The Baton Rouge Chapter of The Links, Incorporated proudly unveils its fourth annual “New Orleans Style Jazz Brunch” on Saturday, December 12, 2009 10:30 a.m. at the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center located at 201 Lafayette Street, Baton Rouge, LA. During this event, we will be “Celebrating the Successes of Louisiana Role Models”. This is a key initiative in our efforts to raise funds to enable us to continue to offer substantive, multi-faceted programming to the Baton Rouge community. Our programs have touched the lives of each age, gender and socio-economic group for over forty years.

In addition to providing a festive atmosphere of food, music and friendship, we will honor several Louisiana natives who have had a positive and insightful impact on the local, state and national level. Louisiana has many treasures and we will highlight some of those who have achieved signature stature by virtue of their humanitarian and community-oriented spirit and service. Each honoree clearly exemplifies the thrust of our organization facets: International Trends and Services, Services to Youth, National Trends and Services, and the Arts.

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2008 Louisiana Role Model

Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, Senior Vice President and Chief Tax Officer for  Wal-Mart, grew up in an incredible home in Opelousas, LA. Claire attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and was the first person in her family to receive a college degree. She received her J.D. from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge. One of her first acts as a lawyer was to finalize the adoption of three of her siblings. Claire holds a L.L.M. in Taxation from Southern Methodist University School of Law in Dallas, TX and attended the Kellogg School of Management Executive Training Program.

Claire supports a variety of causes, including advocacy for African Americans and women and was recently named a Diversity Champion by Diversity Edge Magazine. She has spoken to groups across the country, including National CASA Conference, The Links, Incorporated and the Louisiana Foster and Adoptive Parents State Conference. She has also served on the Board of Directors of many professional and civic organizations.

Immediately prior to joining Wal-Mart, Claire served as Partner-in-Charge of the law firm of Adams & Reese (Baton Rouge office) where she practiced in the areas of tax and general commercial litigation. She also held the post of Dispute Resolution Practice Group Leader for the Southwest Region of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, LLP (PWC). Before joining PWC, she was appointed by the Governor of the State of Louisiana to serve as Assistant Secretary of the Office of Legal Affairs at the Louisiana Department of Revenue.

Claire is married to Barry Fontenot, also of Opelousas and has two children, Barry Jr. and Sydney. The family resides in Springdale, AR.  Claire has enjoyed a great deal of professional success, but she has always maintained perspective. She said, “My God and my family come first.  I am grateful to have worked in environments that compliment those priorities.”

2008 Louisiana Role Model

Cheryl McKay Dixon is an artist, educator and curator with a background in advertising, arts administration and community development, whose personal motto has been to “Bloom Where You Are Planted.”.  Her career in the arts has taken a circuitous path from Museum Technician at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. to the Chair of the Collections and Acquisitions Committee of the LSU Museum of Art Advisory Board in Baton Rouge.  She recently retired after having served over 20 years at Dillard University where she served as Chair of the Art Department and Director of the Dillard University Art Gallery.  As Chair, she was instrumental in expanding the facilities and curriculum to include a Business Management and Arts Dual Degree Major, and art major concentrations in Computer Graphics, Art History, and Museum Education.

She has received Ford/Mellon grants to pursue research in cultural heritage preservation in South Africa and Senegal, with particular emphasis on comparative religious beliefs and material culture linked to Louisiana.  A long-time chair of the Percent for Arts Committee of the Arts Council of New Orleans, she was invited to lecture on Public Art in Louisiana at museums and universities Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa.  A former director of the Museum of African American Art in Los Angeles, she was a Curatorial Consultant for the New Orleans Treme Villa African American Museum and served on the Advisory Board for the Master of Arts in Museum Studies Program at Southern University in New Orleans.  She has curated over 35 exhibitions of African American artists, and published monographs on Southern Folk Culture.

Her watercolors and mixed paintings have been exhibited at various art galleries and museums including the W. E. B DuBois Center in Accra, Ghana.  Her many awards include the 2000 “Artie Award” in Visual Arts by the New Orleans Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and the 1999 “Outstanding Artist” award by the National Conference of Arts. Her stencil paintings combine printmaking processes, textile patterns, and abstract expressionist influences, using movement and color to convey the healing energy of the creative endeavor, and the spiritual affects of art as process and ritual. A Baton Rouge native, Mrs. Dixon is a graduate of Southern University Laboratory School, Dillard University and Louisiana State University. The end result that she seeks is “a personal aesthetic that embodies the perceptions of color, light and sound as conveyors of healing energy.”

2008 Louisiana Role Model

Tia Edwards, a native of Baton Rouge, currently serves as the Deputy Executive Director of the Louisiana Workforce Commission.  Prior to her current position, Tia owned a successful consulting agency specializing in marketing, strategic planning, and foundation management.  In addition, she directed the public affairs, community relations, media relation and workforce development initiatives for the Louisiana Chemical Association (LCA) as Director of Public Affairs & Workforce Development for over seven years. She also served as Branch Manager of the Baton Rouge Branch of INROADS/Louisiana. Her extensive knowledge in workforce development, marketing, public and community relations and her service in the community make her an ideal 2008 Role Model.

Tia has an extensive commitment to community service. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the University Laboratory School Foundation, Manship Theatre and Baton Rouge Crime Stoppers. Tia has also served on numerous other non-profit boards, YWCA of Greater of Baton Rouge; Junior Achievement; Young Leaders Academy, Earth Day and Keep Baton Rouge Beautiful.  Her professional and civic affiliations include membership in the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), the Public Relations Association of Louisiana (PRAL), the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge, Capital Area Network, YWCA of Greater Baton Rouge, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and Phi Delta Kappa. Tia was awarded the PRAL 2003 Public Relations Practitioner of the Year.

Tia is a proud 1983 graduate of University Laboratory School. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications/Public Relations from Loyola University (New Orleans) and a Masters in Education Administration from the University of Houston. She is a 2001 graduate of Leadership Baton Rouge.

Tia feels her biggest challenge clearly has been juggling being a wife, mother and having a career. She is married to Bradford C. Edwards and has three sons, Avery and twins, Blaine and Bryce who are both on the Autistic Spectrum.  Much of her life is spent fighting for her boys as well as all children to ensure that they receive what they rightly deserve in terms of education and support services.