Lacy McManus is Program Manager for Employer Lead at Amazon Web Services. Previously, she served as the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Greater New Orleans, Inc.—the economic development alliance for the ten parish Greater New Orleans region—Lacy is responsible for relationships and coordination between business environment and business development activities, positioning the organization’s workforce, education, environmental and resilience initiatives as catalysts for wealth generation in Southeast Louisiana. In this role, Lacy acts as a liaison between GNO, Inc., business and industry, higher education, career technical educators, government agencies, and non-profit partners to ensure GNO, Inc.’s programs create a thriving regional economy.  

Prior to joining the GNO, Inc. staff, Lacy was the Special Initiatives Manager with the non-profit organization the Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX).  Lacy is Board President of the public transit advocacy organization RIDE New Orleans and an Active Member of the Junior League of New Orleans (JLNO) where she Chair’s the JLNO Women’s Leadership Summit.  In addition, Lacy is a board member of the Jefferson Parish Chamber of Commerce, a board member of The Environment and Health Council of Louisiana, current participant in the 2019-2020 New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute, an alum of the 2016 Emerging Philanthropist of New Orleans class, and has served as a Lead Mentor to entrepreneurs in the Propeller small business incubator.  

Lacy holds a B.A. from the University of Georgia’s Grady School of Journalism, a M.A. in Global Communications from the American University of Paris, and an M.B.A. from Tulane University.  She is married to Bryan McManus, Senior Parish Attorney with Jefferson Parish, and mother of two children and an amazing rescue dog.