Gay Le Breton Named to 2022 Women of the Year Class

Gay Le Breton was named to the New Orleans CityBusiness 2022 Women of the Year Class. The class is made up of 50 women from the area whose successes in business and contributions to the community have made them movers and shakers in the region.

This is the third time Gay has been recognized for her success in business, having also been recognized in 2001 and 2016. She was most recently recognized by CityBusiness as a 2019 Money Maker. President and CEO Vanessa Brown Claiborne mentioned in Gay’s nomination, “As Chaffe & Associates celebrates its 40^th anniversary, Gay’s 35 years with the company have been vital to its success.  Gay took the reins of the nascent M&A department and developed it into the preeminent M&A operation in the Gulf South by hiring, developing and mentoring a team of outstanding and dedicated professionals….Gay is vital to our firm, profession and community.   She stands out as a woman business leader in the finance profession which is dominated by men.  She has directly mentored many young women in business and frequently speaks to groups of women, imparting career advice.  Her community involvement is expansive, ranging from funding of startup businesses, expanding clean energy development in our region, workforce development, coastal restoration and community health.”

Gay is a Managing Director in the M&A Department at Chaffe. She has been with Chaffe for 35 years, and has 45 years of experience in banking, acquisitions, business recapitalization, and bank and corporate valuations. She is also President of the firm’s broker/dealer subsidiary, Chaffe Securities, Inc.

Gay and the other members of the 2022 Women of the Year class will be honored at a celebration on November 14 at the New Orleans Museum of Art and featured in a CityBusiness special publication on November 18.