Service, community highlighted during Iberia Medical Center’s Women Making a Difference luncheon
Published 3:15 am Saturday, June 25, 2022
By MATTHEW LOUVIERE
THE DAILY IBERIAN
- Jessica Gibson, LPC-S, CEAP, CET1 was the keynote speaker
The Iberia Medical Center Women Making a Difference luncheon was held on Friday, honoring eight Acadiana standouts that make a positive impact in their local communities.
The event’s presenting sponsor was Iberia Medical Center, and the Silver Sponsors were the Lafayette Economic Development Authority and the Bayou Teche Authority.
Dr. Danielle Cobb of Iberia Medical Center opened the luncheon with a celebration of the impact the honorees have had on their communities.
“I had a chance to look through the biographies of the ladies being honored today, and a couple of things stood out to me,” she said. “One of them is that all of these ladies exemplified a ‘caring spirit of service’, where in their communities they were heavily involved. They saw a need a lot of the time, for something that could be built. It took a lot of creativity to see that need, address it, and then build something out of nothing.”
Dr. Cobb also highlighted the benefits of celebrations like the Women Making a Difference luncheon, adding that in a post-pandemic world, mental health is of the utmost importance.
“I think it’s important for our health that everybody in the community is helping in terms of their mental health, coming together and building programs like this, in the arts and advocacy for children, and just having people get together now that we’re coming out of the pandemic.”
The keynote speaker was Jessica Gibson, LPC-S, CEAP, CET1. A part owner and experiential therapist with Counseling and Recovery Guidance, Gibson spoke about her work with conflict and substance abuse issues.
“As a therapist, primarily what I do is figuring out not only how we recover as an individual, but how we recover as a family,” she said.
Gibson encouraged the audience to take care of their own mental health, and be more understanding towards others who may be dealing with issues of their own. She also spoke on the importance of community support, especially for women.
“I’m asking women to reflect on things you’ve done in your own journeys and the accomplishments that you have, and I know that you’re probably really proud of those things,” she said. “You’ve worked hard and these accomplishments are very meaningful to you, but remember that you need your community, you need your tribe of friends. I wholeheartedly believe that we weren’t put on this earth to do all of this alone.”
Anne Songy, editor of Acadiana Lifestyle, said that the luncheon highlights the benefits of local journalism.
“Events like Women Making a Difference underscore the importance of a magazine like Acadiana Lifestyle in our community.”
“Songy also spoke highly of this year’s honorees, adding that she is “consistently impressed with the level of energy and leadership and passion the women of Acadiana possess, and the roster of honorees this year reflects that very spirit.”
Acadiana Lifestyle’s 2022 Women Making a Difference honorees were Cathy Indest, Erica Melancon Fox, Brinkley Segura Lopez, Etienna Wright, Donielle Watkins, Mandi Mitchell, Stacy Romero and Bree Sargent.
Here’s a look at each one:
Bree Sargent
Bree Sargent, executive director at Acadiana Center for the Arts is a key player in helping to bring art education into public schools through several programs, including the Primary Academic and Creative Expressions (PACE) program. Led by Sargent, PACE integrates the arts in 170 pre-K through third grade classrooms each week in Lafayette Parish partnering artists with teachers to coordinate arts activities with classroom lessons. Sargent recruits and trains teaching artists, contracted by the school system to work with students and teachers. The teaching artist then connects basic subjects with visual and performing arts. The program is a national model and only one of 108 in the whole country.
Between all the programs, there are currently 45 teaching artists impacting 25,000 students and 1,000 teachers in 78 schools.
Brinkley Segura Lopez
Brinkley is kin to Francisco Segura, who helped settle New Iberia in 1779. She has spent the past nine years advocating and growing awareness of her Spanish culture in New Iberia through her involvement with the Louisiana Spanish Association of New Iberia, and this year she was named its president. Segura Lopez helps to develop and expand the Spanish Festival and founded the Spanish Festival Queen’s Pageant. In her fundraising efforts, she has added the King’s Ball and has been on the planning committee of the annual gala for four years and served as last year’s coordinator. In other fundraising efforts, she coordinated and remains director of the Association’s annual 5K/1 mile/10K event, Running of the Bulls.
This past April, as chairperson of the Spanish Festival, she recreated a Spanish tradition of colorful blankets, made of crocheted squares and recycled fabrics, hanging over public areas. She received blankets from local women as well as from AZ, FL, and TX.
