• Caddo Parish Director of Juvenile Services Clay Walker was named the 19th recipient of the prestigious Don E. Wydra Memorial Award for Outstanding Contribution to Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention at the recent Louisiana Governor’s Conference on Juvenile Justice.
Walker’s career spans over 20 years in juvenile justice and law. He represented the youngest member of the Jena Six, and in 2008, was appointed as the director of Juvenile Defender Services for the State Public Defender Board. In 2011, Clay was hired as the director of juvenile services in Caddo Parish, overseeing 80 employees who run the Parish Juvenile Detention Center as well as the probation services for Caddo Juvenile Court.
The criteria for the Wydra award require a demonstrated commitment to juvenile justice.
• Origin Bank has announced that Stephen Oden has joined the bank as a mortgage loan officer for the company’s Shreveport- Bossier City team.
Oden has more than seven years of experience, specializing in real estate lending. In his position at Origin Bank he will focus on providing unparalleled service throughout the mortgage loan process, guiding customers through the intricacies of application and documentation.
Oden has a Bachelor of Science in finance from Louisiana Tech University. He is a member of the Shreveport Downtown Rotary Club and is involved with the Young Professionals Initiative of Northwest Louisiana. Oden will maintain an office at Origin Bank’s Airline Drive Banking Center.
• The Tenth District of the American Advertising Federation recently named Allen Garcie, assistant professor of digital arts at LSU-Shreveport, as the Outstanding Advertising Educator of the Year.
The purpose of the award is to recognize members of a Tenth District AAF college chapter who have made outstanding and unselfish contributions to the growth and improvement of advertising through the academic process.
Garcie was recognized at the annual AAF Tenth District Advention Conference and Governor’s Ball held in Fort Worth.
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