BusinessReport.com

When urban planners talk of “megas”—those multiple-city corridors bustling with economic activity, innovation and wealth—most think Boston to Washington or Chicago to Pittsburgh. Donna Fraiche has her own vision: New Orleans to Baton Rouge.

The prominent health care and public policy lawyer for the national firm of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowicz has championed bold and ambitious concepts for the state’s future, most recently as chair of the post-Katrina, long-term planning initiative of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. Her solution for jump-starting a regional Louisiana corridor? A light-rail running between the state’s political and tourism capitals.

Fraiche makes clear she is not just about managing what she called the parking lot between the two cities known as Interstate 10. “Transit is more than a means of escorting people from one destination to another,” she says. “It’s a vehicle for growth for the communities between.”

Linked by rail, connector parishes like St. James could develop much the same way that Chicago’s regional corridor blossomed. In places like Chicago and Washington, D.C., people are used to hopping on and off the train and rarely take their cars to work, Fraiche says.

She should know. Fraiche serves clients in both regions, as well as other parts of the country. In her fields of health care and public policy law, Fraiche believes regional and national clients are a must in order to gain wide-ranging expertise. If she had remained exclusively in New Orleans, many of her potential clients would be competitors, she says.

This reality convinced her to join her current law firm, one of the 500 largest in the country. It also led her to open a Baton Rouge office soon after Katrina.

Taking the approach that from tragedy comes opportunity, Fraiche says, “What Katrina did to so many in business was get them thinking regionally—relocate, expand, create regional connections.”

That’s exactly the thinking Fraiche wants. She applauds Baton Rouge, and in particular, the city’s business community, for being open to out-of-the-box concepts of regional thinking and for embracing regional planning opportunities.

Teri Fontenot, president and CEO of Woman’s Hospital, considers it an honor to have Fraiche as both a friend and a colleague. “Baton Rouge is indeed fortunate to benefit from her expertise and enthusiasm,” Fontenot says. “She is widely known and well-regarded in the health care field at a local, state, and national level. Donna is a highly skilled multi-tasker, which allows her to be deeply involved in organizations and causes her to fulfill her passion of giving back to her community.”

Fraiche admits she is not satisfied unless she is doing just that. She serves on her firm’s Governance and Nominating Committee and chairs its Women’s Initiative Steering Committee. She chairs the Louisiana Bar Foundation’s Disaster Relief Task Force and the Louisiana Health Care Commission, and serves as treasurer of the Louisiana Supreme Court Historical Society.

She previously served as chair of the Loyola University Board of Trustees, president of the Louisiana Bar Association and president and board chair of the World Trade Center. She has won enough honors and awards to wallpaper a room.

“My daughter once said, ‘My mother’s hobby is serving on boards,’” Fraiche says. “It’s my passion to contribute to the community. I treasure being part of a law firm that allows me the opportunity.”