Cathy Indest
“If you Google ‘trilingual plaques in Louisiana,’ New Iberia’s historical marker trail is the first to pop up.”
And that is thanks to Cathy Indest. Indest knew she needed to carry on the legacy of her Romanian immigrant mother who helped establish the original bilingual historical plaques. It took two years, but Indest was able to restore all of the plaques to make the trilingual. She even grew the number of plaques to 21 and was pivotal in reactivating the Iberia Cultural Resources Association, bringing cultural events to the community, including Books Along the Teche Literary Festival and four free concerts every year by the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra.
Indest has been chairman and instrumental organizer for Beneath the Balconies and is a board member of the Bayou Teche Museum.
Donielle Watkins
Donielle Watkins and her husband began D.R.E.A.M.S. to create a place for special needs children to be able to play sports and participate in activities. Watkins’ son, Logan, was diagnosed with Spina Bifida, and when he wanted to play baseball at age 8 like most boys, Watkins had to find an organization for him to play. She decided to bring Challenger League to Lafayette – for children with developmental and physical disabilities.
Logan’s desire to play more sports sparked the idea that the Watkins needed to start their own organization. D.R.E.A.M.S Foundation of Acadiana now draws 500 kids from Lafayette, Vermilion, Iberia and St. Martin Parishes. The program provides activities like basketball, softball, TOP soccer, bowling, gardening, art, theater and fitness classes. Camp Unique is a summer camp offered through D.R.E.A.M.S and attended by some 150 kids ages 5-13 and 14 and up.
Erica Fox
Professional R&B singer and Lafayette native Erica Fox began making jewelry during the pandemic and last August she opened Attakapas Collective on Jefferson Street. The name of the store and her Native American jewelry is a nod to her grandmother and grandfather who were Atakapan. Fox became a founder of Lafayette’s first African American Neighborhood Museum and Cultural Center which is scheduled to open in June. The museum will educate residents about the lives and contributions of African Americans from the historic Freetown district of Lafayette. This year, Fox is considered for a Grammy nomination. Fox has been singing since the age of 5 and At the age of 14, Fox wrote a hit song, “Gotta Be With You,” that had a long run on local radio. At 19 she landed her first recording contract in Los Angeles and has sung back up with the likes of Toni Braxton. She has also appeared in hit musicals and even several Sci-fi thriller films.
Etienna Wright
Etienna Wright loves the arts and her resume shows it. Wright served as the development director at the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra and Conservatory of Music, and also co-founded the Acadiana Repertory Theatre, which is a non-profit theater company that solicits the works of new playwrights in Louisiana and across America. She also served as executive director for the Lafayette Education Foundation where she was an advocate of arts education.
Wright teaches classes and directs performances at Wonderland Performing Arts in Lafayatte, and is also vice president and member of the board at Looking Glass Theatre Co., the adult arm of Wonderland.
The mother of three is now Director of Communications and Youth Formation at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church where she is in charge of communications, the K-12 youth programs, and the Sunday school.
Mandi Mitchell
Mandi Mitchell is a certified economic developer for the International Economic Development Council and former associate secretary of Louisiana Economic Development (LED). About 7 months ago, Mitchell became the first woman of color to serve as President/CEO of the Lafayette Economic Development Authority and has already released a three-year strategic plan and is currently working over 30 prospects for either new business locations in Lafayette or expansions of existing businesses.
Mitchell’s strategic plan also includes a focus on business attractions for North Lafayette, supporting redevelopment efforts and small business and entrepreneurship training. she’s built connections with leaders of the Greater Southwest Black Chamber of Commerce, the Women’s Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Cultural Latina and the Acadiana Veterans Alliance, and plans to connect with the Asian Chamber of Commerce.
Stacy Romero
Stacy Romero became Broussard Chamber President/CEO in 2019, and despite Covid, has made the chamber stronger than ever before. Last year, the Broussard Chamber was named Louisiana’s Small Chamber of the Year by the Louisiana Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, and in 2021 Broussard became a certified Louisiana Development Ready Community. All thanks to Romero’s prompting and work with Mayor Bourque and Broussard Economic Development Corporation. The designation puts Broussard in a Louisiana database that is accessible to out-of-state developers considering Louisiana. Romero was named to the 2022 Board of Directors of the Louisiana Chamber of Commerce Executives and she helped organize the city’s first job fair in March, bringing over 100 job seekers from seven parishes.
