• Glenn and Chris Kinsey Recognized

The Greater Shreveport Chamber honored long-standing businessmen and philanthropists Glenn and Chris Kinsey as the Chamber’s Business Leaders of the Year for 2021 at its 112th Annual Banquet.

Since 1978, the Chamber has recognized local business leaders who bring together superior business acumen with significant contributions to the development of the greater Shreveport community. For the first time, the prestigious award was presented to brothers.

Shreveport natives Glenn and Chris are Culver Military Academy graduates. Glenn holds a BA and BFA from Southern Methodist University, and Chris holds a BA from Trinity University and an MBA from LSU. Together with their siblings, they own and manage Kinsey Interests, a family office active in oil and gas, real estate, timber, and public and private equity, based in Shreveport. Kinsey Interests employs almost 500 individuals in North Louisiana and over 5,000 individuals across the globe through their direct investments in more than 35 companies.

Glenn and Chris are the third generation of the Kinsey family to take up the mantle of business leadership in Shreveport.

In addition to their charitable contributions, the men’s involvement as board members and officers in a host of organizations, including: The YMCA, Boy Scouts of America, Committee of 100, Holy Angels, LSU Health Sciences Foundation, the United Way and the Community Foundation of Northwest Louisiana as well as LABI, CABL, PAR and the Nature Conservancy speaks to the tradition of service that is one of the hallmarks of the Kinsey family.

Their father was honored with this award almost 30 years ago.

• Virginia K. Shehee Awards

The Virginia K. Shehee Most Influential Woman event returns on Thursday, March 3, from 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. at East Ridge Country Club. The event honors women who have made significant contributions to our community by providing their expertise, time and resources.

The credentials for recipients include women who have shown a commitment to philanthropy by helping children, the elderly, those in need, the arts, business development, education or other acts of caring through unpaid positions.

Patrons can support the event by purchasing tickets for $75. Table sponsorships are $1,000 and include luncheon tickets for eight, recognition in the program and a flower arrangement in a special container made by Holy Angels’ residents. Table sponsorships and individual tickets are available at https://www.laholyangels.org/events/mostinfluential-women/

• Chamber Welcomes Allyson Walker

Allyson Walker has been appointed as the Shreveport Chamber’s director of marketing, communications and public relations. Walker is a Shreveport native and Northwestern State University graduate. Walker was most recently the marketing manager for the Shreveport- Bossier Sports Commission, where she supported the more than 100 events hosted by the Commission each year.

Walker will help further the Chamber’s efforts to grow business and build community by providing enhanced visibility opportunities at Chamber events and activities and increasing the Chamber’s brand profile.

• Garden Study Club Hosts Coykendall

On Wednesday, Feb. 16, the Shreveport Garden Study Club will host speaker John Coykendall of Blackberry Farm Resort at LSU-S Auditorium at 11 a.m. He will present “Seeds of the Past for the Future,” passing on a rich history of seeds and their stories.

Coykendall is an internationally renowned horticulturalist and seed saver and a master gardener at Blackberry Farm Resort in Tennessee. Coykendall has been preserving seeds, traditions, oral histories and foodways for decades. His latest book, “Preserving Our Roots: My Journey to Save Seeds and Stories” chronicles how Coykendall tracked down and safeguarded rare and heirloom varieties of crops historically grown in the Washington parish region in Louisiana. He then safely returned them to the descendants of farmers who described them to him decades earlier. Coykendall hopes to inspire others to view these rare seeds and stories as grounding us to the earth and rooting us both to our past and future.

He has collected seeds from the most successful gardens in the world. He brings the knowledge of decades in the garden, along with centuries-old heirloom seeds he has collected from the region and all over the world. The event is free. His book will also be available for sale.

Shreveport-based School Offers Country-wide Access

BRF’s Digital Media Institute (DMI) now offers online classes to students in all 50 states. Across the nation, students can now enroll in DMI’s Animation, Visual Effects and Interactive Content (AVEI) one-year certificate program. In the AVEI program, students learn how to create 3D and 2D graphics, virtual and augmented reality content, motion capture, digital cinema and more. The AVEI program prepares students for careers in a variety of industries, including feature film and streaming visual effects, advertising and marketing, TV news production, interactive game content, 3D product development, cyber security visualization, augmented and virtual reality, forestry simulation, 3D modeling, architectural visualization and more.

This recent expansion of DMI programming, approved by the Louisiana Board of Regents and the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements, follows DMI’s expansion across Louisiana in fall 2021. In October 2021, DMI announced it would also offer its AVEI program through distance learning offerings at the University of New Orleans, Northwestern State University and Nunez Community College. The expansion to the three schools is funded in part by Louisiana Economic Development’s Entertainment Development Fund to provide workforce development programs in digital media for the state.

“We are finding students where they are,” said John Miralles, executive director of DMI. “Employers across the country are looking for individuals with skills in digital media. Now we’re offering training on technology used by major studios to students no matter where they live.”

To learn more, visit dmi.edu.

Earhart Chosen For Leadership

Lydia Earhart, director of marketing and community relations at The Glen, has been selected to be a part of the 2022 Larry Minnix Leadership Academy program through LeadingAge, a national organization in aging services.

Earhart will join leaders in the aging industry from around the nation for a year-long curriculum drawing on adult learning theory delving into the core principles of reflective leadership through a variety of components.

Earhart joined The Glen in 2016 after a lengthy career in journalism. She has been instrumental in the planning, marketing and sales of Redbrook at The Glen, the community’s newest option for independent living.