Tedra Cheatham is the Executive Director of LED FastStart®, Louisiana Economic Development’s workforce development program. She leads efforts to provide customized business solutions for businesses, ranging from recruiting to curriculum development and training, ensuring new and expanding businesses have the skilled workforce needed to thrive. Cheatham fosters strong partnerships between businesses, educational institutions, and government to drive economic growth and job creation across Louisiana.
A Louisiana native, Cheatham is a graduate of the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts, with a Bachelor of Arts from LSU and a Master of Public Administration from the University of New Orleans. Her career began in governmental affairs in the private sector, focusing on federal, regional, state, and local policy education, before transitioning to the Louisiana State Senate. She has also held leadership roles in university partnerships, nonprofits, and economic development in Georgia and Texas.
Her professional accomplishments include launching bioscience and fintech initiatives, leading a business corridor improvement program, implementing the first text-searchable database for Louisiana’s Administrative Code, securing data center and corporate headquarters projects, and driving successful tax incentive policies and tax allocation districts.
Cheatham is a Certified Economic Developer and a former member of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) Board of Directors. She has volunteered as a trainer in economic development ethics and as a loaned executive for GNO, Inc. in post-Katrina New Orleans. Additionally, she served on the White House Advisory Board under the Obama administration to address the economic impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Cheatham played a key role in founding The Drake House in suburban Atlanta, a residential center for homeless women and children. She is an alumna of Leadership Atlanta and was named one of the Phenomenal Women of North Fulton, Georgia. She currently serves as Chair of the Economic Development Research Partners for IEDC and as Secretary of the Board of Trustees for the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts Foundation.