2021 John W. Barton Sr. Excellence in Nonprofit Management Awards

05.26.2021

For more than two decades, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation has honored the best and most devoted nonprofit leaders with the John W. Barton Sr. Excellence in Nonprofit Management Awards. Four years ago, the Foundation added an award for a younger nonprofit leader—a rising star.

How do we choose the winners? People who have charitable funds at the Foundation nominate candidates. Past chairs choose winners from that list. Winners of the nonprofit management awards receive $10,000 apiece, while the Rising Star gets $5,000. Meet them in our Q&A.

Sarah Broome
Thrive Academy founder
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In 2012, Sarah Broome, a Teach For America teacher, lost one of her students to a street fight. She was inspired to try an education model that truly was different—a public boarding school for at-risk children. Nearly a decade later, Thrive Academy operates a residential school in new buildings on Brightside Drive. Children from across the state live in suites during the week, and spend their weekends with their families. Funded by the state, with support from philanthropists, Thrive serves 180 students in grades 7 through 12.

What is your favorite memory from childhood?

Family trip to Washington, D.C., via Amtrak. I loved riding the train and exploring D.C.

What is your favorite meal?

Chicken tikka masala from Swagat.

Excluding Baton Rouge, what is your favorite city or place and why?

Pawleys Island, South Carolina—it is a small island with nothing but houses and creek docks. I love spending quiet days on the beach with a good book.

Solving which problem would provide the greatest return for our region?

Free access to high-quality mental health care.

Who is your greatest hero from fiction and why?

Sara Crewe—her eternal optimism and imagination make it seem like anything is possible. (Crewe is the lead character in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Little Princess.)

What does the Baton Rouge region lack that you wish it had?

High-quality mass transit.

Which living person do you admire and why?

Sara Blakely—her drive and passion to create a completely new concept from the ground up—and essentially on her own—is inspiring. (Blakely is founder and owner of shapewear brand Spanx.)

What is your most treasured possession?

The shovel we used to break ground on both Thrive campus buildings.

If you had $1 billion to give away, what would you spend it on to improve the region?

A combination of infostructure and business investment in North Baton Rouge, paired with zero-interest small business startup loans and business support; free, high-quality mental health access across the city; universal pre-K and a Universal Basic Income study.

How will you spend the $10,000 Barton Award?

Hopefully on some exciting travel once we are able to again!

Rev. Chris Andrews
Rebuilding Together Baton Rouge
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People live longer and healthier lives if they can stay put in their houses. As executive director of Rebuilding Together Baton Rouge, Chris Andrews helps low-income homeowners retrofit their homes to match their needs as they age. Andrews also leads Jubilee Pioneers, an ecumenical, open community of spiritual seekers. He was a United Methodist minister for more than 40 years, retiring as pastor of the largest Methodist church in Baton Rouge.

What is your favorite memory from childhood?

Spending time with my grandparents at their little camp on Craft Lake near Krotz Springs. It was a one-room shack and I slept on the floor, on the porch. We fished, swam and explored the woods. It was a magical place for me.

What is your favorite meal?

Bleu cheese wedge salad, a perfectly seared 6-ounce filet with a baked potato, and grilled asparagus with a nice bottle of vino.

Excluding Baton Rouge, what is your favorite city or place and why?

Asheville, North Carolina. I love the mountains of Western North Carolina and the vibe of Asheville is captivating. Also, Asheville is the location of my church, Jubilee! We have many friends there.

Solving which problem would provide the greatest return for our region?

Solving the traffic problems in Baton Rouge would improve the quality of life for all our citizens. This would include fixing broken streets and having a good public transportation system.

Who is your greatest hero from fiction and why?

Wendell Berry’s Jayber Crow. He is a bachelor barber in the small town of Port William, Kentucky, who lives a simple life characterized by integrity and basic decency. Wendell Berry’s characters all exhibit a love of place and honor the connections of family and friends—basic ingredients to having a good community.

What does the Baton Rouge region lack that you wish it had?

