Founding Board Director
Cofounder & Board Director, EcoEXchange Ventures
Cofounder & Chairman, Climate Foods Co., Inc.
Emer. Executive Director, Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship, Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business
Dr. John Elstrott is an active entrepreneur and investor in the venture capital, wetlands mitigation banking, financial services, medical and functional food, technology, audio hardware and software, and authentic herbal remedy industries. He is the Emeritus Executive Director of the Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship at Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business in New Orleans, LA and the Founder and past Director of the Tulane Family Business Center. For over 30 years at Tulane Dr. Elstrott taught courses in entrepreneurship and had research interests in the areas of entrepreneurship, family business, strategic planning, regional economic development, technology commercialization, and environmental economics. He has won numerous teaching awards including the National Freedoms Foundation Leavey Award for Excellence in Private Enterprise Education, the Edwin Appel Prize for bringing Entrepreneurial Vitality to Academe, and the James T. Murphy award for Teaching Excellence. Prior to joining the Tulane University faculty, Dr. Elstrott was Chief Financial Officer for Celestial Seasonings, Inc. Dr. Elstrott serves on the boards of several public and private corporations and non-profit community service organizations. He served as the lead director for Stewart Enterprises from 2011-2013 and was Chairman of the Board and chair of the audit committee for Whole Foods Market, Inc. from 1994-2017. He holds bachelor and master’s degrees in economics from Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge and a doctorate in economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
