We are social innovators working to transform the old waste ethos into a regenerative, future-focused economy.
Over the past seven years we pioneered multidisciplinary social innovation network-building focused on water programming in Louisiana, including co-founding the Horizon Initiative Water Committee, the GNOF/Idea Village Water Challenge, serving as Louisiana representatives for the EPA Water Cluster Leaders initiative, and most recently, launching the Louisiana Water Economy Network. In 2014 we published and presented research evaluating Louisiana’s nascent water clusters in comparison to national and global initiatives, and in 2015 were honored with the inaugural Water Challenge Champion award.
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Grasshopper Mendoza is a Founding Partner of NOLAVibe, and a Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES) who promotes universal design for healthier aging populations, and champions energy efficient, resilient and restorative development in Louisiana. She is an entrepreneur with a background in small business development, networking, civic engagement, and integrative design strategies. 

As part of her emphasis on sustainable development, Grasshopper co-chairs the Louisiana Water Network, serves on the Board of Advisors of the Building Resilience Workshop, and on the Steering Committee of Value Louisiana. She is  a Puentes Public Leaders Fellow, and a Louisiana Urban Forestry Council/Parkway Partners Citizen Forester.

Grasshopper was recognized as a CityBusiness Woman of the Year in 2009, a 2012 Social Change Film Festival & Institute Changemaker, and a 2013 Global Green New Orleans honoree.

See my Linkedin profile.
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Stephen C. Picou is a Founding Partner of NOLAVibe. Steve served as a Sustainable Housing Agent with the LSU AgCenter Cooperative Extension Service from 2008 to 2012 where he supported the rebuilding of the Greater New Orleans region via public and professional outreach promoting best practices for high performance buildings, energy efficiency, and universal design, with an emphasis on economic development activities to nurture green businesses, policies, and jobs. 

Steve is a musician, and served 13 years as Assistant Director of the Louisiana Music Commission, a state agency within the Department of Economic Development where he worked to promote and develop the state's iconic music industry, served on the board of the Louisiana Alliance for Arts Education, and co-founded New Orleans Jazz Centennial Celebration. He also spent a decade working to end celebratory New Year's Eve gunfire as a founder of the New Year Coalition. Steve is a Fellow of the Loyola University of New Orleans Institute of Politics and of their Institute for Environmental Communications, and is a proud alum of the University of New Orleans where he earned his undergraduate degree and a Master of Science in Urban Studies.

See my Linkedin profile.