Canopy Founder Scott Koloms closed the program with a big declaration. Their mission was to make Kentucky rank first on a brand new kind of list instead of continuing to rank towards the bottom of those old lists. Canopy was created to make Kentucky the leader of the nationally growing Better Business Movement.
Read MoreCentrally, SOAR aims to promote entrepreneurs, small businesses, educators, and, above all, residents of Eastern Kentucky as the region recovers from the decline of the coal industry. Their primary goal is to introduce a new high-speed internet infrastructure across the region, one that will provide substantial economic, educational, and health benefits.
Read MoreMichael B Smith reflects on his experience with the creation of Derby Pies. “I have many fond memories of Kern’s home. From the consistent, delicious smell of their pies baking in the oven to Mrs. Kern’s daily cooking of the family meals. That house held a lot of sacred memories for my friends and the Kern’s family.”
Read MoreAs our culture and economy continue to become more connected digitally, thought leaders in Appalachia have identified an opportunity to help an economy reliant on coal transition into a more technologically resilient future. From this model, Rusty Justice and Lynn Parish started Bit Source in 2014, an organization responsible for upskilling and reskilling former coal miners to make custom software and applications for clients across the globe.
Read MoreOriginally contracted by Logan Aluminum to work in their IT department temporarily, Vijay Kamineni has steadily advanced the ranks, earning titles like Development Team Leader and Business Transformation Leader. He now heads the company as a Chief Innovation and Technology Leader. And as he’s ascended to lead the company forward in its digital future, his focus has remained the same: to seek out and identify ways that new technologies can improve processes for both the worker and the work.
Read MoreTraveling to Boston or Austin or San Francisco to brag about all the smart people Kentucky has produced in the last 40 years isn’t going to change the way the world sees us. Working together to build a new economy for the Commonwealth will.
Read MoreIt was never a hard decision for Rusty Justice when the coal industry began to show serious signs of sliding. Rather than obsess on the end of an economic, regional and cultural identity, he looked to the future. Always an entrepreneur, he soon found opportunity in a workforce that was highly skilled, disciplined and capable of adapting to new technologies.
Read MoreTruly collaborative efforts must be forward-looking, cross-region, and cross-sector. They must foster, facilitate, and act as a catalyst for developing a culture and capacity for resilient, deliberate innovation. And they must be about designing futures in which all of us can see ourselves. (It’s understandably hard to be excited about a future you don’t see as available to you.) These futures should not merely be open to--rather, I’d argue we’d all benefit when they are significantly driven by--initiatives from voices and communities too often left out of that discussion--innovative efforts/voices from rural communities, communities of color, refugee populations, LGBTQ perspectives, and other groups who have too often not been given equal opportunity to dream what the future might be.
Read MoreWhile many of the biggest names in horse racing history have trained and competed on the land that nearly 100 years ago housed the Kentucky Association racetrack, the space is a reminder of the legacy and eventual erasure of the Black horsemen who created horse racing as we know it today.
Read MoreVicki Phillips has charted the course for the future of education. Now as the Chief Education Officer and Vice President of National Geographic, she has developed a plan to modernize the organization’s efforts in expanding children’s access to education.
Read MoreIn celebration of Black History Month 2021, Kentucky to the World and the Muhammad Ali Center have collaborated to bring you the stories of five amazing Black Kentuckians who have forever shaped the reputation of our state with their work and talents. These people have had a positive “butterfly effect” that has created ripples to the story of Black history in Kentucky.
Read MoreEverett McCorvey has since managed to reach the apex of two fields in tandem: music performance and teaching. As Professor of Voice and Director of Opera at the University of Kentucky, he has toured the world and received critical accolades as a leading tenor soloist.
Read MoreDana Canedy has received a Pulitzer Prize for reporting, written a celebrated memoir, become the first African American, first woman and youngest person to be elected administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, and, most recently, taken the position as Publisher and Vice President at Simon & Schuster.
Read MoreShelly Zegart founded Kentucky to the World but she’s more widely known for her work to elevate the art of quilts, a passion that ended up defining over three decades of her life.
Read MoreMichael Wines has used his tools as a journalist to shine a light on structural disenfranchisement at publications that include the Louisville Times, National Journal, the LA Times, and The New York Times.
Read MoreCassie Chambers Armstrong’s Hill Women reads as a faux-response to Vance’s polemic against the region: coming from Berea and growing up in Owsley County, she understands that poverty has largely been a policy problem, and that the people struggling in this region deserve community-level support rather than nationwide castigation.
Read MoreCassie Chambers Armstrong's story is indeed a remarkable one; but her decision after graduation from Harvard makes her story a unique one. She chose to come back to Kentucky.
Read MoreAreas of town that have long lost their support from the city through systematic racist practices like redlining, white flight, and now, gentrification. It was important to me that whatever I did would add color and a sense of belonging.
Read MoreA Henderson, Ky. native and Centre College graduate, Bart Sights has produced groundbreaking new techniques, technologies and structural improvements that have catapulted Levi’s to unprecedented heights.
Read MoreIn 2011, the groundwork began coming together for an ambitious project at The University of Louisville to archive Louisville’s underground music culture from the 1970’s to present day. At the helm of the project were people who lived it; zine makers, musicians, photographers, and fans.
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