orleans.  He has been committed to social justice for as long as he's lived in New Orleans, and is committed to an equitable revitalization of this city.  Rick worked at Loyola University as Director of the Loyola University Community Action Program (LUCAP), a student organization focused on service and social justice work.  Now, he loves working with the Louisiana Green Corps and although there are challenges, he knows the program is doing something that has never been done before: connecting the environmental movement with clear pathways out of poverty, and preparing people for Green-Collar jobs! 

Steven Gopaul

Crew Leader, Old City Building Center

Originally from Apple Valley, Minnesota, Steve arrived in New Orleans in 1998 to attend Tulane University. While a student at Tulane, he started a deconstruction business to help off set tuition costs, where he deconstructed blighted homes under a contract exclusively for the City of New Orleans. Under the tutelage of Willie White, Steve expanded his skills to include historic preservation. After mastering the field, he became a Crew Leader for the Louisiana Green Corps to spread his knowledge to young New Orleanians. In his spare time, Steve works for his brother’s company The Carbon Solutions Group, which works to use construction byproducts and turn them into useable fuel for large coal burning companies.

Eric Julien

Crew Leader, Alliance for Affordable Energy

Eric Julien, a New Orleans native, is thrilled to be working with urban and at-risk young adults. Eric wants to be a positive role model in each Corpsmember’s life. He believes that by coupling green job training with life skills training, the Louisiana Green Corps is directly impacting both the physical and the emotional environment of the New Orleans community. Eric’s prior construction experience has afforded him the opportunity to share with his crew essential skills to working in a professional environment. Eric is an accomplished photographer whose work traces the cultural connections of France, Senegal, Haiti, and New Orleans.

Matthew Nelson

Crew Leader, Old City Building Center

After graduating from the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University in May of 1999, Matthew Nelson moved to Sausalito, California where he served as Outdoor Educator and Manager at Sea Trek Ocean Kayak Center from 2000 to 2009. He was also the Director of Kayak Summer Camp where he worked as the Lead Guide and Instructor, and from 2006 to 2008 he coached the Lick
Wilmerding High School Lacrosse Team. Matt recently returned to New Orleans and is excited to have joined the Louisiana Green Corps as a Crew Leader, where he gets to once again work with youth.

Eli Grove

Crew Leader, Alliance for Affordable Energy

Michelle Harmon

Crew Leader, Alliance for Affordable Energy