Roy Allen Burrell has been recognized by his colleagues as one of Shreveport’s foremost leaders in community change. Roy’s leadership style is comprehensive and consensus building in nature. His moderate views oftentimes provide him opportunities to work across political parties and ideologies. He researches issues thoroughly, thinking things through, and is quite methodical in his decision-making. As a direct result, Roy takes a firm stand on issues, even if it means standing alone. This solid character is balanced by his cool composure, overwhelming patience, and genuine compassion, and grounded by a spiritual commitment to serve mankind.

Leader for Inner City Growth and Development
Advocate for Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Service in the House
Awards and Recognition
Personal History

 

Louisiana Roots

Roy was born into a family with a reputation of being good-hearted, hard-working, and committed to community. The son of the late Woodrow and Margretter Feazell Burrell, Roy is the eighth child of fourteen. The Burrells were farmers by trade. As a resident of Oak Grove, LA, a rural farming community in West Carroll Parish, Roy witnessed his father transporting his siblings and childhood classmates to and from school in the back of his pickup truck. Mr. Woodrow did this for several years unsolicited because he recognized an unfulfilled need for the children of the community. Finally, five years later, the school district decided to hire him as a school bus driver.

Roy’s mother Margretter was a very compassionate woman. Just as Roy’s father, she was also committed to taking care of her own and the community. She left a memorable legacy of benevolence and giving her last for those in need.

A lasting impression was left in young Roy’s mind on taking care of “the community”.

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Leader for Inner City Growth and Development

Queensborough Neighborhood Association

Queensborough is the neighborhood located directly in the heart of city of Shreveport, is defined by Jewella Avenue (west), Lakeshore Drive (north), and I-20 (east & south). As a resident of Queensborough, Roy became very active in his community doing neighborhood assessments and research on issues that adversely affected the community. He worked tirelessly to promote economic and business development in his urban neighborhood. Working on gang prevention issues gave him the compassion to work with troubled youth. From this experience, he championed the cause for youth providing mentorship and job assistance, and promoting a better quality of life for inner-city youth and their families.

In 1993, Roy served as Vice President of the Queensborough Neighborhood Association. He later co-founded and presided over the Greenwood Corridor (Business) Association. He helped to establish a $3M Economic Development Initiative (EDI) Grant in community development for the Queensborough business corridors -- Greenwood Road, Jewella Avenue, Lakeshore Drive, and Portland Avenue. (This grant is currently being used to establish and grow small and minority businesses in and around the Queensborough neighborhood.)

Shreveport City Council

Roy was elected to the Shreveport City Council in 1994 with a 4-1 vote over his nearest opponent. During his two four-year terms on the city council representing District G in west Shreveport, Roy championed several impactful initiatives to include the following:

As a freshman, chaired the powerful Audit and Finance Committee clearing a nearly 3-year backlog of unaudited claims;

Spearheaded a facts-finding mission to Kansas City, Missouri, with Mayor Keith Hightower and 13 community leaders to research best practices used to revitalize inner city neighborhoods. Subsequently, he chaired a task force to make recommendations for a similar Shreveport initiative. These actions led to the creation of the Shreveport Redevelopment Agency, the Shreveport Redevelopment (Implementation) Plan, the Property Management Office, the Citywide Community Development Corporation, the Model Block Housing Development Project, Shreveport Urban Renaissance Corporation, and other development initiatives;

Co-authored the city of Shreveport’s Fair Share Plan for increased minority participation in government contracts;

Reopened a previously-closed million-dollar loan fund in the city of Shreveport’s Community Development Department to support small and disadvantaged businesses and minority and women-owned businesses;

Created legislation to provide an oversight committee for Shreveport gaming casinos to insure fairness and equity in contract procurement and employment;

Negotiated a written agreement with Shreveport gaming casinos to provide a $100 – 200K revolving loan fund to assist small minority companies in procurement efforts with the casinos;

Served as Coordinator for the National Buy Freedom Program, an effort to promote self-help in minority business development, founded by national syndicated columnist and talk show host Tony Brown of the Tony Brown Journal;

