Meet the Board Members

Lauren Evans

Earning her Bachelor’s at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in Public Relations, Lauren Evans quickly learned her passion was digitally connecting brands with their target audience. As a socially conscious extrovert with a natural love for customer service, she approaches each client intending to make their goals her own.

Now, as an Account Manager at FSC Interactive, Lauren pairs her dedication to helping others with her love for the ever-changing landscape of the internet to maintain clients’ presence online. With over six years of account service experience at digital marketing agencies, Lauren is well versed in Search, Social, Content, and Email marketing for various industries.

Robert Baer

With over 40 years of banking experience Robert works with companies creating innovative solutions that drive improvement across people, processes, and technology. These solutions break down barriers between functions to execute programs and projects that align growing organizations with shifts in regulatory compliance, the economic landscape and market conditions while focusing on continuous improvement, innovation, and business process optimization. He is an engaging and influential leader, coach, and business partner.

Reyna Rivera

Reyna V. Rivera brings over a decade of marketing experience to her role, with a robust foundation in photography and graphic design complemented by a formal education in Public Relations and Marketing from Tulane University. Her career is marked by a strong focus on photography, videography, and organic SEO, where she excels in creating engaging brand storytelling through diverse media.

As the Marketing Manager at Mullin, a high-end landscape company, Reyna applies her creativity and strategic insight to lead the marketing division. She skillfully manages and integrates a range of marketing activities including dynamic social media campaigns, comprehensive content development, and targeted digital advertising. This ensures Mullin’s brand message is consistently and effectively conveyed across all platforms. Reyna’s passion for leveraging innovative video and photography techniques to showcase businesses has been instrumental in driving Mullin’s success.

Reyna also plays a vital role in the American Marketing Association New Orleans, where she manages communications, and she is an active member of the SMPS (Society for Marketing Professional Services) communications committee, further enhancing her impact within the regional marketing community.

Bente van der Made

Bente van der Made has been in the IT industry since the late 90’s, starting out working at a software lab and finally getting caught by the internet. Bente believes the internet is one of the greater inventions of our times, allowing people to connect and to share information all over the world.

In her younger years she went to college to study Biology and became a Tropical Ecologist with a minor in Communications. Even though she didn’t work as a biologist for long, she still values the great education and the way it made her think.

Bente’s passion is to share her knowledge and to make people successful on the web. She works mainly with small and medium businesses and likes to keep things affordable and practical.

Santilla Victorian

Santilla is a performance driven marketing professional with over 15 years of related experience. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of New Orleans and embarked upon a career in public relations before transitioning to marketing & communications.

In her present role with The Louisiana Restaurant Association, Santilla helps to maintain and strengthen the company’s brand as part of a broader strategy to drive membership and growth. She helps to manage LRA’s communication platforms, including the website and various communication channels on social media. In addition, she has extensive experience in affiliate marketing, event coordination and call center management.

Prior to returning to New Orleans, Santilla was very active with the American Marketing Association’s Houston Chapter where she helped coordinate monthly member luncheons.

Santilla’s passions include fitness and learning to prepare gourmet vegetarian cuisine.

Shahinoor Hafez

Shahinoor is the Digital Campaigns Director at The Von Mack Agency. She earned her bachelor’s degree from University of Louisiana at Lafayette, with a concentration in creative writing. She also studied at the American University in Cairo.

Shahinoor is a data-driven marketer, specializing in tourism, activities, and experiences.

Her hobbies include fashion, writing, and cooking. She currently resides in New Orleans with her husband and goes by Shahi.

Michael Cook

Petera Diaban

Petera Reine Diaban, MPH, is the Director of Marketing and Communications at LCMC Health, where she leads strategic marketing efforts for New Orleans East Hospital and University Medical Center. With over 13 years of experience in health communications and marketing, she oversees campaign development, community engagement, market research, event planning, and social media strategy. Petera is passionate about building strong, community-focused hospital brands that improve patient outreach and health outcomes.

In addition to her work at LCMC Health, Petera is the founder and principal consultant of SMALA Consulting Group, LLC, a public health marketing firm dedicated to solving health communication challenges nationwide. Through SMALA, she has collaborated with partners such as the CDC Foundation, NOLA Ready, The BACH Group, and Xavier University of Louisiana. Petera has won top recognition at the 2022 World Social Marketing Conference in Brighton, England on her innovative approach to applying archetypes to social marketing campaigns.

Petera earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Spelman College and a Master of Public Health in Health Communication from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. She is a proud member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Gamma Sigma Sigma National Service Sorority, and the Spelman Alumnae Chapter.

Outside of work, Petera enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband and three children, and nurturing her green thumb in the garden.

Carmen Sarduy

Carmen Sarduy currently serves as the Assistant Vice President of Marketing at Tulane University, where she helps lead the university’s brand, communications, and marketing strategy. With more than 15 years of experience across higher education, tech and agency settings, she has built and led marketing teams that drive engagement, strengthen reputation, and deliver measurable results.
Before joining Tulane, Carmen held senior leadership roles at the University of Miami, Virgin Trains (Brightline), and HGreg.com, where she guided multi-channel campaigns, advanced digital transformation initiatives, and developed data-driven approaches to marketing and communications. She has worked with clients such as Visa, Jabil, Burger King and Gallo.
Carmen holds an MBA and a BS in Mass Communications from Florida International University and is a Certified Scrum Master. In 2025, she was named one of Ragan’s Top Women in Marketing, recognizing her innovative and strategic contributions to the profession. She is passionate about advancing marketing excellence in New Orleans and mentoring the next generation of marketing leaders.

Taj Odem

Vacancy

This can be you!

The AMA Board is looking for new members.
Contact us to learn more.