Two members of the LSUA family were recognized among central Louisiana’s outstanding women as Chancellor Elizabeth Beard, Ph.D., and Institutional Affairs Coordinator Lily Poisso received YWCA of Alexandria-Pineville Decades of Women Awards. The annual awards honor six women representing different decades of life who have demonstrated exceptional achievement, leadership, civic engagement, and service to the community.
Nominated by community members and selected by the YWCA Board of Directors, the honorees reflect the organization’s longstanding mission to empower women, support families, advance social justice, and strengthen communities. For 80 years, the YWCA of Alexandria-Pineville has worked to create opportunities and remove barriers for women, children, and families throughout central Louisiana.
Keynote speaker Judge Monique Rauls challenged the honorees to recognize both the influence they have earned and the responsibility that accompanies it, returning throughout her remarks to the refrain, “Use your power to empower.” “Do not underestimate your contribution to your society. Remember, what is now global started as something local,” Rauls said. She encouraged those gathered to earn a place at the tables where decisions are made, while cautioning that influence carries an obligation: “Being at the table does nothing unless you are there to stand for what is good and what is right.”
Poisso was recognized as the Decades of Women honoree representing women in their 20s for a growing record of community service, professional leadership, and commitment to creating opportunities for others. In addition to her work as institutional affairs coordinator at LSUA, Poisso is active in several organizations serving central Louisiana, including the Junior League of Alexandria, the Young Professionals Group of CenLA, and Starfish Ministries of Louisiana. Through those organizations, she has helped organize events, build community partnerships, support families, and connect young professionals with opportunities to become more engaged in the region. She also mentors young women as an assistant powerlifting coach at Alexandria Senior High School and Buckeye High School, drawing on her experience as a world champion powerlifter and former Team USA competitor to encourage the next generation of female athletes.
“I am thankful for my voice and for the opportunity to use it when someone else’s voice is not being heard,” Poisso said. “Have the courage to walk into rooms where you feel unqualified, build relationships even when it makes you uncomfortable, and use the opportunities you have been given to help someone else. I am proud of what I have accomplished, but nothing fills my cup more than knowing I can use my voice for good.”
Beard was recognized as the Decades of Women honoree representing women in their 50s for a career defined by educational leadership and service to central Louisiana. Since joining LSUA’s faculty in 2005, Beard has advanced through academic and administrative leadership roles including department chair, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs before making history in 2026 as the first woman to serve as chancellor of LSUA and the first woman to lead a four-year university within the LSU System. Her work has included expanding career-connected academic pathways, strengthening community and workforce partnerships, and helping guide LSUA through a period of historic enrollment growth and institutional transformation.
Her recognition comes during a year in which LSUA itself has received national attention for the opportunities it provides women. Earlier in 2026, Newsweek ranked LSUA No. 52 nationally in its inaugural America’s Best Colleges for Women rankings, placing the university in the top 4% of more than 1,300 institutions evaluated. The ranking considered leadership, pay and policies, safety, and opportunity, with leadership carrying the greatest weight. Women hold significant academic and executive leadership roles across LSUA and are strongly represented throughout the university’s faculty ranks.
For Beard, becoming chancellor represents both a personal milestone and another step in a much longer progression of women assuming greater leadership across higher education. In accepting the award, she reflected on the relationship between leadership and service and emphasized that meaningful contributions are often built through everyday acts rather than singular accomplishments.
“We all want to do great things. We want to make a difference, to leave the world a little better than we found it. But we are never too important to do the small things,” Beard said. “Meaningful work often begins with noticing what needs to be done and being the person willing to do it. As Chancellor of LSUA, I believe our university has a responsibility to help create the community we all want to live in, to grow our students into their potential, and to educate the graduates that you all want to hire in your workplaces.”
Beard and Poisso were honored alongside women representing every decade of life from their 20s through their 70s and in the presence of past Decades of Women recipients whose courage, service, and accomplishments helped create opportunities for the women who followed. Their recognition also places them in the company of women whose work has shaped central Louisiana across generations. Beard and Poisso both pointed to the example set by those who came before them and to the responsibility they now carry to encourage, mentor, and make room for the women who will follow.
Written by Adam Lord
Photo by Mira Alvarado