NEWS
Kim M. Braud | July 17, 2026
NEW ORLEANS — Heroes of New Orleans launched its INVEST in Algiers campaign Friday with a check presentation marking $1 million raised for the nonprofit's West Bank community center, which runs youth workforce development, STEM, recreation, culinary arts, hospitality, and youth and family services programs.
Greater New Orleans Inc. hosted the ceremony. Pastor Jonathan Everett, who serves on the organization's board, delivered the invocation.
Mayor Helena Moreno gave the keynote address, commending founder and chief executive Gregory Ravy and the students in the organization's programs for their work.
State Rep. Delisha Boyd, who represents District 102 in Algiers, presented $425,000, the largest contribution recognized at the ceremony.
Five other contributions were presented:
- Greg Keller Foundation, $250,000
- IMTT, $200,000
- NOLA Motorsports Park, $100,000
- Keesler Federal Credit Union, $15,000
- Ochsner Health, $10,000
Together the six totaled $1 million.
IMTT's contribution continues a relationship that predates the campaign. The terminal operator named Heroes of New Orleans among the recipients of a $500,000 round of giving it announced in August 2025 under its Community Impact Initiative.
Michael Hecht, president and chief executive of GNO Inc., joined students from the organization's programs on stage.
The founder
Ravy grew up in the Fischer Projects, the Algiers development that was among the most notorious of the city's public housing developments in the 1980s. He told the Times-Picayune in 2024 that Fischer was "rough," and that some of the people he grew up with got out and some did not.
Mentors helped him finish high school. He went on to a four-year college, earned a degree and took a job as a drill and fluid engineer with Baker Hughes, working offshore.
In 2015, on a trip home from a two-week stint on the rigs, he returned to the old neighborhood, bought food, found a patch of grass and put on an outdoor fun day for the kids there. According to the Times-Picayune's account, the calls asking him to do it again started almost immediately. Heroes of New Orleans grew out of that afternoon.
Ravy has described the organization's purpose as giving young people in the neighborhood something constructive to do and putting them in contact with role models from their own community.
The programs
Heroes of New Orleans is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Its programming combines workforce development, education and training, case management, mentorship, restorative justice, and violence reduction work, with a stated focus on moving young people through high school, college, vocational training, apprenticeships, GED programs and internships toward credentialed jobs.
The organization also runs a Summer Success Program and a United Way giveaway, and it produces the Heroes Podcast Show, which Ravy hosts.
Its community center is in Algiers. More information is at heroesofnola.org.
Photo caption
Students in Heroes of New Orleans programs stand with Michael Hecht, president and chief executive of Greater New Orleans Inc., at the launch of the INVEST in Algiers campaign on July 17, 2026. Photo by Kim M. Braud / Evans Cutchmore Press.
Video
Mayor Helena Moreno delivers the keynote address at the INVEST in Algiers campaign launch, July 17, 2026. Video by Kim M. Braud / Evans Cutchmore Press.
Kim M. Braud is the Founder & Editor of Evans Cutchmore Press, an independent newsroom covering Louisiana and the Gulf South. Her reporting focuses on government accountability, infrastructure, business, culture, and the public policies that shape communities. Her work combines investigative journalism, public records research, and documentary storytelling.
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