Co-Founder / Strategic Director

Anna was born in southeast Louisiana and moved to Colorado after graduation from Louisiana State University to work on an organic vegetable farm. From there, she worked in the marketing world as a consultant for a decade+ where she had the opportunity to work alongside many organizations building companies and programs from the ground up. She thrives with a spreadsheet and project plan and loves turning things from chaos to sustainability.

Though she was thankful her work allowed her to travel to over 23 countries in her twenties, she decided it was time to put her laptop away and go back to school where she received certifications in horticulture and floral design. She then built a floral business where she focused on using local flowers and sustainable methods to design weddings and large scale events.

While in Denver, she had the life changing experience of working with a non-profit organization whose focus was food access and helped run over 180+ community gardens across the Denver metro area.

Motherhood called her back home to Louisiana where she has been raising two beautiful daughters and birthed the Louisiana Wild Society in an effort to connect her community with the world around us - all in hopes of creating a better future for our next generation.

When Anna’s not working, you’ll find her spending time in her gardens, exploring the creeks in St. Francisville, or trying to learn how to play tennis. 

Co-Founder / Board Member / Community Partner

Jess co-founded LWS alongside Anna, and is owner of Sweet Fern Native Plants, a plant nursery + design/consultation company specializing in native plants and landscape restoration in the south east. A Louisiana native, Jess grew up gardening by her grandmother's side and roaming the poplar/magnolia woods that her family calls home. Her connection to the natural world has been strong since her early years. 

A naturalist and designer, she has 15 years of experience within the landscape industry. She is heavily influenced by her time at LSU in the horticulture department, as well as the fine arts department studying ceramics.

Jess is the contributing writer for the Country Roads Magazine column "Our Sustainable Garden".

Jess is a student and lover of the natural world... she finds the Mississippi river and surrounding community has shaped her and she holds a deep reverence and love for this landscape that has stitched the patchwork of her entire being.

In her free time she enjoys tending to her personal gardens, cooking with seasonal veggies, fishing, romping through the woods and canoeing through the swamps and marsh with her hogwild toddler son in tow.

Director

Erin is a New Orleans native with roots in Acadiana for generations. Like most of the team, she is multi-passionate and has had the incredible opportunity to live & work in many places, doing many different things. She has lived in Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, California, Georgia, New Mexico and Provence. She loves immersing herself in new endeavors and making beauty in the world to share with others.

Her love of plants and the natural world started as a child, and grew when she left college and found that it felt strange to not fully understand how to grow her own food.

So she set off for New Mexico and worked on some farms in the hills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and learned an inordinate amount about life and the earth and caring for it.

She has worked on Oscar-nominated films, started & ran a non-profit organic farm for neuro-divergent individuals on Long Island, just outside of NYC. She studied illustration & graphic design, fine art, sculpture & loves to embark on new adventures and whatever else catches her heart.

Board Member / Photographer

Beth was raised on a cattle farm in the heart of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  Most of her youth was spent riding horses, adventuring in the woods and working on her family's land.  Some time after receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from Louisiana State University, she moved to Brooklyn, NY and continued within that discipline as a Freelance Photographer. 

Later in 2016, Beth became the General Manager and Events Manager for Glasserie and Glasserie Events in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.  Through that very work in the service industry, Beth found a reinvigorated interest in both land and progressive farming practices. By developing relationships directly with the growers and learning about their holistic growing practices, she was inspired to return to her roots of interfacing with the Earth and her ecosystems.

In 2021 Beth moved home to Baton Rouge and seized the opportunity to pursue a career in naturalistic landscaping. She has found interest in tree healthcare and arboriculture, and is currently studying to become an ISA Certified Arborist. Beth is currently working as a framing and production associate at Ann Connelly Fine Art.

Outside of work Beth loves gardening, cinema, taking photos, making spreadsheets, porch conversations while sipping on low intervention wines, and all the nature adventures! Beth has a Terry Gross-esque curiosity, and loves learning about the world through a myriad of mediums.

