Rachel Shields serves as the Chief Engagement Officer at Louisiana Economic Development. She is responsible for leveraging and enhancing LED’s relationships with the corporate and private sector to ensure Louisiana businesses are better served by the state. She is a member of the executive staff team with a significant role in the agency’s overall business modeling and strategy development.

Prior to her role at LED, Rachel served as Chief of Staff at Greater New Orleans, Inc., southeast Louisiana’s regional economic development organization. At GNO, Inc. Rachel was a member of the executive strategy team, she coordinated the organization’s special events including international business summits and conferences, and she managed various Boards and Committees including the Executive Committee, Board of Directors, NextGen Council, and the SoLA Super Region Committee.

Rachel holds multiple program certificates from a number of institutions including the International Economic Development Council [IEDC] and University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business. She is a graduate of The New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute [NORLI] and Jefferson Leadership, and a Delta Leadership Institute Executive Academy Fellow. She has served on a number of boards including the Industrial Development Board of the City of New Orleans, Algiers Economic Development Foundation, United Way Southeast Louisiana, WWOZ Radio, and St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce, and she currently serves on the boards of GNO, Inc., and One Acadiana. Her recent honors include recognition as a 2022 CityBusiness Woman of the Year, and a 2023 Young Leadership Council Role Model.

Rachel and her husband have four children, are lifelong Louisianans, and reside in St. Tammany Parish.