A. Thomas Leonhard, Jr.

CEO, HRI Hospitality and Communities

Tom Leonhard is Chief Executive Officer of both HRI Hospitality and HRI Communities (HRI), a New Orleans based company that was founded in 1982 and has developed over 100 large scale projects with a total cost of over $4 billion dollars.  Mr. Leonhard joined HRI in 1988.  HRI is an internally managed, fully integrated owner, operator and developer of premium branded hotels and mixed-income apartments in the top urban markets in the U.S.  Mr. Leonhard is responsible for all of HRI’s operations, which includes over 1,600 employees managing 30 hotels and 60 apartment properties in ten states.

Mr. Leonhard received an MBA in 1992 with a Real Estate Concentration from the University of New Orleans and a Bachelor of Science in Finance in 1989.  Mr. Leonhard is a member of the executive committee for both the New Orleans Business Council and New Orleans & Company where he was Chair in 2025.  He also heads the Real Estate Committee for the UNO Research & Technology Foundation board and has served as an adjunct professor of Economics and Finance at the University of New Orleans.  Mr. Leonhard also served on the board of Stuart Hall School in New Orleans.