STAFF

Constance "Connie" Jackson, President & CEO. 

Connie was named President & CEO of the Southern Food & Beverage Museum in July 2024 after a year as Interim CEO and four years as a board member.  A proud Chicagoan with deep Louisiana roots, she carries on her family’s tradition of a beautiful coffee-colored roux for her gumbo. Connie brings a lifelong commitment to eliminating food poverty, especially in childhood, instilled by her mother, a family practice physician. Connie’s love of museums was cultivated as a child, when she became a lifelong fan of Chicago’s museums, especially the Museum of Science & Industry, the DuSable Museum, and the Art Institute.  

She previously served as an Advisor & Consumer Goods Specialist at trepwise LLC, a growth consultancy based in New Orleans, where she moved in 2019 after 17 years in the United Kingdom. Connie is an accomplished cross-sector leader committed to building equitable and prosperous organizations that contribute to healthy communities. She served as the founding CEO of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, a foundation which helps women entrepreneurs in emerging economies build sustainable businesses. 

Before moving to the UK, Connie spent a decade expanding the infrastructure of a family-founded health and social services organization to support the transition to its second generation of leadership; since its founding in 1970, it is now led by its third. She began her career as a financial analyst at The First Boston Corporation (now UBS). She is a graduate of Fisk University, the London School of Economics, and Harvard Business School.  Connie serves on the boards of the Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard Merchants & Business Association (OCHBMBA), an award-winning historic downtown commercial district in New Orleans, and the Whitfield Corporation Soup Kitchen in London. 

Clayton Fossett, Chief Operating Officer

Clayton has more than 30 years’ experience in fintech, financial services, technology, and consulting. He is responsible for Operations, Finance, and Compliance. Previously, he served as COO at Change Financial Ltd, helping take the company from a start-up to a publicly traded international company. Before joining Change Financial, Clayton worked at Yahoo! for 10 years, where he held several senior Operations Finance roles. Clayton has also worked at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Deloitte, Freddie Mac and The First Boston Corporation (now UBS). He received his undergraduate degree and MBA from Harvard University.

Chef Dee Lavigne, Owner - Deelighful Roux School of Cooking & Director of Culinary Programming

Born and raised in the historic 9th Ward of New Orleans, Chef Dee Lavigne began cooking and baking at the age of 7. As the middle child of eight siblings, she was resourceful from the start—learning to create magic with flour, sugar, eggs, and milk. Her passion took shape in a home economics class and never left her side. She went on to graduate from The Culinary Institute of America in January 2003 and spent 14 years working in the bakery department of Whole Foods Market. During that time, she became a proud mother to Reynell Jr., now 21, and Russell, now 11. Inspired by Reynell’s autism diagnosis and a desire to spend more time with her children, Chef Dee launched her first business, Deelightful Cupcakes, in 2016—marking the beginning of her entrepreneurial journey. She founded Deelightful Roux in 2021 and has transformed it into a highly sought-after destination for visitors and locals alike.  She was recently appointed Global Culinary Advisor for the Paris Musketeers, a strategic partner of the New Orleans Saints in the European Football Alliance (EFA).

Maureen "Moe" Kerkovich, Events Manager

Liz Williams, Founder (Retired)

Always fascinated by the way the lure of nutmeg and peppercorns motivated the exploration of the world, Liz Williams was lucky to be born to a family of Sicilian heritage in New Orleans. She grew up eating in two great food traditions. She is a founder of the Southern Food & Beverage Museum and of the National Food & Beverage Foundation. 

She is a founder of the Southern Food & Beverage Museum and of the National Food & Beverage Foundation. Much of her research and writing centers on the legal and policy issues related to food and foodways. Her book, coauthored with Stephanie Jane Carter, The Encyclopedia of Law and Food, was published by Greenwood Publishing in 2011. In013, AltaMira published New Orleans: A Food Biography. Her book, Lift Your Spirits: A Celebratory History of Cocktail Culture in New Orleans, about New Orleans drinking culture, was published by LSU Press in Spring 2016. Unique Eats & Eateries New Orleans was published by Reedy Press in 2019. Her most recent book, published in 2022, is Nana's Creole Italian Table - a cookbook about the Sicilian community in New Orleans.