Our Team
Staff
Angela Adkins
Executive Director
Angela has advocated at the Capitol during legislative sessions since 1989 to protect and advance women and children’s issues. She co-founded LaRatifyERA and the Louisiana Coalition for Reproductive Freedom. She worked with the National Organization for Women, NARAL, and the Legislative Agenda for Women. Angela coordinated the largest Women’s March in the state in January 2017 and was the Director of Operations for two of the last three abortion clinics in Louisiana; Delta Clinic of Baton Rouge and Women’s Health Care Center in New Orleans.
Board of Directors
Melissa Flournoy
Board Chair
Dr. Flournoy served in the Louisiana House of Representatives, founded the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations (LANO) and the Louisiana Budget Project. Dr. Flournoy was the Executive Director of the RAND Gulf States Policy Institute and the Louisiana State Director of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast. Currently, Dr. Flournoy is an adjunct professor in Political Science at LSU. Dr. Flournoy has served on numerous boards and commissions and is a lifelong advocate for women and children.
Alfreda Tillman Bester, Esq., MBA
Board Vice Chair
Alfreda Tillman Bester is the principal attorney with Tillman Bester & Associates, LLC, a law firm located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Ms. Bester previously served as Special Counsel for Human Services at Southern University Law Center’s Vulnerable Communities & Peoples Initiative, and as an Adjunct Law Professor.
Alfreda is also the Host of “Perspective,” a weekly public interest radio show that airs every Tuesday and Saturday at 5:30 p.m. on WTQT 106.1 fm (www.wtqt.org) in Baton Rouge. She is a former Louisiana Secretary of Labor and is the former General Counsel for the Louisiana State Conference of the NAACP.
Ms. Bester is a cum laude graduate of Southern University Law Center, holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from McNeese State University, and a B.S. in Human Resources from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Tia LeBrun
Board Treasurer
Michelle Erenberg has worked as a policy advocate, community organizer, and coalition coordinator for more than a decade. Her past work experience includes community organizing for Planned Parenthood in New Orleans, coordinating a diverse coalition of environmental, community and faith-based organizations across the Gulf Coast in response to the 2010 BP oil spill, and analyzing and educating the public about policies and public engagement opportunities related to ecological and community recovery and restoration. She previously served as a board member with the National Council of Jewish Women Greater New Orleans Section. In 2016, she co-founded Lift Louisiana, to educate, advocate and litigate to protect reproductive rights. She is a recipient of the 2022 Jane Bagley Lehman Award for her work fighting for reproductive justice. Erenberg has a BA in Psychology from Loyola University New Orleans and an MPA in Nonprofit Management from the University of New Orleans.
Tia LeBrun is the eldest of her single mother’s four children. She grew up in and around the Houma area of Terrebonne Parish. As a youth, her teachers encouraged her to pursue educational opportunities, and she became an educator in order to help young people in the same way. She is an 18 year Louisiana educator with 12 years classroom and 6 years district leadership experience. Currently, she serves as a provider of professional development for bilingual education programs. She has worked nearly 20 years in the service industry in addition to her experience in public education. As a single mother in the beginning of her professional career, she held a service industry job to supplement her teacher salary. She is a first generation high school graduate and college graduate.
Her education includes a Bachelor’s from LSU Baton Rouge in Secondary Education with concentrations in French and Social Studies, a Master’s from UNO in Special Education with concentration on Deaf and Hard of Hearing, a school leadership certification from Our Lady of Holy Cross, and an English as a Second Language certification from ULL. She is currently pursuing an EDD from the American College of Education.
Her membership in the United Houma Nation gave her an early childhood filled with Louisiana French, though she was not initially taught the language by her family due to the discrimination they suffered in their lifetime as a result of their bilingualism. Her Great Grandmother Malvina Dardar, or “Tante Mona” as the tribal members know her, was the spark that led to Tia’s drive to become French-English bilingual. Now, an Advanced French user, an Intermediate Spanish user, and Novice Mandarin user, Tia has used her passion for language learning to try and level the playing field for educated immigrants and bilingual learners in all contexts.
Tia is the wife of a career welder turned welding teacher and mother to a beautiful blended bunch of 6 children. Her 4 grandchildren, who call her Lola, are an important part of her family.
Michelle Erenberg
Board Secretary