Kelsey Kornick Funes

Partner, phelps dunbar llp

Kelsey Kornick Funes is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Phelps Dunbar LLP where her practice focus is construction law. Kelsey currently serves as the practice coordinator of the Baton Rouge Litigation practice.

Kelsey was born and raised in New Orleans where she graduated from Cabrini High School and moved to Baton Rouge to attend LSU. After graduating from LSU, Kelsey attended law school at LSU and decided to start her practice in Baton Rouge at Phelps Dunbar where she has practiced since 1997. Kelsey is married to Dr. Chris Funes, a pediatrician with Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group, and has two teenagers.

Kelsey is an active member of the American Bar Association Forum on Construction Law and is an arbitrator on the American Arbitration Association’s Construction Panel. She is the listed in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business and has an AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rating from the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory.

WHY DID YOU JOIN THE CPEX BOARD?

My entire professional life, my office has been in downtown Baton Rouge. I was able to witness first hand the evolution of downtown as a result of the vision and energy of the precursor to CPEX, Plan Baton Rouge. Years later, I was invited to participate in the CPEX Complete Streets Project in my neighborhood, near Webb Park, in Mid City. During that project, I participated in meetings hosted by CPEX to gauge priorities and interests of various stakeholders and residents, and was able to hear from experts about bike and traffic safety to help us envision a plan for a neighborhood that is safer for walking, running and biking. Being a part of that project showed me the impact that CPEX can have in our communities by assembling neighbors, businesses and experts to marshal resources to build the type of environments that people want to live in. I am proud and honored to serve on the board and help introduce people to the important work CPEX does and bring attention to the important role it plays now and can play in the future.

WHY IS THE WORK THAT CPEX DOES SO IMPORTANT? 

Everyone deserves to love where they live. But creating a space that provides a safe, healthy and secure environment is difficult and can be impacted by a lot of factors. The CPEX staff has deep knowledge of the issues that affect the built environment. They are thought leaders on one of the biggest challenges South Louisiana is facing—drainage and the impact of severe weather on our communities. Because CPEX is a non-profit, it has the freedom to focus on doing good, sharing resources and bringing people together to thoughtfully plan what our communities will look like to accentuate all of our best resources, create healthy and beautiful environments and mitigate risk.

WHAT CPEX PROJECT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? 

I am so proud of all of the work that CPEX does, so it is hard to pick one project to highlight. My favorite project so far has been Better Block on Government Street. In 2013, CPEX put together a demonstration to show people what Government Street could be. In doing that, CPEX lit a fire and sparked a movement that has resulted in a renaissance in Mid City. Long vacant buildings now house thriving businesses. Local businesses and restaurants attract folks from across the city to Government Street as a destination. And the sidewalks and crosswalks create a safe space for people to walk or bike instead of driving. Now the Perkins Road Overpass area is doing the same. These areas are such a gift to our city! More recently, CPEX completed master plans for Southern University and the Scotlandville Community. Once again, they are bringing people together to illustrate what those places can be and assembling investors and government officials who are instrumental to making it actually happen and giving them a playbook for how to get it done.

WHAT CHANGES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IN YOUR COMMUNITY IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS?

Managing water and traffic are two of the biggest hurdles facing Baton Rouge. My hope is that CPEX can lend support to our elected officials, business leaders and local developers to use smart planning to help manage and minimize those risks.

Joni Hammons

project manager

Joni is a native Louisianian with roots along the banks of Bayou Teche in St. Martin Parish. Her love for the diverse cultural and physical landscapes of south Louisiana inspired her career in design and planning, and it’s an honor for her to use her skills to make Louisiana a better place to live.

Joni earned degrees in English, Philosophy, and Landscape Architecture, and she is a proud alumnus of the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture at LSU. Joni’s professional experience spans the academic, non-profit, government, and private sectors. She worked as a Designer and Planner at Design Workshop in Austin, TX and completed internships with the National Park Service and the Cultural Landscape Foundation. She has also held leadership roles within the American Society of Landscape Architects.

At CPEX, Joni brings to the team an interest in land conservation, interpretation of cultural landscapes, and public space design as an instrument of community revitalization, and she is grateful that her work at CPEX allows her to pursue a variety of interests in the worlds of planning, design, and policy. When she’s not in the office, you can find Joni staring at plants on long walks around town, experimenting in the kitchen, or exploring the small towns of South Louisiana.

How long have you worked for CPEX? 

Three and a half years.

How does your job fit into the CPEX mission? 

All of the projects I work on contribute in some way to building a healthier, more vibrant Louisiana.

What does your job entail? 

I lead several projects at CPEX; they range from state-level policy initiatives to small town master planning efforts. My work involves lots of project coordination, developing policy and plan recommendations, convening stakeholders, developing graphics to communicate planning and policy ideas–lots of critical thinking, communication, and management!

What do you like most about your job? 

Working in rural communities and small towns; I grew up in Parks, Louisiana, and I love being able to help small Louisiana communities rally around the things that are important to them.

What is the best career lesson you’ve learned so far? 

Always bet on yourself.

What do you like to do when you aren’t working? 

You can find me on neighborhood walks with my husband and our son, John Teche. My husband and I are both landscape architects, and we love nothing more than checking out plants around town and working on projects around the house. Oh, and I love cooking, too!

What is your vision for what planning can accomplish in Louisiana? 

My hope is that by making planning accessible to Louisiana communities, it will be easier for young people to build a life here that gives them joy and provides them with opportunities for health, wealth, and success. Celebrating and protecting our state’s incredible natural environments is also an important component of my vision for planning in Louisiana.

If there was a news story about you, what would be the headline?

“Area Woman Banned From Workplace After Mentioning How Much She Loves Her Hometown and Louisiana Way Too Many Times”

Three words to best describe you:

Reflecting, planning, and storytelling.

Supporting Redevelopment in North Baton Rouge

PROJECT Description:

CPEX worked with Southern University and A&M College and the Scotlandville Community in North Baton Rouge to develop a Campus Master Plan and Community Strategic Plan. Both plans are intended to serve as a blueprint for the future of the university and adjacent Scotlandville community. These plans work toward implementing IMAGINE 20K: 2018-2030, a strategic plan that outlines ten broad goals for how Southern University should continue to advance. These goals address campus life through infrastructure development, increasing enrollment to 20,000 students, expanding the university’s footprint in Baton Rouge and Louisiana, and building partnerships with the surrounding community to meet their needs and achieve the university's vision.

PROJECT goal:

Both plans are intended to create a world-class community for students and faculty, and a campus environment that is welcoming and inclusive. The campus plan focuses on improvements to the physical campus to better accommodate teaching, research, discovery, and learning so the university has the facilities and resources to continue to contribute new knowledge to the world. The Scotlandville Community Strategic Plan strengthens connections between the University and the Scotlandville community, with the goal of creating a vibrant, mixed-use university neighborhood that provides housing, multi-modal transportation, and services to current and future residents, students, and faculty.

WHY IS THIS PROJECT SO IMPORTANT?

This project is important to serve the faculty and students of Southern University and residents of the Scotlandville community. The process of implementing both plans will accelerate revitalization efforts in Scotlandville and North Baton Rouge, which has seen too many years of disinvestment. Both plans will add community assets, support economic development and housing and services for all community residents, to create a vibrant, economically thriving community.

WHAT IS CPEX’s FAVORITE PART OF PROJECT SO FAR? 

Working with SU leadership and Scotlandville residents and stakeholders has provided us with a rare opportunity to receive an in-depth history lesson about both Southern University and Scotlandville and how they have been intertwined since their origins.

WHAT HAs CPEX LEARNED WHILE WORKING ON THIS PROJECT?

There is just one piece of untouched, natural bluff of the Mississippi River left in Baton Rouge—and it’s in Scotlandville on SU’s campus.