Never Retreat

Simone Maloz Advocates for the Coast

Restore or Retreat (ROR) is a non-profit coastal advocacy organization which “seeks to identify and expedite the implementation of aggressive, large-scale restoration projects to protect the irreplaceable bayou region of southeast Louisiana.”

Based at Nicholls State University, the nonprofit has advocated for freshwater and sediment diversions into the Barataria and Terrebonne Basins, marsh creation, shoreline restoration and barrier islands, among other projects, and has called for federal and state attention to the Barataria and Terrebonne Basins though several different planning processes.

The organization is led by its Executive Director and Houma native Simone Maloz, who works on state, local and federal levels to advocate for communities on Louisiana’s vanishing coast. “We advocate for projects in our areas, but we also try to connect the communities to the people who are planning, building funding, constructing those projects as well,” she said.

A graduate of Nicholls with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication, Maloz had previously worked in the medical field as the Development Representative for the American Cancer Society’s Houma office and Coordinator of Clinical Recruitment and Retention at Terrebonne General Medical Center. Prior to joining ROR, she gained experience recruiting and training volunteers and coordinating fundraising events. She also learned what people could accomplish when they come together to get behind a cause.

“All of that taught me a lot about our community and a lot about the Bayou Region, especially my time at the American Cancer Society when people were so passionate for a cause — how much they were willing to do as a volunteer and how generous they were with their time and their resources,” she said.

With her wanting to know more about the coastal land loss subject and join in restoration efforts, Maloz took over the executive director position in January of 2005, and later that year, she encountered major challenges when tragedies struck South Louisiana in the forms of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Maloz commented on the resilience of the Bayou Region community: “ [Our resilience] started long before all of that. But I can tell you from my time at Restore or Retreat, that is something that has been proven time and time again. Whenever we’re met with these challenges, we face them directly and head-on — and we learn from them.”

“That is something that carries over into the world today, both with the virus and the impacts of the oil and gas industry,” she continued. “We are no strangers to adversity…At this point, I’m pretty sure it’s ingrained in our DNA.”

Those events were a game changer in different aspects as Maloz explained: “not just for the loss of life and impact to the area, but they decided to do business differently in Louisiana.” Restoration and protection were put together, Maloz said, and the state started a brand new entity. New rules were implemented again five years later after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which ROR had to adjust to as well, but the organization still manages to stay on the path to a healthier Louisiana coast.

Maloz said someone being genuine about their work and having determination can lead them to accomplish their goals — even through adversity. “You also have to be open-minded,” she continued. “Things like hurricanes and oil spills, for example, you can’t control. You have to be able to adapt in whatever the situation.”

There are no specific challenges Maloz has come across being a woman in her field, she said, it’s more about breaking down the stereotypes in an androcentric world that revolves around engineering and construction in the different aspects of coastal work.

“It is interesting and very encouraging to see how many women have entered this field and how many women are leaders in this field,” she shared. “But it is certainly something that we think about from all aspects of diversity — that coastal work is apolitical; it’s nonpartisan. So people involved in coastal work should represent the communities that have the most at stake.”

“Whether it’d be a career or a place where you volunteer, or something that you’re passionate about, there’s an opportunity to still be in that space,” Maloz added. “I certainly didn’t know — having kind of this PR background — that I would be in a coastal world. Don’t let challenges get in your way if you’re really interested in something.”

More information on Restore or Retreat can be found at restoreorretreat.org. •