Coffee & Conversations Speaker Series
April 15, 2026 12pm - 1pm Online
Disability and Abuse: Empowering Advocacy and Protection for Children with Disabilities
Speaker:
Ranie Thompson, JD, MBA
About the guest speaker:
Ranie Thompson currently serves as the Executive Director of Disability Rights Louisiana, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that protects and advocates for the human and legal rights of people with disabilities of all ages across Louisiana. Ranie is a 1993 graduate of Jackson State University (B.A. Political Science). She holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law (1996) and a Master of Business Administration from Southeastern Louisiana University (2023).
For nearly a decade, Ranie served as the Director of Legal Services at CrescentCare Health, a federally qualified health center in New Orleans. In this role, she supervised a team of attorneys who used the law to holistically address the social determinants of health of persons living with HIV throughout the state of Louisiana. In 2021, she was an honoree and nominated as one of City Business of New Orleans’ 2021 Women of the Year for her work and service to the community. In 2023, her work at CrescentCare was highlighted by the National Center for Medical Legal Partnerships.
Prior to joining CrescentCare, Ranie returned home in 2006 to work alongside her community recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. She worked as an Equal Justice Works Katrina Legal Fellow at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services until 2015. While there, she championed the rights of Louisianians to recover from disasters with dignity and fight against systemic inequities to protect the assets of Louisianians. This included foreclosure defense, challenging FEMA recoupment claims, and protecting the income of her clients by teaching them about money management, credit repair and consumer debt defense.
Ranie served as a member of the American Bar Association’s Special Committee on Disaster Response and Preparedness, and has trained attorneys, law students, and advocates for social justice–both locally and around the country–on disaster related issues, foreclosure defense litigation, mortgage and foreclosure rescue fraud and scams, diversity and inclusion in the profession, and various general financial awareness topics. She has also served as a trainer and panelist with various groups, including the LSBA Access to Justice Committee, the Shriver Center National Center of Poverty Law, and the American Bar Association, on various subjects.
Download PDF of Flyer for sharing!
Sign up today! You must be present for over 50% of the presentation for us to award credits.
CLE HOURS SPONSOR: CEU HOURS SPONSOR:
Questions? Registrations, Connectivity and Credits can be supported by contacting Team Dynamics (985-624-3514).
LCTF Program Support Questions can be directed to Michele Rabalais (225-342-2245).
.png)
