Introducing the Forty under 40 class of 2018

Whether they’re working late into the evening to complete a big assignment, getting up early to ready their kids for school or scrambling to a nonprofit board meeting, Business Report‘s 2018 Forty Under 40 class is anything but idle.

Some work for the government, some are employed in the private sector and others are their own bosses—yet all of them play a key role in making the Capital Region a better place to call home. Not only do they juggle the demands that come with nascent careers and growing families, but they also make time to volunteer for nonprofit organizations across the Capital Region, many sitting on the boards of Baton Rouge’s most influential organizations and companies.

Culling down the list of nominees for this year’s Forty Under 40 class was no small task. Business Report received a record 584 nominations for 275 unique candidates. A panel of community leaders and members of our staff took on the difficult challenge of choosing this year’s class.

Click the links below to the individual winners to get a sense for why each of the honorees has been included in this year’s Forty Under 40 class, what makes them tick and what challenges they’re planning to take on next. In extensive question and answer sessions, each shares their greatest accomplishments thus far, as well as lessons learned the hard way and aspects of their jobs most people don’t know about. They also dish on their favorite places to dine in Baton Rouge, the best vacations they’ve ever taken and their greatest hopes for our city.

This year marks the 19th that Business Report has honored young professionals with the Forty Under 40 awards. We recently caught up with eight of our past honorees to see what they’ve been up to, and you check that out here.

Also, a special thank you to Amy Martin, who took the photographs of this year’s winners, and to Diana Pietrogallo for gathering the survey results for this year’s class.

Here is the 2018 class of Forty under 40 (click the winner’s name to read their full Q&A):

Shaun Accardo, 38

Musculoskeletal Oncologist-Orthopaedic Surgeon, Baton Rouge Orthopaedic Clinic; Co-chair-Sarcoma Specialty Treatment Team, Mary Bird Perkins-Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center; Co-founder, Barney’s Farm Sanctuary

Ivan Agullo, 38

Assistant Professor of Physics, LSU

Fr. Michael J. Alello, 38

Pastor, St. Thomas More

Kelly Bienn, 29

Senior Vice President of Marketing, Baton Rouge Area Chamber

Nikole Blanchard, 39

Director of Innovation & Technology, The Dunham School

Kelli Bondy Troutman, 36

Assistant Vice President, Director of Communications and Community Relations, LUBA Workers’ Comp

Anita Byrne, 37

Partner, SSA Consultants

Scotty E. Chabert Jr., 38

Partner, Saunders and Chabert Law Firm; Felony Prosecutor, 18th JDC District Attorney’s Office

Prosanta Chakrabarty, 39

Curator of Fishes and Associate Professor, LSU Museum of Natural Science and Department of Biological Science

Donald R. Chube Jr., 38

Community Relations-Sponsorship Activities, Louisiana Lottery Corporation

Lauren Crapanzano Jumonville, 28

Director of Civic Leadership Initiatives, Baton Rouge Area Foundation

Dr. Leah S. Cullins, 39

Owner/Family Nurse Practitioner, Louisiana Healthcare Services; Assistant Professor, Southern University School of Nursing

Stacie Lambert deBlieux, 39

Assistant Attorney General, Louisiana Department of Justice Section Chief, Complex Litigation Unit

Madeline Subat Ellis, 37

Owner/CEO/Design Director, MIMOSA Handcrafted

David Facey, 28

CEO, SellSwipe Inc.

Danny Fields, 36

Director, Our Lady of the Lake Foundation

Chad Foster, 39

CEO/President, Gator Millworks Inc.

Zelma Murray Frederick, 36

Associate, McGlinchey Stafford Law Firm

Wendy Gaudet, 38

Director of Pharmacy, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center

Hampton J. Grunewald, 38

Associate Vice President for Governmental Relations, LSU AgCenter

Ronaldo Hardy, 34

Lead Pastor, Love Alive Church

Rodneyna Hart, 34

Executive Director, Culture Candy; Curator/Art Manager, The Healthcare Gallery

Courtney de la Bretonne Hart, 37

Senior Regional Marketing Manager, Hancock Whitney

Garrett Hiebert, 36

Director of Corporate and Business Development, Bernhard Energy Solutions

Veneeth Iyengar, 39

Assistant Chief Administrative Officer, City of Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish

Cary Koch, 32

Government Relations/Lobbyist, Roedel Parsons Koch Blache Balhoff and McCollister Law Firm

Joseph Larriviere, 32

Doctor of Internal Medicine, The Baton Rouge Clinic

Justin Lemoine, 36

Owner, ELS Landscape Architecture Studio

Kellen Mathews, 36

Partner in Charge, Adams and Reese LLP

William McGehee, 37

Owner, Tin Roof Brewing Co. and Doug Olinde Event Rentals

Michael A.V. Mitchell, 36

Engagement and Impact Catalyst, MetroMorphosis; Radio Personality, Cumulus Media

Duane L. Mizell, 36

President and CEO, Stuart & Company General Contractors

Chris Motto, 37

Executive Chef, Mansurs on the Boulevard

Stephen Mumford, 37

Chief Operating Offer, Baton Rouge General Medical Center

Allison Reeves, 36

Land Counsel, Resource Environmental Solutions LLC

Ross Reilly, 33

General Manager, Lamar Advertising

Ben Ross, 37

Vice President of Development, LSU Tiger Athletic Foundation

Gia Landry Tyson, 39

Transplant Hepatologist and Gastroenterologist, Director of Hepatology at Ochsner Baton Rouge; LSU Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine

Nicholas Valluzzo, 35

Vice President, Valluzzo Companies

Robert Wise, 38

CEO, ITinspired

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Forty under 40 alumni: Where are they now?