Events

Dr. Kara Dingess is a licensed psychologist and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Tulane Center for Autism and Related Disorders. Diagnosed with juvenile arthritis (JA) at the age of 6, Kara has transformed her personal experience into a career focused on helping others — combining clinical expertise, lived insight and passionate volunteerism to create lasting impact.

As a licensed pediatric psychologist, Kara specializes in helping children with chronic illness and complex medical conditions build emotional resilience and adapt to life with disability. Her care is grounded in evidence-based strategies and delivered with deep empathy — making her a vital resource for families facing the challenges of JA.

Beyond her clinical role, Kara is a devoted volunteer and national advocate. She has served as a breakout session speaker and panelist at the JA Family Summit, led teen mentoring through iPeer2Peer, and helped elevate the patient voice in critical research initiatives through her work with CARRA. She represented the patient voice at the 2024 CARRA Scientific Meeting, ensuring that lived experience is reflected in research and care.

Locally, Kara is a driving force in Louisiana’s JA community. She chairs the Juvenile Arthritis Committee on the Local Leadership Board, helps plan JA Days, leads event teams for the Walk to Cure Arthritis and Jingle Bell Run, and fosters relationships with providers to expand support for local families.

Whether working with young patients, mentoring future leaders, or amplifying patient voices on a national scale, Kara leads with compassion, purpose and an unwavering belief in connection. 

Honorable Hans J. Liljeberg is a Councilman and lawyer in Jefferson Parish. He began his legal career in the litigation section of the Jefferson Parish Attorney’s Office. From there, he became a prosecutor in the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office while maintaining a civil law practice. He was elected to the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District Court in 2002 and re-elected without opposition in 2008. While on the district court bench, Judge Liljeberg served in various positions on the court’s management committee for many years culminating as Deputy Chief Judge. He was elected without opposition in 2012 to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal. He was reelected without opposition, retired and successfully ran for council in 2023.

He served as an adjunct professor in the Tulane Business School from 2006 to 2023. He frequently serves on the teaching faculty at the LSU Law School trial advocacy program. He served on the Louisiana Judicial College Board of Governors and has received numerous awards during his judicial career including the Victim and Citizens Against Crime’s Outstanding Jurist Award and the Crimefighters’ Judicial Award, their prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fifth Circuit Judges’ Association.

Judge Liljeberg is a frequent lecturer on various legal topics and was selected to participate in and successfully completed the 2011 inaugural class of the Judicial Leadership Institute. He is a member of many professional associations including the Louisiana State Bar Association, the American Judges Association, the Louisiana Fourth and Fifth Circuit Judges Association and the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Judges Association and serves on the LSBA Medical Legal Inter-Professional Committee. Judge Liljeberg earned a Certificate in Judicial Studies from the National Judicial College and both his business degree and Juris Doctorate from Tulane University. He and his wife, Stacey, have seven beautiful daughters.

Rafael Goyeneche is a New Orleans native. He graduated from De La Salle High School, received his undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University and his juris doctorate from Loyola Law School. Upon graduation from law school, Rafael served as an assistant district attorney in Orleans Parish between 1980 – 1986. During his tenure in the D.A.’s office Rafael worked in trials, screening and was appointed chief of the Economic Crime Unit, a unit responsible for investigating and prosecuting white collar crime.
Rafael joined the staff of the Metropolitan Crime Commission in 1986. He was named president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission in 1989. He is responsible for managing all aspects of MCC operations.

Rafael reported to the GNOEA members that the Metropolitan Crime Commission’s Research Program was established in 1996 with the mission of providing independent, objective research to raise the level of accountability and efficiency in the criminal justice systems in the greater New Orleans metropolitan area. Since its inception, the Research Program has broadened its scope to include projects examining the Jefferson, St. Tammany, and Calcasieu parish criminal justice systems. The MCC’s goal is to reduce crime and expose corruption throughout Louisiana with a strategy of investigating wrongdoing, being a conduit for citizens to report misconduct, and by bringing accountability and transparency to the criminal justice system through research.

The Metropolitan Crime Commission’s Anti-Public Corruption (APC) program holds elected and appointed public employees, as well as government agencies, to the highest ethical standards. It provides a resource for the public to submit information about corrupt or unethical activity in the public and private sectors. It also sends a clear message to elected officials and public employees that illegal and unethical activity will not be tolerated. It also assists law enforcement and government in rooting out corruption and misconduct.