We are excited to begin sharing the mainstage sessions from the recently-concluded 2025 Pelican Institute Solutions Summit. This will be the first in a series of posts over the next couple of weeks releasing Summit highlights, so stay tuned!

First up: One Door to Work and Opportunity. In March 2024, Governor Landry issued an executive order creating the Louisiana Workforce and Social Services Reform Task Force in order to improve the state’s approach to alleviating poverty while simultaneously advancing important reforms to stimulate the economy. In doing so, Louisiana became the first state since Utah in the late 1990s to begin the work to create “One Door” out of poverty and into jobs and opportunity.

Thanks to Governor Landry’s leadership, along with the senior leaders of the Department of Children and Family Services and the Louisiana Workforce Commission, legislation will be considered in the upcoming session to make the transformational plans from the task force a reality, helping tens of thousands of Louisianans in the process. Representatives Stephanie Berault, Kim Carver, Barbara Freiberg, and Vanessa LaFleur along with Senators Glen Womack, Mike Reese, and Stewart Cathey have all been great leaders and champions for reform in this area.