Class of 2009 Yearbook: The Honorees

Employer: U.S. Navy Reserve

LOCATION: New Orleans

Most valuable career advice: "Do the most important thing possible at any given moment."

What do you love about IT? "IT provides the opportunity to leverage technology to enhance the world in which we live and to accomplish the organization's goals. Improving quality of life for employees and customers while significantly improving productivity is extremely rewarding.

People you'd invite to your dream dinner party: Dr. Robert Schuller, Norman Vincent Peale, Zig Ziglar and Vince Lombardi

Passion outside of work: "My family."

Twenty years ago, I was... "An entrepreneur running my own business."

In high school, I should have been voted "Most Likely to..." "die early from too many activities."

Favorite TV show: NCIS

What about you would surprise the people you work with? "I am a real softie with kids and pets."

Leadership philosophy in a nutshell: "Empower people. Tap people's 'buttons' and give them the opportunity to excel. Extraordinary results appear as the capabilities of people are unleashed. As they accomplish what they want and need in life, the organization will accomplish what it wants a