Three ĄĻ¾ÅĘ·²č alumni are among local professionals recognized by New Orleans CityBusiness as distinguished in the fields of medicine and law and as leaders in the community. Alumni Ashley Tahir and Noel Twilbeck are among the 2019 class of āHealth Care Heroes,ā and alumna Kelly Theard Reggio has been named to the 2019 class of āLeadership in Law.ā
Tahir is one of only two animal care experts named as a 2019 Health Care Hero. She earned a bachelorās degree from the ĄĻ¾ÅĘ·²č in 2005 and went on to receive a masterās degree in public health as well as a doctorate in veterinary medicine from St. Georgeās University in the West Indies. She started out working for a corporate animal hospital in 2012, and within a few years she developed a vision for her own practice. In 2014, Tahir opened Fur De Lis Mobile Veterinary Services so that she could bring an āold-fashioned house call model of careā to pets in the greater New Orleans area. Tahirās philosophy is that a visit in the petās own home prevents the pet from experiencing stress associated with travel and a waiting room with unfamiliar animals.
āI couldnāt be happy in a career that didnāt allow me to spend my days in the company of some the noblest creatures on earth,ā Tahir said.
Twilbeck has both an undergraduate and a masterās degree in business administration from ĄĻ¾ÅĘ·²č. He first joined the health care field in the 1980s out of concern after seeing āmany friends getting sick and dying due to HIV and AIDS,ā he said. He became a volunteer at the NO/AIDS Task Force, which at the time was the only local organization promoting awareness of and supporting those with HIV and AIDS. Eventually NO/AIDS hired him to serve as volunteer coordinator, a position he held for 12 years. Today, Twillbeck is CEO of CrescentCare, a nonprofit health care service provider open to all of southeast Louisiana. An array of services, including HIV support and behavioral health programs, are available through two clinics that are open 6 days a week.
āItās my passion to see all individuals able to access health care. Itās critical for our community,ā Twilbeck said. āWe are making a difference and improving health outcomes.ā
Reggio completed her bachelorās degree in communications at ĄĻ¾ÅĘ·²č in 2000 and earned a juris doctorate from LSU in 2004. She first started working at Deutsch Kerrigan shortly after Hurricane Katrina, which resulted in plenty of lawsuits dealing with sheetrock and contracts. Even though there werenāt many women in the firmās construction section, Reggio relished the challenges that came with it. Now she is a partner at Deutsch Kerrigan and heads the firmās construction section. She represents building companies and subcontractors in matters ranging from the bid process to contract negotiations to liability. She describes her approach as seeking to avoid delays and unnecessary litigation for her clients throughout the construction process.
āWhen lawsuit problems come up, it takes them away from the business,ā Reggio said. āI am incredibly determined and focused, and Iām a big fan of finding solutions rather than a drawn out fight.ā