Louisiana

ANPA Louisiana chapter was launched under the leadership of Prof Wale Suleiman and Dr Benedict Idowu. We subsequently hosted the ANPA National retreat in New Orleans in 2016. Our membership has grown significantly in the last 4 years under the leadership of Dr. Gertrude Anyanwoke. Our members are spread all over Louisiana with small concentrated pockets in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. This has made it challenging to have physical social events.

COVID 19 pandemic and the associated restrictions aggravated this challenge. Despite these obstacles, we figured out a way to overcome the challenge of being spread thin all over the state. We started sponsorship of local Nigerian events to increase awareness of our organization.

Our organization have partnered with multiple other organizations in the advocacy of health issues in Louisiana. We joined forces with Local NAACP to lobby the Louisiana Department of Health. We also met with the LA Secretary of Health to lobby for both the Minority and underserved communities in Louisiana. During this ongoing COVID 19 Pandemic, we have collaborated with multiple ethnic and Immigrant organizations to provide timely education on the virus, vaccines and management of the infection. With lifting of COVID 19 restrictions, we are looking forward to engaging in more physical social events.