Adam Knapp is the Chief Executive Officer of Leaders for a Better Louisiana, and previously CEO of the Committee of 100 for Economic Development (C100). Prior to C100, Knapp was President and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, a regional economic development organization serving the nine-parish Capital Region of Louisiana. While at BRAC, its teams landed major economic development wins and strategic policy reforms that positioned the Capital Region to be a leading regional economy for the state. 

Knapp began his career in the private sector as a consultant for Accenture, a global consulting firm. He returned to Louisiana to serve Governors Mike Foster and Kathleen Blanco as Economic Development Advisor and at Louisiana Economic Development. After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Knapp helped start the Louisiana Recovery Authority that was charged with overseeing the state’s rebuilding efforts, for which he served as Deputy Director. 

A native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, Knapp completed his bachelor’s degree at Davidson College in North Carolina, studied in Germany, and attended executive programs at Harvard University’s JFK School of Government. He is married to Megan Knapp and they have three kids.

Barry Erwin is the Chief Policy Officer of Leaders for a Better Louisiana, and a Louisiana native who previously served as President of the Council for A Better Louisiana (CABL). CABL served as a statewide, nonpartisan organization that worked on issues that impact the quality of life in Louisiana. CABL was involved in numerous public policy issues at the state level, including education, workforce development, state fiscal policies, and governmental ethics. 

The organization also launched and operated the widely-recognized Leadership Louisiana program. Now in its 37th year, it boasts an alumni base of more than 1,600 state and community leaders from across Louisiana. Erwin began doing consulting work for CABL in 1995, and became its President in 2001. 

Erwin worked on numerous public affairs projects prior to joining CABL and spent 15 years as a television journalist covering state politics at KSLA-TV in Shreveport and WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge. Erwin graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.