Check out the Shreveport Times Community Leaders to Watch in 2023

The Shreveport-Bossier area is shining with community leaders and for 2023 we decided to shed a light on a few people who are working in the community to make a positive impact.

Whether they spend their time educating the masses or inspiring others to pursue their calling, here are the 2023 Ones to Watch in the Community.

Versa Clark

Community Activist

Versa Clark moved with his family to Shreveport in 1950 from Ajax, LA and he spent all but one year of his education in Caddo Parish schools. After graduating in 1964 from George Washington Carver High Schook, Clark joined the U.S. Air Force where he served for nine years that included two tours in Vietnam.

Clark bounced between Denver, CO and Shreveport after graduating from Centenary College with a Bachelor of Arts in Non-Clinical Sociology. After the Cedar Grove riots in 1988, Clark began working on the "Cedar Grove Plan" that was a comprehensive approach to the redevelopment of the community of Cedar Grove.

"My hope in 2023 is to be able to accomplish a Renaissance for Cedar Grove just in time for the 100-year anniversary in 2027 of Cedar Grove as a community in the city of Shreveport," Versa said. "We have some very lofty goals that we would like to bring to fruition and hope that the new administration will assist in this development."

Seven months after the completion of the "Cedar Grove Plan", in February of 1994, Clark moved to New Mexico and stayed there until his retirement as a high school Social Studies educator and made his way back to Shreveport. In 2018, Clark ran for city council with one of his three main goals being to put Cedar Grove back into the news in a positive way.

"The Shreveport-Bossier area has always had great potential for economic and social development," Versa continued. "And starting from the summer of 1962 wile caddying for Kayla Baker at East Ridge Country Club, to working with Rep. Buddy Roemer on the Caddo-Bossier Port, to being instructed in government by Joe D. Waggoner at Centenary College, and the many years of advice from Virginia Shehee, I want to do the best I can to leave this area better than I found it."

Christopher Bordelon

Public Information Officer, Corporal for the Shreveport Police Department

Christopher Bordelon was hired by the Shreveport Police Department in 2010 after obtaining his bachelor's degree from Tulane University and going on to get a Master's in Healthcare Administration at the University of New Orleans.

During his time at the Police Department, Bordelon has spent two years as a patrol officer, two years with the community response unit, six years as an investigator and approximately two years as a public information officer and recruiter. Additionally, Bordelon has served five years as a member of the swat team and serves as the current President of the Shreveport Police Union.

"Police work has been a natural transition for me," said Bordelon. "I came from an athletic background. It is my opinion that policing is the ultimate team sport. Teamwork, courage, commitment, integrity and communication are all things that sports taught me. Those attributes are used by Shreveport police officers every day."

Bordelon believes that 2023 is going to be a great year for the Shreveport Police as the department is heading in the right direction. He intends on continuing the message that "the police are the public and the public are the police" and getting law enforcement back to the basics of what they do.

Bordelon recognizes that winning and maintaining public approval requires hard work to build a reputation by enforcing the laws and ordinances impartially, recruiting and hiring officers who respect and understand the community and only using force that is reasonable and just.

"In police work we refer to your reason for entering the field as your 'why' and my why is very simple," Bordelon explained. "I believe in our community; I see daily the strength and resilience of our citizens. This is a unique and diverse community that I believe is coming together for all the right reasons. We have the culture of Louisiana with the Texas attitude, which combines to make for a welcoming community, no matter what walk of life you come from. I am proud to serve this community and our future is bright."

Deborah Smith

Assistant Professor, LSU Health Shreveport

In July 2021, Dr. Deborah Smith joined the LSUHS School of Allied Health Professions in the Department of Public Health, where she began teaching classes in Epidemiology, Global Health, Social Behavioral Sciences, and Public Health Strategic Planning.

"I'm actually from Brazil," said Smith. "I was born and raised there." Smith is from Fortaleza, Brazil, and moved to Shreveport after marrying her husband a native of Shreveport.

Prior to moving to Shreveport Smith received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Fortaleza University in Brazil and then continued her education receiving both her master’s degree and PhD in Public Health from the prestigious Federal University of Ceará in Brazil. During her time at Federal University of Ceará she studied abroad at Tulane University, where she met Corey Smith her husband and moved to Shreveport.

Smith has research expertise in the field of epidemiology in infectious diseases among vulnerable populations, especially HIV. Her research interests include woman's health, prison health, infectious disease, drug use and violence.

Woman's health is a huge part of Smith's passion, she is currently taking part in an initiative to serve the rural communities of northwest Louisiana providing women with mammograms and Pap smears through the Partners in Wellness Mobile Unit.

"My biggest goals for 2023 is to reach out to those communities who don't have access to help," said Smith. She continued by explaining the study she is currently doing with this mobile unit is not only providing services but the knowledge to women who do not understand cervical cancer and HPV.

Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Check out the Shreveport Times Community Leaders to Watch in 2023