Lloyd Dennis Bio

After working for the historic Free Southern Theater, and becoming the first African American to do skilled craft work for the Bell phone system in New Orleans, Lloyd served in the Air Force as an electronic technician and distinguished himself as Airman of the year for the Third Weather Wing and set a base record for achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant. (E-5) 

After the military, Dennis worked as an African American pioneer in several jobs, including servicing electronics on tugboats and ships in the river and maintaining computer equipment at the local Federal Reserve Branch. Meanwhile he studied and taught himself photography and over 40 years he and his wife grew a successful commercial photography and film production business during the 1980s, a business that allowed he and his family to achieve financial stability and independence.  

1993 – 2000 he served on the New Orleans Multicultural Tourism Network - Board of Directors, Board, as its president his last two years, presiding over the name change from “Black Tourism Network”.

As a filmmaker he has contributed to the conversation about education reform in New Orleans by producing “A History of Public Education in New Orleans” in conjunction with historian Al Kennedy and “Focus on Success” a film that investigates the inner working of four diversely governed, open admission, public elementary schools in New Orleans that were successful with children. Since the Storm, he produced several documentaries about Katrina’s impact on families and children: “Coming Home”, “Education In Exile”, and “Renaissance Village”.

Lloyd Dennis has worked with young people all his adult life, from being “coach” for children in the Lincolnshire community of Marrero, as a mentor in the Big brother program, to working with the Urban League’s Rescue One program, teaching photography at Rabouin High School and as mentor to a group called Youth Remix in Algiers. These were experiences that led him in 2007 to co-founded the "Silverback Society", an innovative movement and Non-profit which recruits, trains and coordinates 100+ volunteers who mentor adolescent boys. Late in 2019, he stepped down as Executive Director to serve as Chief Finance Officer in 2020. He was intentional about turning leadership over to a new generation of leaders.

He is a W.K.Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership fellow.

In 2019, Lloyd returned to serve on the New Orleans Multicultural Tourism Network board, and in July of 2020 he accepted Mayor Cantrell’s appointment as board chairperson for the newly organized New Orleans Tourism and Culture Fund. The fund is responsible for using hotel tax revenues to support New Orleans Culture Bearers, the locals who attract tourists by doing what they do in our culture.

Married for fifty-one years, he has three children, and three grandchildren.