The Board of Directors of the LDRF is made up of a distinguished group of people with deep roots throughout Louisiana and representing all affected regions of the state. Each board member has a proven knowledge of Louisiana and a history of community service.

The Chairman of the Board is Ambassador James Joseph, native son of Opelousas, LA, and former US Ambassador to South Africa. He is currently director of the United States-Southern Africa Center for Leadership and Public Values., which he founded at both Duke University and the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

Other board members include:

• Vice Chairman C. Berwick Duval, II, an Attorney for the law firm of Duval, Funderburk, Sundbery, Lovell & Watkins in Houma, Louisiana.
  
  
• Brenda Stewart Birkett – Dean of the College of Business and Professor of Accounting at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, LA.
  
  
• E. Renae Conley – Chief Executive Officer of Entergy Louisiana, the largest utility company in Louisiana.
  
  
• Father F. Hampton Davis – Director of Pastoral Field Education at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans.
  
  
• Julio Galan – Executive Director of Family and Youth Counseling Agency
  
  
• Linetta J. Gilbert – Program Officer in the Ford Foundation’s Community and Resource Development unit.
  
  
• Sibal S. Holt– Retired President of the Louisiana AFL-CIO.
  
  
• R. King Milling – President of Whitney National Bank
  
  
• Secretary and TreasurerJohn R. Redd, III – Certified Public Accountant for the accounting firm Arsement, Redd and Morella in Lafayette, Louisiana.