Created Democrats 2000, a political organization designed to empower young people to get involved in the political process through campaign training, voter education and registration, and political activism at all levels of government;

Led the Right Way Foundation, an organization established to curb and eradicate gang violence where possible through counseling and job placement;

Understood and utilized the power of the media serving as a guest newspaper columnist for The Shreveport Sun and as a radio talk-show host on KDKS-FM in an effort to educate the public on community and political issues;

Served as a board member and city government representative integrally responsible for the local establishment, ensuing legislation, and oversight of the Shreveport Multi-Cultural Center of the South, a “museum” dedicated to educate the general public and promote support of the various local cultures and their traditions;

Led community organizations as Chairman of the City Council, along with Mayor Keith Hightower, to win the 1996 All American City Award;

Integrally supported the development of the Shreveport Convention Center and Hotel and Independence Stadium projects;

With the assistance of renowned demographer Gary Joiner, engineered the infamous Redistricting Plan 18 for City Council District B, a district with a majority black population, but a white majority voting age;

Proposed and established recreation centers (Johnny Bilsberry Park, Bill Cockrel Park) and community playgrounds (Westwood and Joy Valley neighborhoods) funded by city bond issues; and

Established and funded several neighborhood associations to provide a voice for citizens in city government.

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Advocate for Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Inner-City Entrepreneur (ICE) Institute

As a result of the 1984 Mt Auburn and the 1994 Time to Choose economic studies, accompanied by six years of independent research, Roy co-founded and currently directs the Inner City Entrepreneur Institute, ICE for short. ICE is a public, non-profit corporation and redevelopment initiative focusing on business advocacy and development in addition to educating the public on the need to save and revitalize Shreveport’s inner core neighborhoods.

The mission of ICE is to foster a healthy economy in the Inner City of Shreveport that creates jobs, income, wealth, and economic opportunities for local residents. Directing ICE allowed Roy to research the issues requiring legislation to implement. As a result, much of his work on the Shreveport City Council (as listed in the previous section) was done in conjunction with his work at ICE.

A major effort of ICE is to introduce entrepreneurship education and training to inner city residents, particularly to at-risk youth, as a way to provide an alternative career path while creating a better quality of life for inner city residents. BizCamp, a joint collaboration among ICE, local universities, and Caddo Parish Schools, is an intensive two-week entrepreneurship and life skills program designed to expose at-risk students living within the inner city of Shreveport to the idea of the world of business and entrepreneurship. The curriculum, developed by the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) using specially-designed Microsoft state-of-the-art on-line interactive software, has been tailored to specifically meet the needs and concerns of Shreveport/Bossier City’s target population. According to Roy, “BizCamp will assist us in developing and fostering the entrepreneurial spirit of America by strengthening our economy, improving our communities, locally creating job opportunities for our youth, and providing workers and/or customers for youth businesses.”

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Service in the House

2003 - 2007

In 2003, Roy was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives by a 4-1 margin over his opponent. He served on the Administration of Criminal Justice, Commerce, and Judiciary Committees. Bringing his record of visionary change to the table, Roy has become a strong and effective voice for Security, Education, Economic Development, Diversity, and Savings, the basic principles on which his SEEDs for Success platform is based.

With 22 years of experience in telecommunications, and engineering and planning, Roy was selected by the Speaker of the House for the House Select Committee of Technology, a committee which reviews and manages state policies on telecommunications needs and deployment of technology. Roy also served on the Environmental Committee for 2 years prior to his assignment on the Commerce Committee.

Current Term

On October 20, 2007, Roy easily won re-election to the House District 2 seat, receiving 86 percent of the vote to 14 percent for his opponent, a 6 - 1 margin. He currently serves on the following committees: Administration of Criminal Justice, Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs, and Ways and Means.

For more detailed information on his work in the House of Representatives, see In the House and Issues.

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Awards and Recognition

As a business owner and consultant, Roy has sat on many executive boards in the Shreveport / Bossier City community. He loves his work and is dedicated to what he does. Roy has been recognized by many organizations, corporations, and government entities for his efforts. The following awards are among the most prestigious and just a few of the many: