When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, Houston opened its arms to the New Orleanians who were evacuated here. Angela Blanchard, who led Neighborhood Centers, Inc. (now BakerRipley) at the time, was one of our city leaders who took charge and made a difference.
Now she joins us at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 28, in UHD’s Wilhelmina Cullen Robertson Auditorium in the Academic Building for Part II of “Katrina: 20 Years Later” with her presentation entitled “SHIPWRECKED: How We Go on After the Unthinkable,” as part of the Fall 2025 President’s Lecture Series.
Blanchard’s SHIPWRECKED PROJECT was born in the aftermath of Katrina and the failure of the levees, when she first began chronicling the stages/states of mind that people experience in the long journey after catastrophic upheaval, “rebirthing” themselves in a new place that they may one day call home.
Blanchard is a visionary problem-solver with a whole-systems approach to caring for people facing the unthinkable. From long-term disaster recovery to effective integration of immigrants and refugees, her breakthrough strategies have successfully revitalized neighborhoods and supported city, state, and regional disaster recovery, while providing a powerful roadmap for city leaders around the world—specifically business, civic, and nonprofit leaders tackling complex challenges of community transformation, long-term recovery, and resettlement.
Throughout her 40-year career, Blanchard has received numerous awards and recognition, including the prestigious Heinz Prize for Improving the Human Condition. She has been a Senior Fellow at Brookings Institution and Brown University’s Watson Institute and recognized multiple times by the Obama White House for her work in rebuilding communities. For her advocacy on behalf of refugees and immigrants, she received several awards including the Underground Railroad Award, NCJW Hannah G. Solomon Award, and the Chinese Community Center Compassion Award.
Join us in this tribute to the human spirit as we understand how New Orleanians—as well as people who have suffered from disasters from around the globe—survived, recovered, and healed.