Within days after the impact of Hurricane Katrina and Rita, the governors of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama established funds to manage the donations coming in from all over the world. In Louisiana, Valsin A. Marmillon, a loaned executive of the America’s WETLAND Foundation, was asked by Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, the Louisiana Division of Administration Commissioner Jerry Luke LeBlanc, and executive counsel Maris LeBlanc, to explore the incorporation of an independent entity to fulfill that function.

The first step was the establishment of the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, LDRF, one of three official Governor’s funds. The other two were the Louisiana Recovery Authority Support Foundation and the Louisiana Family Recovery Corps. Next came a tremendous amount of organizational work, including identifying possible members of a board of directors, an organizational head, and convening meetings with possible long-term supporters, including Don Powell, tapped to head the Bush-Clinton Fund effort.

To establish the foundation’s independence and ensure its grounding in the best and most current philanthropic practices, a group of philanthropic and nonprofit leaders from the state and across the country – including those involved in 9/11 relief funds – was convened on September 9, 2005. Facilitated by former New Orleans-based charter school entrepreneur Jay Altman, the group developed best practice scenarios for the foundation on issues of governance, structure, management, and outreach to the broader foundation community. Click here for a listing of LDRF Founders.

The Minneapolis Foundation, the KnowledgeWorks Foundation, the Carrier Foundation, and later the Annie E. Casey Foundation provided other loaned executives to allow the foundation to begin operating immediately. The Foundation for the Mid-South gave the initial operating support. Governor Blanco announced the initial board of directors on October 3, 2005, and the foundation announced its initial round of grants on December 22, 2005. Dr. Norman Francis was the first Chairman of the Board and was succeeded by Ambassador James Joseph. Sherece Y. West, who participated in the initial planning group and served as a loaned executive since the LDRF’s inception, became the permanent Chief Executive Officer on February 1, 2006.