NOLAVibe partners Grasshopper Mendoza and Steve Picou participated in the opening ceremonies of the 6th annual Water Challenge entrepreneurial competition during New Orleans Entrepreneur Week.  Following a brief talk on planetary health and the Louisiana water economy, Grasshopper and Steve, winners of the 2015 Water Challenge Champion award, passed the baton to the 2016 Water Challenge Champion, Colette Pichon Battle of the Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy whose work focuses on migration, climate justice, equitable disaster recovery, and community economic development. 

Now in its 6th year, Building Resilience Workshop held a day of panel discussions on Saturday, March 28, 2015. For the second year in a row, Grasshopper Mendoza and Steve Picou served as MCs and welcomed participants. Held in the Arlene Meraux River Observation Center at Docville Farm in St. Bernard Parish, BRW Vl gathered experts from across the country to discuss pressing issues across a wide range of timely and challenges facing the region and world. 

Grasshopper moderated a panel titled How Will Our Plans Work Together? The state's Coastal Master Plan, City of New Orleans Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance, St. Bernard Parish Master Plan, and the Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan are powerful drivers of spending, planning and development, but can they be better integrated and made even more effective? Architect (and GNO Urban Water Plan team leader) David Waggonner, Keven Lovetro of the US Army Corps of Engineers, Director of the City of New Orleans Planning Commission Bob Rivers, and Assistant Director of Community Development in St. Bernard Parish Dale Thayer described their roles and the myriad agencies with which they interact. Grasshopper led a lively discussion, and challenged the panel to find ways they could more effectively collaborate and integrate across plans and agencies.

NOLAVibe partners Grasshopper Mendoza and Steve Picou were awarded the inaugural Water Challenge Champion award at the 2015 Water Challenge during New Orleans Entrepreneur Week. The award, jointly presented by the Greater New Orleans Foundation, The Idea Village, and Propeller: A Force for Social Innovation was presented by GNOF President/CEO Albert Ruesga during the morning session. 

The award reads: "This award is in recognition of your extensive contributions to building the pipeline of water awareness through supporting entrepreneurship and strengthening visibility for critical water issues in our region. Thank you for your work connecting important stakeholders, grassroots organizations, and policy makers to build a movement of caring about water. You are true champions of the water cause and the individuals working to solve the problem."

We were truly taken by surprise and humbled to receive this award, and pledge to continue to do our part to help Louisiana achieve a better quality of life.

New Orleans has a special kind of rhythm that revolves around events. Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, French Quarter Fest, we anticipate these celebratory disruptions, and plan our work and schedules around them. One special event that adds a new beat to Louisiana has grown steadily over the last seven years. New Orleans Entrepreneur Week or NOEW, is a weeklong series of business competitions, presentations, and gatherings of entrepreneurs, funders, thought leaders, and social innovators seeking to promote and discover big ideas. Produced by The Idea Village, NOEW is a powerful driver of positive change, and an exciting series of events that attract thousands. 

Five years ago, the Greater New Orleans Foundation and The Idea Village connected with NOLAVibe partners Grasshopper Mendoza and Steve Picou, and teamed to launch the Water Challenge, an entrepreneurial competition that seeks to discover and nurture ideas that address Louisiana's water-related problems, such as coastal land loss and flooding. Produced this year by Propeller: A Force for Social Innovation, a dynamic and effective incubator, the Water Challenge is a full day of ideas and presentations focused on addressing some of the most compelling issues facing Louisiana and much of the world.

This year the Water Challenge takes place on Monday, March 23 at the Chicory on Fulton Street. It features two competitions. The first is an art challenge to select a concept to be installed in the soon-to-open Lafitte Greenway, a new linear park that connects New Orleans from City Park to Basin Street and the French Quarter. The Greenway follows the path of the city's first canal and is planned to have water features, native plants, gardens, a bikeway, and more. In the afternoon, entrepreneurs will publicly showcase their ideas before a panel of judges, and the one will be selected for a prize of $10,000 of investment capital.

The Water Challenge is a catalyst for ideas that solve pressing problems. It is a dynamic driver of a movement to create new business solutions to help us thrive as we learn to live more harmoniously with water and the environment upon which we depend. It is a powerful tool for cultivating innovation and participation. After this year's competition, Propeller will continue to grow this vital program, and will be announcing exciting new developments soon. We're proud to have been co-founders, but are even more excited by what's to come!

One of our favorite gatherings, the Building Resilience Workshop, is coming soon. This is an event where the hard conversations take place regarding how to address challenges to our cultural fabric in threatened coastal zones. It's always lively and inspiring and we highly recommend it. Plus this year BRW Vl takes place at the beautiful and accommodating Arlene Meraux River Observation Center on the river in St. Bernard Parish, where powerful new ideas are supported and launched by the visionaries directing the Meraux Foundation. Here are the details:

• BRW VI kicks off on Wednesday, March 25th with a film screening of Can’t Stop the Water at Indywood Movie Theater (628 Elysian Fields).
• Thursday, March 26th join a Mid-City Business walk and learn tour (FREE) to discover how three prominent local businesses -Gulf Coast Bank, Brocato's, Massey's--made positive changes to their continuity planning and resiliency collaborations.
• Friday, March 27th is the BRW Tour where we visit local organizations that exemplify community determination - especially in a post-Katrina landscape. We’re excited to showcase: Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development, Global Green - Holy Cross, Common Ground Relief, and St. Bernard Project. NOTE: There is a special Community Partner rate for the tour -- $20 ($30 savings!). Email Jeana Wiser (wiserjc (at) gmail.com) if you want to take advantage of this deal.
• Saturday, March 28th is the 6th annual Building Resilience Workshop - this year held in St. Bernard Parish at the Arlene Meraux River Observation Center. Featured presenters include: Luisa Dantas - filmmaker, Jeff Hebert - Chief Resilience Officer for New Orleans, and Prisca Weems - stormwater manager for New Orleans.

Value Louisiana, an initiative to grow for-benefit organizations statewide, launches on Wednesday, January 15 at 5:30pm at the Sheraton on Canal Street in New Orleans. For-benefit organizations use market-based methods to offer social and environmental solutions while creating jobs and businesses. The for-benefit sector is an emerging economic force that includes L3C corporations, certified B-Corps, and related efforts to support "triple bottom line" and "shared value" approaches to responsibly and sustainably operate businesses and organizations. Louisiana is well-positioned to grow these types of companies and organizations thanks to a combination of needs, support, and legal environment.

The Value Louisiana launch will feature City of New Orleans Deputy Mayor and CAO Andy Kopplin, and will include the release of a charter, and a report on the status of for-benefit organizations in the state. The event is free and open to the public, registration is encouraged. Value Louisiana was developed by LifeCity, a for-benefit company based in New Orleans. NOLAVibe serves on the Value Louisiana Steering Committee.

The monthly meeting of the Louisiana Engineering Society New Orleans Chapter will feature NOLAVibe partner Steve Picou presenting on green infrastructure, net zero/living buildings, adaptation/resilience and the roles of engineers. Engineers will be eligible for one Professional Development Hour of credit. The meeting is open to members and guests and will take place at the offices of W.S. Nelson on Wednesday, December 17, 2014 at 7pm. Visit the LES-NO website for more information.