May 9th Guest Speaker
Augusto “Cookie” Rojas, Jr. JD
Augusto was born and raised in Pawtucket (PAW-TUCK-IT), RI. He graduated from La Salle Academy in Providence, RI and then served in the United States Marine Corps for 6 years. He is a Persian Gulf War Veteran, serving with the 6th Motor Transport Battalion during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
He received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Rhode Island in ’93. He then received his Law Degree from Suffolk University in Boston, MA in ’98. He served in the administrations of both RI Attorney Generals Jeffrey Pine and Sheldon Whitehouse.
He then went on to work for the United Way of Rhode Island and served as the Senior Vice President/Annual Campaign Director, managing a team that raised in excess of $20M annually for those in need in Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts. He eventually became the Assistant Vice President/Community Development Officer for the largest credit union in the State of Rhode Island, Pawtucket Credit Union. There he created a Community Development Department that administered corporate giving and community outreach.
He eventually achieved his personal goal of working in Sports. Serving as the General Sales Manager for the Pawtucket Red Sox Baseball Club, Triple A Affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. As the General Sales Manager, his sales team reached record highs in terms of tickets sold and revenue generated. He also oversaw several successful in-game promotions and charitable events for the franchise.
In 2014 he was offered and accepted a position with Learfield Sports as the General Manager for Brown Bears Sports Properties at Brown University, Providence, RI.
He also served as an adjunct faculty member at Johnson & Wales University, Providence Campus, where he taught Sports Marketing.
Over the years, he has worked in the Academic, Government, Military, Non-Profit and Corporate sectors and feels this experience has helped him truly connect with current and prospective community and corporate partners.
His hobbies include running half marathons and marathons, reading, and the beach. He also considers himself a movie aficionado, usually watching every OSCAR nominated movie annually.
He is married to the former Kristin Cicilline of Newport, RI, and they have four grown children, Nicholas, Marcus, Austin and Madison.
“Cookie” relocated to New Orleans with the new ownership group of the former Zephyrs Baseball Team in January of 2016. He currently serves on the board of directors of both Junior Achievement of Greater New Orleans, Jefferson Parish Convention & Visitors Bureau, committee volunteer for the “Up on the Roof” for the East Jefferson General Hospital Foundation and is an Adjunct faculty member at both Loyola & Tulane Universities. He recently was a part of a rebranding effort for the team which is now known as the New Orleans Baby Cakes.