Brad Norris grew up seeing a great example of community service from his parents, and with a family of his own now, the New Iberia native is following that example and making his own impact on the community.

Patrick and Lisa Norris have received numerous honors over the years for their philanthropic and community efforts. The couple were chosen by the Community Foundation of Acadiana as Iberia Parish’s Leaders in Philanthropy honorees in 2017, and Pat Norris was named Mr. Iberia in 2018 by the Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival in large part because of the work he’s done in the community such as serving on the Greater Iberia Chamber of Commerce, Iberia Development Foundation and serving as chairman of the Iberia Parish Airport Authority. He also is a member of Kiwanis and The Bayou Mardi Gras Association.

“You sit back and you see what they do and you see the impact it makes, and it makes you feel good and it makes you want to do it,” Brad Norris said. “Just like anything, what my parents did for me, I want to do for my kids.”

He’s taken that example, which Pat Norris has said is based in his faith, and put it to good use himself as a member of the Iberia Parish School Board. Norris, 35, was appointed to the seat for District 8 in June of 2018 after former school board member Edwin Buford Jr. died, then ran unopposed for election for his current term.

He and wife Ashlee have three kids, one in junior high, one in elementary school and one ready to start pre-K 4 next year. Norris said his desire to serve on the school board sprang from having his children in the school system.

“I have a vested interest in the public school system,” Norris said. “I’ve always believed you can’t sit down and complain about anything if you’re not stepping up and doing anything about it. I was fortunate enough to have a good childhood, and I want my kids to have an even better childhood, and I want to make sure their education’s there, just so they can have the best of everything to the best of my ability.”

The 2002 New Iberia Senior High School graduate is plant manager at Norris International, the company his dad founded. He is a Dale Carnegie Course graduate (2010) and a Leadership Iberia graduate (2019), and was one of the Stars of Style in 2014.

Norris said he can be blunt — something his wife cautions him about because of his daughters — but he said he will push hard to help others, especially children, and won’t give up.

Norris serves on the Loreauville Youth Baseball Association board, and is the T-ball director for the LYBA. In his spare time he also enjoys hunting and fishing, which helps him relax — though with so much filling his time there’s not a lot of time for his hobbies. He was able to take his middle daughter for the first time this year, and the 6-year-old shot her first deer, which was special for him.

Norris credits his wife for taking care of a lot of things behind the scenes.

“She and I work very well as a team,” he said. “We’ll sit down on a Sunday night and we’ll have our week planned out, and it’s down to the 15 minutes. It’s been working great for us.”

He’d like to pass on the examples he’s gotten from his family to his own children.

“My wife and I, the biggest thing we teach them is you treat others like you want to be treated,” Norris said. “If you want respect, you can’t just demand respect, you have to give respect.”

“You sit back and you see what they do and you see the impact it makes, and it makes you feel good and it makes you want to do it.”         

— Brad Norris