Dr. Cathy Denison-Robert, MBA is the Director of the 2022 Louisiana Disaster Recovery Conference: A Time of Hope and Renewal and the Executive Director of Business & Workforce Recovery Solutions, Inc. Since May 2021, Cathy has led the Southwest LA Recovery Project for Small Businesses, Workers, and Families. Her passion is to offer a unique, comprehensive approach to disaster recovery.
Cathy has experienced firsthand the tremendous need that her 501(c)(3) non-profit organization strives to address, having survived multiple natural disasters since 2005 in LA and along the Gulf Coast. In 2005, she lost her home and small business in Hurricane Rita in Southwest LA. Since then, she has worked many disasters helping small businesses, families, and others impacted by disaster. Her family faced staggering loss from Hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020 in Southwest LA. Cathy believes these disaster recovery programs are her calling and it is her heart to serve those most in need.
As a business consultant, coach, trainer, small business owner, university professor, project manager, grants specialist, non-profit Executive Director, and servant leader, Cathy has worked with businesses, non-profit organizations, and aspiring entrepreneurs for over 20 years. She is a mentor, support group facilitator, and small group leader. Much of her disaster recovery experience started from her own business and personal loss.
She was Associate Professor and Director of the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Program at a faith-based private university in LA. She enjoys teaching, mentoring, and leading students in Business, Entrepreneurship, Management, Marketing, Health Administration, and Transformational Entrepreneurship courses. She is an Adjunct Faculty member at two universities. Her favorite university work is to help students to develop real business projects that serve community partner and non-profit organizations while teaching the students workplace and life skills.
Cathy’s degrees include Post-Doctorate in Management and Marketing from the University of Florida; Ph.D. and M.S. in Vocational Education (Training and HR Ed.) from LSU; and Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) and B.S. in Agribusiness from McNeese State University.
Cathy enjoys leading and serving in educational and ministry activities with her husband, Jody. Cathy is proud of her son, Devin who works as a Quality and Industrial Engineer. She was raised on a family farm in Southwest LA where she learned about hard work and love for serving others as exemplified by her parents and five sisters.