About

Charmaine serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the United Way of Southeast Louisiana and oversees United Way’s Governmental Relations department. She is responsible for the development and implementation of the government relations strategies related to United Way’s three goal areas, including education, income and health, through the development of relationships with key internal and external constituents.

From 2005 to 2013, Mrs. Caccioppi served as the first President of the Louisiana Association of United Ways (LAUW). During her tenure as President of LAUW, she partnered with the Louisiana Association of Non-Profits to publish “Community Solutions” which provided evidence-based policy research on how to combat long-term systemic poverty. She established a relationship with The George Rodrigue Foundation allowing $1 million in funding to be secured for United Ways statewide. She also assisted with securing funding for The George RodrigueFoundation of the Arts (GRFA), an Art Emerging Therapy for Children A+ School Education Curriculum to help children in trauma after Hurricane Isaac. Her many other accomplishments, include, but are not limited to, securing a $90,000 United Way Worldwide grant for the purpose of establishing a United Ways of the Gulf Coast and championing state legislation that ensured High Quality Childcare Standards, School Readiness Tax Credits, the establishment of the Child Poverty Prevention Council and the first refundable Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in the South.

In 2014, Charmaine advocated for the successful historical passage of Domestic Violence bills signed into Louisiana law aimed at stopping domestic abuse and in 2016 is featured in the award winning Five Awake –Domestic Violence documentary film. Historical passage of domestic violence bills was made again in 2017 and in 2018 including gun divesture!

Charmaine was inducted into the Louisiana Center for Women in Government and Business Hall of Fame in 2014. She received the Libby Milton Champion for Children Award in 2016 and Crimestoppers’ George Loker Community Service Award in 2017. She was a founding member of the Ready Louisiana Coalition in 2018. Charmaine established the Nancy M. Marsiglia Institute of Justice in 2018, between United Way of Southeast Louisiana and Loyola University College of Law.  In 2020, she was recognized as one of CityBusiness Women of the Year.  She is currently serving a second term as Chair of the Louisiana Women’s Policy & Research Commission, and serves as a board member for the New Orleans Family Justice Center, and Ellevate Louisiana.  

In 2022, Charmaine was instrumental in the successful passage of a New Orleans Early Childhood proposition, YES for NOLA Kids.  The revenue from this tax, which will begin on January 1, 2023, will go towards providing funding for an additional 1,000 seats for New Orleans students through the City Seats program, which serves economically disadvantaged children ages 0 to 3. In this same year, as a founding member of the Ready Louisiana Coalition, she also helped secure $84 million for early care and education during the Louisiana Regular Legislative session.  These funds will help low-income families afford quality child care, provide a match on local early childhood education investments, and more.

During her 20 years of service with the United States Senate, Mrs. Caccioppi served Senators J. Bennett Johnston then Mary Landrieu, working on major economic development projects throughout Louisiana and Nationwide, including: transportation infrastructure development for ports, airport, highways and railroads; defense and university research projects; flood control and hurricane protection projects; natural resources research; major federal procurement for several federal agencies.