Baton Rouge area
The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi national office in Baton Rouge has named Melissa Eudey as assistant to the executive director, Michelle Lowery as chapter development director and Alyssa Perez as communications director.
Eudey was with TrestleTree as an engagement specialist. She received a bachelor’s degree in public health from the University of Arkansas. Lowery was with LSU as a student affairs professional for over 19 years. She received a bachelor’s degree in journalism/public relations and master’s degree in higher education-student personnel from the University of Mississippi. Perez was with Quaternary Resource Investigations, a local environmental consulting firm, as marketing director. She received a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from LSU.
Marcel Guidry, chief information officer of Investar Bank, has been appointed to the board of directors of nonprofit Front Yard Bikes.
The community bike shop teaches participants of all ages how to fix and maintain bikes, while developing skills in mathematics, physics and mechanics and promoting inclusivity, mentorship, recreation and academic achievement. The board, made up of representatives from various industries and government entities around the capital area, provide leadership guidance with organizational processes and developing a strategic plan.
The Center for Planning Excellence has appointed as board members Steve Cochran, director of Restore the Mississippi River Delta, and Somesh Nigam, senior vice president and chief analytics and data officer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana.
CPEX board chairman Cordell Haymon, senior vice president at Petroleum Services Corp., said their expertise adds depth to the CPEX board of directors, with Cochran's coastal resilience knowledge and Nigam’s data analytics and public health expertise.
New Orleans area
Debbie Boll, of Madisonville, has joined Hancock Whitney as manager of the bank’s retirement plan services teams based in Gulfport, Mississippi; New Orleans; Baton Rouge; Mobile, Alabama; and Tampa, Florida.
Boll was benefits manager at MRIGlobal for the past 18 years. The Mobile native has about 25 years of experience in retirement plan administration, with a focus on 401(k), 403(b), profit sharing and pension plans, and also human resources as well as a plan sponsor.
Tiffany Hawken has been named senior account executive at The Ehrhardt Group.
Hawken managed the community outreach division of Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group in Virginia. Hawken’s account portfolio includes clients in the municipal, finance, medical and maritime industries. The North Carolina native earned bachelor's degrees in public relations and journalism from Appalachian State University.
Public sector software and services firm GCR Inc. has named Benjamin Billings as vice president in an expansion of its resilience, recovery and real estate division.
Billings was a principal with Sentinel Strategies LLC, a public affairs and business development consulting firm that specialized in federal and state government relations. He served 10 years in the U.S. Senate as staff director of the Disaster Recovery Subcommittee and senior policy adviser to former Sen. Mary Landrieu.
The New Orleans native is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, University of London, U.S. Naval War College and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.