Board Member

Jourdan was raised in a military family and has lived in environs from the rainforest of Panama to the desert of Egypt before finally settling into the wetlands of Southern Louisiana.

She moved to Baton Rouge four days before Hurricane Gustav in 2008 and was given a quick introduction to the power of nature in this state. She fell in love with the people, music and food of Baton Rouge and has lived here ever since, besides a two year stint at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.

Most of her knowledge of plants was of the edible variety through a decades-long career in the restaurant industry. After serving as the executive chef at various local restaurants, she left the industry and has savored the peace and pace of a life more integrated to the natural world around.

Jourdan and her partner have purchased their first home in Mid City this year. Rewilding the yard and watching the various wildlife visit is now her favorite way to spend her free time.

Board Member

Alex's appreciation for the natural world began early. Not long after she was born in Baton Rouge, her family relocated to Paradise Valley, Montana, where her parents operated the Livingston Bar and Grille, introducing locals to Louisiana favorites like seafood gumbo and crawfish étouffée.

Her summers were spent exploring Sacajawea Park along the Yellowstone River and camping in the Custer Gallatin National Forest. Winters were spent shoveling snow and skiing in Big Sky. When relatives visited from Louisiana, Alex proudly played tour guide through Yellowstone National Park. Later, her family moved to a small farm north of Sheridan, Wyoming, where she helped care for chickens and cattle before returning to Louisiana as a teenager. Although the landscape changed, her connection to the land never did. She quickly developed a deep appreciation for Louisiana's unique ecosystems and is passionate about preserving them for future generations.

Alex is an Assistant Vice President and Commercial Title Officer at First Title of Louisiana, where she specializes in land title research and commercial real estate transactions throughout Louisiana and the southeastern United States. Her work has given her a unique, parish-by-parish understanding of Louisiana's history and landscape through the evolution of its land ownership. She earned an ABA-accredited paralegal degree from Louisiana State University, is a licensed Louisiana Title Insurance Producer, Notary Public, and is the owner of Capital Notary, Abstracts & Litigation Support.

Wanting to spend more time outside and directly connected to the landscape, she began volunteering with Sweet Fern Landscapes, planting native trees in Alligator Bayou. It was there that she first met members of the Louisiana Wild Society, an introduction that led to her involvement with the organization.

Alex lives in Mid City Baton Rouge, where she enjoys tending her vegetable garden, running, biking the neighborhood, and cooking for friends and family, especially her family's famous seafood gumbo. Serving on the Board of the Louisiana Wild Society allows her to combine a lifelong appreciation for wild places with a commitment to conserving Louisiana's natural heritage.

Board Member

A born-and-raised Baton Rougean, Allison Gianelloni is a city girl with a love of nature. She is a Community Programming Librarian with the East Baton Rouge Parish Library, where she established the EBRPL Seed Library—a place where the community can freely exchange and share seeds—and spearheaded the library's first native plant installation in partnership with Louisiana Wild Society. From Makerspaces to Fix-it-Fairs and everything in between, Allison enjoys creating programs that build community and provide people with the opportunity to learn new skills. 

Her interest in native plants began with beekeeping, which she learned from her parents. While honeybees aren't native to North America, keeping them sent her down a rabbit hole learning about pollinator habitat, ecological gardening, and the important role native plants play in healthy ecosystems.  In 2025, Allison became a Louisiana Master Naturalist. She is also Vice President of Wild Ones Greater Baton Rouge, a nation-wide non-profit organization that helps people discover the benefits of native plants in home landscapes and public spaces.  

Allison is always eager to learn more about the natural world, and curiosity keeps her exploring-- whether she's hiking in search of unusual mushrooms, spending an evening moth sheeting at Dr. Charles Allen's Miracle Moth Mile, or identifying whatever interesting plant happens to catch her eye, there is always something new to discover. When she's not outside, you'll probably find her doing puzzles, crafting, thrifting, practicing yoga, or curled up with a good book.