Board of Directors

Ben Marmande is the Executive Vice President and Houston Market President at IBERIABANK. He was elected to the Woman’s Hospital Board of Directors in 2014, and was reelected in 2017 and 2020.

Ben is a member of the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge, Education’s Next Horizon board, Louisiana Resource Center for Educators, previous board member, Louisiana Arts & Science Museum board, Louisiana Business & Technology Center, board, Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge board, Miller-McCoy Academy, founding director and treasurer.

He graduated from the University of Louisiana Lafayette with a major in finance and Loyola University in New Orleans with a Masters in Business Administration.

Terrie Thomas, MD is an Ob/Gyn and on the active medical staff at Woman’s. She is a voting member of the Woman’s Hospital Foundation and an Ob/Gyn with Associates in Women’s Health. Dr. Thomas was elected to the Woman’s Hospital Board of Directors in 2020 and previously served on the Board as Chief of Staff in 2012. She is the Past Chair of Credentials, OR Patient Care and Medical Review committees. Dr. Thomas also served as Vice Chief of Staff and Chief of Department of Clinical and Support Services. She has also served on Medical Education, Medical Executive, OB Patient Care, Pharmacy & Therapeutics, Perinatal Mortality, Cancer, Ethics, Medical Staff Health and Graduate Medical Education committees as well as the Performance Improvement Council and Physician Information Technology (PIT) Task Force.

Whitney Dawn Breaux was elected to the Board of Directors in March 2021. She earned a bachelor's degree in mass communication with a concentration in political communications and a Master's in Business Administration in government affairs from LSU. She has nine years of experience with the pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly, where she serves as the COO and Global Marketing Transformation Advisor. She previously served on the March of Dimes Board of Directors.

As a breast cancer survivor, Whitney developed Day 18 - a campaign to encourage women to perform monthly breast self-exams. Day 18 educates women on breast health and supports breast cancer awareness as well as connecting them and their families to non-profit organizations, healthcare communities and resources. Whitney was recently featured in a Woman’s Hospital breast cancer media campaign which spotlighted her treatment at Woman’s. 

Chris Ciesielski is the Managing Director of NFP Corporate Services (LA), Inc. He has been a member of the Woman’s Hospital Board of Directors since 2020 and is currently the Chair of the Board of Trustees Foundation for Woman’s where he has served since 2015.

Chris was born and raised in Chicago, and after earning a Bachelor of Science in economics from Purdue University, spent the first 10 years of his career working in Chicago with international consulting firms Mercer Human Resource Consulting and Towers Perrin. As an Instructor at Louisiana State University, Chris developed and teaches an employee benefits curriculum. He is a member of the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge and volunteers as a college mentor at Baton Rouge Youth Coalition.

Greg Gelpi, MD is a pediatrician with OLOL Pediatric Medical Center. He is on the active medical staff at Woman’s, is a voting member of Woman’s Hospital Foundation, and was elected to the Woman’s Hospital Board of Directors in 2016 where he was reelected in 2019. Dr. Gelpi has served as a member of the Foundation for Woman’s Board of Trustees since 2016. He is also on the Woman’s Medical Staff Executive Committee, and has served on the Medical Review, Pharmacy and Therapeutics, and Infection Control committees. He served as the Chief of Pediatrics for Woman’s Hospital, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center and serves on the Louisiana Breastfeeding Coalition Steering Committee. He received his medical degree from LSU in New Orleans, and his undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

Rose Hudson (Secretary/Treasurer) is President and CEO of Louisiana Lottery Corporation. She was elected to the Woman’s Hospital Board of Directors in 2016 and was reelected in 2019. She previously served as an inaugural trustee for Foundation for Woman’s Board of Trustees. Rose is the Past President of the Multi-State Lottery Association. Locally, she serves on the board for Investar Bank, is chair of the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center Foundation Board, and has previously served on the board of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation.

Rose received a master’s degree in public administration from LSU and earned a Bachelor of Arts in urban studies and public policy from Dillard University.

Julie Martin, MD is an Ob/Gyn with Louisiana Women’s Healthcare. She is on the active medical staff at Woman’s, a voting member of Woman’s Hospital Foundation, and currently serves as Director while in her position as the 2021 Chief of Staff. The Chief of Staff serves as a non-voting member of the Board of Directors.

Janet Olson was elected to the Woman’s Hospital Board of Directors in March 2021 and has served on the Foundation for Woman’s Board of Trustees since 2014 and served as chair in 2017. As a member of the Board of Trustees, she has also served on the Women’s Victory Open and Annual Giving Campaign committees. Janet holds a Bachelor of Administration degree from Rhodes College. Currently, she serves as the Vice President of Corporate Finance with Lamar Advertising. Previously, Janet served as Market Executive, Executive Director with JP Morgan Chase and Senior Vice President with Capital One.

Janet serves on the boards of Pennington Biomedical Research Foundation, First Tee of Baton Rouge and previously the Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce, Louisiana Capital Area Red Cross and Boys and Girls Club of Baton Rouge.

Cheree Schwartzenburg, MD is a voting member of Woman’s Hospital Foundation, an Ob/Gyn with Schwartzenburg, Lafranca, Guidry & Magee, and on Woman’s active medical staff. She was elected to the Woman’s Hospital Board of Directors in 2020 and previously served on the Board as Chief of Staff in 2014. She chairs the Credentials Committee and serves on the Medical Executive and Bylaws committees. Dr. Schwartzenburg is Past Chair of Medical Education, Medical Executive, OB Patient Care and Pharmacy & Therapeutics committees and Past Vice Chair of the Medical Review and OR Patient Care committees. She has also served as Vice Chief of Staff, Chief of Department of Clinical and Support Services, Chief of Ob/Gyn and on the Graduate Medical Education and Breast Cancer Ad-Hoc committees, Performance Improvement Council, and Physician Information Technology (PIT) Task Force.

Nick Speyrer was elected to the Woman’s Hospital Board of Directors in March 2021. He holds a Bachelor of Science in finance from LSU and is the founder and president of Emergent Method - a leading management and strategy consulting firm. His work is focused around managing large-scale organizational transformations, strategic planning, and community outreach efforts for high-profile clients ranging from local and state government agencies to regional not-for-profit organizations and Fortune 1000 companies.

Nick currently serves on the Baton Rouge Area Foundation’s Board of Directors, the LSU E.J. Ourso College of Business Dean’s Advisory Council, The Committee of 100 for Economic Development, the Louisiana FFA Foundation, Capital Area United Way, and the Ben Blanchard Memorial Foundation. He previously served as president of the Cancer Services of Greater Baton Rouge Board of Directors.