LaVerne Toombs

LaVerne Toombs is the vice president of development for the American Heart Association, an organization that fights heart disease and stroke and, in turn, helps families and communities thrive. As a leader on the development team, LaVerne uses her magnanimous and infectious personality to help manage the fundraising team to provide them with the necessary tools to achieve those goals. She does this all while building upon volunteer and fundraising opportunities partnering with influential corporate and community voices. Her excellent communication skills have made her a go-to for political, community, government, and education program development, as she can execute those visions by increasing the visibility and impact of any agency that brings her on board. Her reach and effectiveness are exemplified in her most recent designation as an official TEDx speaker, inspiring her audience to embrace forgiveness through her own personal story of discovering she was adopted at the age of 14.

Originally from Northern Louisiana, she’s dedicated her life to improving the state and parishes she calls home. She began her professional career in Senator Mary Landrieu’s office, earning a promotion to work as the regional manager for Senator Landrieu’s office on the federal level representing the New Orleans area as part of her 13-parish district. A champion for equality, civil rights, and minority- and Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs, LaVerne also worked as the executive director for the New Orleans Regional Black Chamber of Commerce. There she helped support, grow and promote Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs while working towards promoting inclusivity and awareness for minority-owned businesses throughout the Greater New Orleans area.

LaVerne is also an educator- a skill she brings with her and incorporates throughout her professional demands. As a former interim chief administrative officer for community outreach, alumni affairs, and public relations at Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO), she not only implemented comprehensive institutional advancement programs but also recruited and grew constituent involvement and fundraising outcomes. She also teaches a classroom full of students eager to learn the particulars and techniques of grant writing in Grant Writing 101 as an adjunct instructor for Delgado Community College. Her experience in inspiring and incentivizing people and workers from all areas of life is a key strength of hers she brings to better her community.

LaVerne has made environmental conservation and coastal restoration part of her life’s work, inspired by her early professional days working in Senator Mary Landrieu’s office. She believes coastal restoration is pivotal to ensuring a robust environment for future generations and wants to be a source to inspire and inform more people of color about environmental issues and their impact.

LaVerne also serves as part of the Crescent City Links chapter, the International Women Foundation, as a board member of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation.  She’s served as Chair for Dress for Success New Orleans and the American Red Cross Southeast. She’s served as a board member for the following organizations: Kid Smart, Café Reconcile, Kingsley House, Louisiana Children’s Museum, Urban League of Louisiana, Daughter of Charity, and NOCCA. LaVerne has also participated with the United Way Women’s Leadership Council, Women Professional Council, Greater New Orleans Junior League Sustainer, and Citizens for 1 Resource Council. Her passion for staying involved in and being a powerful voice of change for her community dating back to 1999, makes her a leader and an inspiration to many.

 Since 1998, agencies have recognized and tapped LaVerne as a leader and a changemaker in her industries and communities. She earned recognition in the Who’s Who Among American Female Executives, the Power Generation 40 Under 40 Top Business and Community Leaders in New Orleans, and Role Model of the Year for the Young Women’s Christian Association and Young Leadership Council in 2004 and 2010, respectively. She was awarded a Woman of Excellence in 2015 and a Bleu Flame of Excellence Recipient for Dillard University in 2016 and 2017.

She founded Write for You, a management and development consulting firm which assists nonprofit organizations and profits businesses across the country. LaVerne pulls from her professional experience as an author of two books as well, How to Run a Successful Home-Based Business and Tips for Successful Grant Writing which both received numerous awards and accolades. She’s an unrelenting force advocating for the disadvantaged across a variety of spectrums: governmental, political, nonprofit, healthcare, educational, and environmental. When she is not serving the community at large, LaVerne enjoys the company of her four adult children, six loving grandchildren, cycling, or reading a novel.