Human Development Center

Perspectives from a Legislator: Connecting Policy and Personal Stories

On Jan. 11, 2016, John Bel Edwards was sworn in as the 56th governor of Louisiana.

The governor grew up in Amite, La. as one of eight children. With four Tangipahoa Parish sheriffs in his lineage, he learned the importance of public service at an early age.

Gov. Edwards graduated in 1988 from the United States Military Academy at West Point. The governor served eight years as an Airborne Ranger on active duty with the United States Army and commanded a rifle company in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. He went on to graduate Order of the Coif from Louisiana State University Law Center and set up a civil law practice in his home town of Amite.

In 2008, he was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 72, where he served for eight years until the voters of Louisiana elected him governor in November of 2015.

Gov. Edwards and his wife, First Lady Donna Edwards, have three children: Samantha Bel, Sarah Ellen and John Miller.

Presentation: Stand Up, Speak Out!

Maria Town is the President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities. In this role, she works to increase the political and economic power of people with disabilities.

Prior to this she served as the Director of the City of Houston Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities where she advocated for the rights and needs of citizens with disabilities, served as a liaison between the mayor, city council, city departments and other public and private entities on matters pertaining to people with disabilities in Houston, and established local and national partnerships to advance inclusion. 

Town is the former senior associate director in the Obama White House Office of Public Engagement where she managed the White House's engagement with the disability community and older Americans. She also managed the place-based portfolio and coordinated engagement across Federal agencies. Town also worked as policy advisor at the Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy. Town led and coordinated numerous efforts to improve employment outcomes for youth and young adults with disabilities. She has particular expertise in areas of youth development and leadership and promoting college and career readiness for all youth. Town is a member of the board of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. She hails from Louisiana, where her family still resides.

Presentation: Disabled Voters and New Disabled South

Dom Kelly is the Co-Founder, President & CEO of New Disabled South and New Disabled South Rising. A disability advocate since age four, Dom has led organizing, fundraising, and narrative change efforts across the South. He’s a 2025 Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity and a 2023 J.M. Kaplan Innovation Prize winner. A former touring musician turned movement leader, he focuses on advancing disability justice and building power for marginalized communities. Dom lives in Atlanta with his wife and daughter.

Panel: Building Care Networks with Louisiana Mutual Aid Groups

Roishetta Sibley Ozane is originally from Ruleville, MS. She moved to Louisiana in 2003 to attend McNeese State University and has been here ever since. She is the founder, director and CEO of The Vessel Project of Louisiana, a small mutual aid and environmental justice organization that assists our most vulnerable community members with bill assistance, food, emergency shelter and more. Her organization has also sponsored several local community events and organizations such as SWLA Center for Health Services Juneteenth Festival, Black Men Wear Suits, The Fellowship Breakfast, SWLA Center for Health Services, the Zeta Amicae of Lake Charles Walk with a Purpose for PEDIATRIC HEART AWARENESS, Washington Marion High School Educator’s Rising Program, Combre Fondel Beta Club, Molo Middle school Beta Club, Westlake High School FBLA, Lewis Middle School Cheerleaders and many more. She is also co founder and co director of the Gulf Fossil Finance Hub where she tracks the money that finances fossil fuel pollution in low income, predominantly black communities and in turn she educates and empowers community members to demand that those banks defund fossil fuels and invest in communities. Roishetta is an award winning, internationally known environmental justice advocate and has spoken on stages Nationally and abroad including in Egypt, Canada, Dubai, Malaysia, Japan, and Vienna championing for Black, indigenous, and other people of color and their right for clean air, clean water and sustainable communities that aren’t overburdened by pollution.  Roishetta is an author having written several OpEds and think pieces. She has been honored and featured in Essence Magazine as a hometown hero. Roishetta holds a Bachelor’s degree and Master of Science degree from McNeese State University, Master of Philosophy in Criminal Justice from Walden University and is currently a PhD candidate at Walden University. Roishetta is a member of several organizations including Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc, National Association of University Women, McNeese State University Black Alumni, and a She Leads Fellow Alum for the Power Coalition of Equity and Justice. Roishetta sits on several boards including the People’s Justice Council, Lake Area Regional Business Chamber of Commerce, and participatory grant decision making group for the Hive Fund for Equity and Justice. Additionally Roishetta is a mom of 6 and a grandmother of 1. Her children are who she’s trying to make the world a better place for. Roishetta truly believes that no one is good until we are all good and she proves that daily through her giving heart and philanthropy.

Panel: Building Care Networks with Louisiana Mutual Aid Groups

Jessica Michot is a wife and mom of four who lives in south Louisiana.  Her identical twin boys both had tracheostomies, utilized ventilators, oxygen, and g-tubes.  Having twins with medical complexities and disabilities thrust Jessica into the disability community.  With the knowledge and experience from her bachelor’s degree in social work to help, she founded Trach Mommas of Louisiana.  She currently works with Disability Access Solutions in disaster preparedness/relief but also runs Trach Mommas full time. 

About Trach Mommas

Trach Mommas of Louisiana, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, was founded in April 2016 as massive state budget cuts loomed with predictions of severe cuts to Medicaid which would affect the disability community. 

Although Trach Mommas was originally conceptualized to provide support to other parents of children with tracheostomies and to advocate for those with medical complexities and/or disabilities , disaster preparedness /relief quickly became part of the mission as a result of the Great Flood of 2016.

Since inception, Trach Mommas of Louisiana has participated in local, state, and national disaster preparedness/relief.  Trach Mommas has worked with state and national officials as well as grassroots efforts to provide essential medical supplies and equipment to individuals with medical complexities and/or disabilities, and the aging population during times of disaster. 

Trach Mommas of Louisiana is a core member of the Emergency Management for Disability and Aging Coalition (EMDAC).  The support group for parents/legal guardians of individuals with tracheostomies contains approximately 230 members across the state.

Trach Mommas of Louisiana has participated in advocacy on the state level with rallies and providing testimony to legislators on items that would affect services to the disability community. Trach Mommas has also participated in advocacy alongside groups such as Southwest Independent Living Center (SLIC) and ADAPT on the national level challenging Senator Bill Cassidy’s Graham-Cassidy bill which would have severely cut and cap Medicaid services.