Our MISSION
Gladewaves believes that all people have the right to food, shelter, education, companionship, and the tools necessary to ensure a productive life.
who we are
Gladewaves was formed to give direct aid to people who need it. "Boots on the ground" is our mantra. Our highly skilled staff and Board of Directors are hands-on in every aspect of our non-profit. Together we work to bring resources to the Greater New Orleans area that are both useful and needed. Every member of our staff is well versed in every aspect of our programming and this makes us stronger as a team and smarter as an organization. Our commitment is to continue working to develop programs that will have a direct impact on improving the lives of the people in our community.
Board of Directors
Janie Glade
A graduate of Loyola University New Orleans, Janie Glade owned and operated a Social Event planning company for the past 22 years. After many years serving on the boards of local non-profits and planning non-profit events, she retired in January 2018. She is the mastermind behind Gladewaves and serves as the Executive Director of the organization.
Susan Peppard, Esq
Sue was born in Illinois but has lived in New Orleans most of her life. She obtained an Honors B.A. in History from the University of New Orleans and a J.D. from Tulane University School of Law. She was a law clerk for the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court and the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court before joining the Central Staff of the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal, where she rose from staff attorney to the Director of Central Staff. Sue brings her love of New Orleans and her passion to help others to the Board of Gladewaves.
Judy Kang, MD
She is a first generation Korean. She was born in Korea, immigrated to Louisiana when she was 6 and became a naturalized citizen when she was 19. She was raised in the Greater NO area and only moved away to attend college at LSU in Baton Rouge, medical school in Shreveport and then residency and fellowship in Galveston, Texas. She moved back "home" upon completing her fellowship and has been practicing on the Westbank since 2003. She has been happily married for 16 years and has two children. She enjoys a good glass of wine, exercising routinely, and watching Louisiana sports! Her parents raised 4 children on a low income cleaning office buildings. They were educated in the public school system and all attended college. That was what her parents considered success. They had very little growing up but at home her parents made sure they had all they needed to succeed. She wants to help others in any little way that she can to help them succeed.
Matt Berger, JD, MBA
Matt Berger is the Regional President of Gulf States (LA/MS) for Humana, where he manages all operations including Plan and Bid strategy, Network, Contracting, Finance, Medical Operations, MRA, STARs, Bold Goal, and Operational Strategy. For the four years prior to his current role, Matt was the Division CFO for Humana’s Medicare Central Division covering eight states. Matt started at Humana in 2012 where he worked as Director of Mergers and Acquisitions for two years conducting Primary Care Physician acquisitions and homecare acquisitions. Prior to Humana, Matt was the Director of Mergers, Acquisitions and Strategy at Amedisys, the nation’s largest home health and hospice company where he reported to the CFO. He completed numerous transactions including the company’s largest Hospice acquisition, the largest home health acquisition, and the first physician practice acquisition. He also pioneered joint ventures and alliance deals in the spaces of Telehealth, PERS, private duty, NPs, and chronic care management.
Marylyn Rigby
Since entering the business of pharmaceutical product development, Marylyn has held various marketing and business development roles of increasing responsibility. Until the successful sale of SteadyMed Therapeutics (Nasdaq; STDY) to United Therapeutics (Nasdaq; UTHR) Marylyn served as the company’s Senior Director of Marketing and Investor Relations. In this role, she led and managed all corporate and pharmaceutical product marketing activities, patient advocacy and outreach programs and institutional healthcare investor relations. She is a graduate of the University of New Orleans and the Academy of The Sacred Heart.
Catherine Hudson
Catherine (Cassie) Hudson grew up in Birmingham, AL and moved to New Orleans to attend Loyola University. She has always been engaged with the community volunteering as a mentor with Big Brothers/Big Sisters in college and as a literacy tutor while attending medical school at Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine. She currently has a private practice and has remained engaged in the nonprofit community through the Emerging Philanthropists of New Orleans (EPNO) where she also served as a board member.