A plan to preserve our groundwater so that future generations have good, safe drinking water; a means of capturing debris from stormwater runoff that pollutes our streams and fouls our lakes. Good water stewardship is an investment our city needs to make in order to assure that quality of life is not compromised beyond repair.

Which living person do you admire and why?

Dr. Anthony Fauci, for the steady leadership he has rendered during the pandemic. He has stood firm as a man of science and refused to give into political pressure to follow a politically expedient path. His calm, measured style has helped save lives and steered the country in the right direction during the COVID crisis. His example has also inspired a number of young people to choose to study medicine. He is the kind of leader our country needs at this time in our history.

What is your most treasured possession?

I have a photograph that was made many years ago of me and my three siblings sitting in a Red Radio Flyer Wagon. We are lined up by age, with me in the front followed by my brother and two little sisters. Both my sisters died recently, within four days of one another, so this photograph is all the more poignant and stirs so many memories.

If you had $1 billion to give away, what would you spend it on to improve the region?

I would create a company to purchase rundown and abandoned properties in North Baton Rouge and transform them into affordable, stylish starter homes for first-time home buyers.

I would also underwrite my wife’s dream to create a sanctuary for donkeys and horses that are abandoned or abused.

How will you spend the $10,000 Barton Award?

This is a very difficult question for me because I have trouble spending money on myself. But following the directives of the award, I plan to use the money to make a down payment on a party boat to enjoy at False River—something I have always dreamed of owning. We can invite friends to join us for sunset cruises on the river!

Rising Star
Emily Chatelain
Three O’Clock Project
Emily Chatelain was feeding children after school who might go hungry otherwise. So her Three O’Clock Project was ready to expand when the pandemic upended the world last year. With regular school meals for children interrupted, Emily ramped up operations to meet demand from a growing population of low-income kids and adults. At one point, the organization she headed was cooking and distributing more than 70,000 meals per day across South Louisiana. Emily is also a consultant in the field of feeding kids.

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What is your favorite memory from childhood?

Fishing with my dad and being out on the water every chance we got. We grew up in Plaquemines Parish and had direct access to some of the most beautiful recreation our state has to offer. I even won a Best Female Angler Award at a Venice fishing rodeo when I was 12.

What is your favorite meal?

I could eat the crawfish bread from JazzFest every day for the rest of my life and never get tired of it.

Excluding Baton Rouge, what is your favorite city or place and why?

My favorite place to be is the Rocky Mountains in the summer. It feeds my nature-loving soul, and there are endless things to do as a family. We fish, hike, bike, kayak and explore all the trails and streams, while seeing who can count the most wildlife.

Solving which problem would provide the greatest return for our region?

I believe supporting the youth in our community is the best way to build a better future. Solving the inequity we have with health and education would be a great first step. We cannot educate kids who are hungry and who do not have access to healthy food. If we moved children’s health and nutrition to the priority in our school systems, we would have better education outcomes and build a stronger community.

Who is your greatest hero from fiction and why?

Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. He is calm, wise, accepting, forgiving, sympathetic, understanding, fair and just. This book has a lot to teach, and this character is one I try my best to emulate daily—however in the times I fail or fall short, I am reminded of the importance of forgiveness—especially forgiving yourself.

What does the Baton Rouge region lack that you wish it had?

After four years of living in Colorado, I would have to say more open spaces and parks that are all connected by bike lanes and walking and biking trails. It would be amazing to see more people out and about walking or biking in a safe way every day.

What is your most treasured possession?

In my senior year of high school, our teachers all wrote notes to us that we opened during senior retreat. I was close with several of my teachers, and I have kept those notes for the past 15 plus years. Many of them helped shape the person I am today.

If you had $1 billion to give away, what would you spend it on to improve the region?

My top three would be healthy food access, education and transportation. I would find the most progressive leaders producing the most change and bring them all together to continue supporting their efforts.

How will you spend the $5,000 Barton Rising Star Award?

How I spend all of my money—on my kids! And maybe a plant or two for myself.