Rob Lalka 
Professor of Practice and Executive Director of the Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation | Tulane University
New Orleans, LA, UNITED STATES
Rob Lalka is an expert in entrepreneurship and innovation in business.
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Biography
Rob Lalka is the Albert R. Lepage Professor in Business at Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business and Executive Director of the Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. In both 2019 and 2020, he received the A.B. Freeman School’s Excellence in Intellectual Contributions Award.
Lalka moved to New Orleans from Washington, DC, where he was a director at Village Capital and a senior advisor at the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Prior, he served in the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Partnerships and was on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, for which he was recognized with the State Department’s Superior Honor Award and its Meritorious Honor Award.
Lalka currently serves on the boards of Public Democracy, Inc., Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, and Venture For America in New Orleans. He graduated from Yale University, cum laude with distinction in both history and English, and he holds his master’s degree in global public policy from Duke University.
Lalka is a founding member of the Nieux Society, a community of entrepreneurs, artists, creators, and lovers of New Orleans exploring the promise of Web3 to inspire New Orleans’ creative culture to realize its full potential. Rob serves on the Nieux Society's Advisory Council, a small group of civic leaders, including B Mike, Big Freedia, Galactic, Demario Davis and Walter Isaacson, the Leonard Lauder Professor of American History and Values at Tulane.
Areas of Expertise (10)
Entrepreneurship
Social Entrepreneurship
Start Up Ventures
Innovation
Venture Capital
Public Policy
Strategic Partnerships
Corporate Social Responsibility
Nonprofits
Emerging Markets
Education (2)
Duke University: M.P.P., Global Public Policy 2008
Yale University: B.A., English and History 2005
Links (1)
Articles (2)
Opportunity Zones can boost business where it's needed
The AdvocateRob Lalka
2018-12-25
Editorial Louisiana is well-positioned to take advantage of investment in Opportunity Zones, but public officials and civic leaders need to develop strategies to optimize the outcomes.
Don't rob "Opportunity Zones" of their full potential
The HillRob Lalka and Scott Shalett
Editorial Ever since the tax reform law passed last December, we have been working with an enthused network of impact investors, mission-oriented businesses and public-sector leaders eager to identify new sources of private capital for some of our country’s most distressed areas — 8,761 census tracts designated as "Opportunity zones."
Social