Jeff Fernandez
Jeff currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Ochsner 65 Plus, which is a Medicare focused primary care model within the Ochsner Health system. Effective 8/1/2022, Jeff will assume the role of CEO, Ochsner Health Plan, which is a medicare advantage health plan focused on the needs of patients on Medicare. Prior to joining Ochsner, Jeff worked for Humana where he served as the Senior Vice President, Medicare Advantage and Market Point. In this role, he had direct responsibility for Medicare Advantage operations for the entire Western half of the United States, including Louisiana and Mississippi. This role included direct responsibility for 1.3 million Medicare Advantage lives. Jeff has over 20 years of experience in health plan operations, including sales, service, managed care and network contracting. He also has extensive experience in addressing social determinants of health in the senior population. Jeff’s career began as an account executive for the Ochsner Health Plan of Louisiana from 1996-1998. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from LSU, a Master of Business Administration, concentration in Finance from UNO, and a Juris Doctor from Loyola University School of Law.
Louis Glade, MD
Louis Glade is a graduate of LSU and LSU Medical School. Louis brings his managerial skills to Gladewaves as the President of the Board of Directors. Louie’s passion for helping people goes beyond his work as a physician. He has served the New Orleans community throughout his career by his participation on the Boards of Directors for many local non-profits. His generosity and support of community wide endeavors now includes the mission of Gladewaves.
Michael Carbo, Esq
Mr. Carbo received his B.S.E. degree in Electrical Engineering (1978) and his law degree (cum laude, 1981), both from Tulane University. He is a member of the Louisiana Bar (since 1982), the Patent Bar (since 1982), and the District of Columbia Bar (since 1981; currently inactive). Currently he is president of the Tulane Biomedical Engineering Advisory Board and a past president of the board of Teaching Responsible Earth Education (T.R.E.E.), which teaches curriculum-based science concepts in an outdoor classroom to students from the New Orleans metropolitan area.
David Linnemeyer
Recently retired Manager of a Blood Bank and Transfusion Service and Inspector for the American Association of Blood Banks. Dave brings his extraordinary managerial experience and keen desire to work with the New Orleans community to Gladewaves. Dave uses his management expertise to coordinate our Intern Program and our annual coat drive.
Mellisa Lewis Taylor
Mellisa Lewis Taylor is a first-generation college graduate of her family. She earned a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Nicholls State University. She's been an educator for almost 15 years in K-12 schools. Mellisa has a passion for educating underprivileged youth in the Greater New Orleans Metropolitan Area. She is one of three kids who grew up with limited resources after her mother passed away in 1991. She's spent most of her life mainly in the lower 9th ward area with her favorite aunt. She became a widow at the age of 29 when her daughter was only 8 months old. Nevertheless, her smile lights up a room and she strives to be a pillar of the educational community. Helping those in need, building strong educational communities, and advocating for kids with disabilities is of the utmost importance to Mellisa. She believes that love is the foundation of everything. She lives by Maya Angelou's quote, "I know for sure that love saves me and that it is here to save us all."
Renee Davenport
Renée Davenport is a native of New Orleans and a renowned Evangelist. She has a MBA from University of Phoenix and a teacher’s certificate from Shaw School of Divinity in Raleigh, NC. Renée has been employed by Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans for the past 34 years. She worked in the Finance Department for over 32 years and is presently the director of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans Food for Seniors program. This program is the sole agency of Louisiana’s Commodity Supplemental Food Program which provides a monthly box of nutritional foods to seniors who are 60 years old or older and meet Federal Income Guidelines in collaboration with Bureau of Nutrition and USDA. Renée has a great desire to lift the least according to Matthew 25:35-40. Renee lives by the motto: “If I can help somebody as I travel along, you know my living shall not be in vain.”
Staff
Mark Azzinari
Mark Azzinari is the Program Director at Gladewaves. He enjoys catching the newest movies at the theater. He absolutely loves that he is able to work in an environment where he can help his community.
Jamie Ammons
Jamie Ammons joined Gladewaves at the beginning of 2020. She is the Big Red Box Program Director and she manages all social media platforms. She loves baking, gardening, her menagerie of pets, and loves to spend time at the beach. She has a Bachelors of Social Work degree from FSU and just recently graduated from the Dental Laboratory Program at LSU.