Sixteen candidates thus far have applied to become Nexus Louisiana’s next president and CEO, as reported last week.
Applications obtained by Daily Report through a Louisiana public records request indicate the organization’s current management consultant and its marketing director are seeking consideration, as are a Metro Council member, a former Baton Rouge Area Chamber staffer and entrepreneurs. Candidates from elsewhere in Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Colorado and London also have submitted applications.
The organization plans to continue accepting applications through January and February, and has not set a firm deadline.
Two candidates, Calvin Mills and Na’Tisha Natt, are from within the Nexus organization. Mills is a management consultant at Nexus and has handled leadership responsibilities since 2022, when President and CEO Genevieve Silverman stepped down. Natt has served as the director of marketing at Nexus since 2021.
District 3 Metro Council member Rowdy Gaudet, a director at financial management firm V. Graham, has also applied for the position.
Other local candidates:
- Jeremy Robicheaux, an insurance agent licensed through New York Life Insurance Company and the owner of Robicheaux Financial.
- Chris Spalatin, a partner with the Future Energy Collaborative. Spalatin was previously the senior manager of small business and entrepreneurship at the Baton Rouge Area Chamber until August.
There are two other Louisiana candidates: Matthew Broussard, a PPC engineer at Brask Inc., a shell & tube heat exchanger manufacturer in Sulphur and Richard Simmerman, the co-founder and CEO of Cantaloupe AI in New Orleans.
Here is the list of out-of-state candidates:
- Owen Carton, an advisor for Ascension Partners LLC in Austin, Texas.
- Sougata Dasgupta, senior vice president of business operations for Photon, a global leader in AI and digital solutions in New York.
- Jason Green, managing partner at Stratosphere Management in Austin, Texas.
- Collin Johnson, the former economic development manager for the City of Prairie View in Prairie View, Texas.
- Jacob Mahaffey, the Institute of Emerging Technology director for the St. Francis Health System in Jenks, Oklahoma.
- Sanjay Mukherjee, the head of IT services for CPG Industries at Tata Consultancy Services in London.
- Carlos Raad, managing director at Accenture in Miami.
- Peter Taylor, the former executive dean for academic & external affairs, college of health care sciences at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
- Thomas Utzmeier, vice president of finance at Trimble in Westminster, Colorado.
Nexus Louisiana began accepting applications for the position on Nov. 1. View a description of the position.
