Denise Thornton

Founder/CEO

denise@lakewoodbeacon.org

Denise Thornton is the Founder and President of The Beacon of Hope Resource Center.  On February 14, 2006 Denise and her husband, Doug, opened her partially rebuilt home... (more)

Tina Marquardt

Executive Director

tina@lakewoodbeacon.org

Tina has corporate and entrepreneurial sales, advertising and consulting experience.   Ms. Marquardt has worked for 23 consecutive years in the automotive... (more)

Ashley Christensen

Volunteer Coordinator

Ashley@lakewoodbeacon.org

Ashley has two years of volunteer and construction experience in the greater New Orleans area. After graduating college she located to New Orleans to join in the recovery efforts, working with a faith based recovery program as a Site Leader/ Volunteer Supervisor.  She is from Cedar Falls, Iowa where she attended Hawkeye Community College and worked as a Non-Foods Assistant Manager at a local grocery store as well as a Youth Group leader at Bethlehem Lutheran Church.  

Meredith Harper

Market Manager

Info@HarrisonAvenueMarketplace.org

Meredith was born and raised in Uptown New Orleans and moved to Lakview in 2009. She graduated from LSU in 2008 with her B.F.A. and is currently pursuing her masters in Arts Administration at UNO. She has previously worked in the non-profit world with the local rebuilding organization Phoenix of New Orleans. She has previously worked teaching kids the art of making prints and books, and has also worked in sales and design at a local construction company. Meredith is very excited to join the team as Market Manager, and hopes to make the Harrison Avenue Markets better than ever!

Martin Huber

Operations Assistant

Martin@lakewoodbeacon.org

Martin holds a Bachelor of Science in Philosophy / Religion from Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky.  Martin has over ten years of non profit experience in volunteer management, program management and special event coordination.   Martin has worked for several major non profits including City Year, and Best Buddies.   Martin has volunteered as a hurricane recovery worker for two years before joining Beacon of Hope Resource Center.  Working closely with the Director of Operations, Martin works on fundraising, Technical Assistance, Grant Reporting, and developing partnerships with other non profits.

Heather Huth

Volunteer Cordinator

heather@lakewoodbeacon.org

Heather holds a Business Administration degree in Marketing from the University of New Orleans.  Ms. Huth worked for five years with Ming Products as manager, keeping the books and providing retail and marketing direction.  Following Hurricane Katrina, she joined Beacon of Hope as a key volunteer providing work supervision for our thousands of visiting volunteers.  She joined Beacon’s staff in early spring of 2007 and currently serves as Volunteer Coordinator.  She is responsible for overall direction of the program.

Laura Mellem

Community Coordinator

Laura@lakewoodbeacon.org

Originally from Minneapolis, MN, Laura often finds herself migrating to warmer climates.  She received a Bachelor of Arts in Critical Theory and Social Justice and a minor in English and Comparative Literary Studies from Occidental College in sunny Los Angeles and is now happy to call New Orleans home.  Laura came to New Orleans in November 2009 as an AmeriCorps VISTA with Neighborhood Housing Services and served as the Volunteer Coordinator at the 7th Ward Neighborhood Center.  With a passion for neighborhood-level organizing and social justice, Laura is excited to join the Beacon of Hope Resource Center as the Community Coordinator. 

Laura Partridge

Administrative Assistant

Lpartridge@lakewoodbeacon.org

Laura moved to New Orleans in August 2010 from Birmingham, Alabama.  She holds an Organizational Communication degree from Huntingdon College in Montgomery, AL.   Over the past five years Laura worked in the television, state, non-profit and local business worlds obtaining a wide variety of administrative and management experience.   She joined the Beacon’s staff as the Executive Administrative Assistant in September 2010.  She is responsible for assisting the Executive Director and Beacon staff members along with overseeing daily office tasks and accounting. 

Jason Stopa

PHA Program Coordinator/Community Coordinator

Jason@lakewoodbeacon.org

 Jason is a recent graduate of the Master of Urban and Regional Planning Program at the University of New Orleans.  As a student he specialized in land use, environment, blight and urban agriculture.  He led a project to address distressed neighborhoods and worked on community mapping projects.  He also has 2 years experience as a Relationship Banker with Capital One Bank.  There he provided community outreach through youth financial education programs.  He is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a BA in History.