Theatre director Les Waters’ interest in contemporary art and new plays drives him in his career. Born to a working class family in rural England, Waters is an award-winning, British theatre director. He has numerous theatre credits in New York and around the U.S., including winning an Obie for the premier of “Big Love” at the Humana Festival. Waters headed the M.F.A. directing program at UC San Diego from 1995 to 2003. He also served as the associate artistic director with the Berkeley Repertor...
Jun 27, 2017•30 min
Mark Hogg seeks to end the global water crisis. Seeing people using poor quality water while on a college trip to West Africa and how water borne diseases affected their health, then seeing how a chlorinator could help, served as the genesis for Mark Hogg’s passion for making clean water accessible throughout the world. In 1995, Hogg launched the non-profit organization Edge Outreach, recently renamed WaterStep. He works every day to put an end to the global water crisis by bringing clean drinki...
Jun 27, 2017•28 min
The mantra “You are pure potential,” from his improv mentor, Dr. Martin de Maat, motivates Chris Hartman in his work against discrimination. Hartman’s work as an activist in the LGBT community has helped stop anti-fairness legislation, and change the conversation. Hartman served as the Philadelphia director of the Democratic National Committee’s open-air grassroots fundraising effort for the 2004 Presidential Election. In 2008, he served as campaign press secretary to Congressman John Yarmuth. H...
Jun 27, 2017•24 min
Gill Holland’s curiosity has led to careers as an independent film producer, building developer, and former lawyer. Holland is changing the landscape of Louisville’s East Market District. He coined the term New Lou for the formerly economically depressed area, turning it into a thriving and sustainable arts district. This is where he opened the Green Building, certified LEED Platinum, which is recognized as the greenest commercial building in Kentucky. Holland is also the founder of the group En...
Jun 26, 2017•24 min
Robert A. Davenport is passionate about helping his clients with their financial needs. Davenport was born and raised in Kansas, but spent his childhood summer weekends traveling the U.S. to attend his father’s races. His father, Dick Davenport, was a four-time Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) national champion. After Davenport received his bachelor’s degree in history from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, he began working for the Equitable Insurance Company, which was purchased by AXA ...
Jun 26, 2017•29 min
Mark Johnson has a deep passion for the sport and spectacle of horse racing; He calls it the greatest theatre on earth. Johnson is only the 6th track announcer in the history of Churchill Downs and the first non-American to hold the position to call America’s greatest thoroughbred horse race, the Kentucky Derby. He has become one of Britain’s senior track announcers, having called many of Britain’s most important races including five Epsom Derbies, a British classic for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds ...
Jun 26, 2017•31 min
Lynnie Meyer, a well-known civic leader and fundraising executive in Louisville, is fueled by her commitment to the community. Meyer previously worked for Caritas Health, University of Louisville Hospital, Caretenders, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Kosair Children’s Hospital. In 1998, she was selected president and CEO for the Center for Women and Families. In 2004, Meyer became system vice president and chief development officer at Norton Healthcare. She is the system vice president ...
Jun 26, 2017•23 min
JK McKnight is the founder and captain of the Forecastle Festival, a gathering of musicians, artists, and activists. McKnight is a talented songwriter, musician, and environmental activist. With Forecastle, he pioneered combining art, event and environmental sustainability. This small community event has grown into a 3-day gathering of music, art and environmental activism, which now attracts well over 30,000 attendees – one of the largest outdoor gatherings in the Midwest. McKnight credits his ...
Jun 26, 2017•23 min
Pastor Joe Phelps feels a call to embody God’s justice and love in the world. He has been the pastor at Louisville’s Highland Baptist Church since 1997. Over the past 15 years, the church has increased its commitments to sharing its view of the Christian message, mission action, and to work for social justice in the community and beyond. Phelps drew national attention from news stations and radio shows in 2006, when he appeared in an ad campaign titled, “Wake Up Wal-Mart,” which brought to light...
Jun 26, 2017•26 min
Sam Swope has had a historic 60 years in the automobile dealership business. He began his company with a dealership in Elizabethtown in 1951 and expanded into Louisville in 1956. After two unfortunate incidents, causing two separate locations to burn down, Swope persevered and continued to grow his business. Today, Swope operates over 20 dealerships throughout Kentucky. Swope has a long list of lifetime awards, including the prestigious Louisvillian of the Year Award and the University of Louisv...
Jun 26, 2017•25 min
Mandy Connell is a talk radio host who credits her competitive nature as a driver to be her best. Connell was working as a flight attendant when her quick wit and fun personality made a stranger take notice. The stranger happened to be Dick Robinson, founder of the Connecticut School of Broadcasting, and it led him to offer Connell a scholarship to attend school there. In 2010, Connell was hired to fill the WHAS Radio 84 9 a.m. to noon time slot, chosen among 130 applicants. She stood out for he...
Jun 26, 2017•30 min
Troy Burden taps his inner drive to help others as the executive director of Highlands Community Ministries. Burden has lead this non-profit and its multiple outreach programs since 2011. The organization currently has a board of directors from 24 local Highland churches. Burden is from Kentucky and moved to Louisville in 1995, devoting his career to the non-profit sector. From 1995 to 2007, he worked for the Christian Care Communities where he served as director of assisted living at Friendship...
Jun 26, 2017•23 min
Esslinger serves as the vice president of community relations and development for the Greater Kentucky and Southern Indiana Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. She brought her background of events management, accounts management, and membership development to help this local non-profit to grow and develop. The University of Louisville graduate joined the association in 2004, overseeing employees and fundraising in Louisville, Lexington and Evansville. Esslinger leads special events, grants, ...
Jun 26, 2017•29 min
David Easterling is a software entrepreneur engaged in a labor of love to bring back an iconic Louisville beer brand. He began in sales and management in the paper industry and moved on to a career in information technology consulting. As the software executive for Everest Technologies, he grew the operation and eventually bought it. Now called Prosoft, Easterling has become a leader in the Louisville area for software development consulting and staffing, with offices across the nation. When thi...
Jun 26, 2017•29 min
Pat Gallagher creates visual art based on the connection he feels when talking with people. Gallagher was a corporate employee in 2006 when an unnamed man in a New York hotel bar in Times Square saw him doodling on a napkin and declared him an artist. He decided to veer away from his life path at the time and embrace his natural talents. With innate talent and no formal training, Gallagher has an innate ability to sit and talk with his subject and create art based on how they see themselves. He ...
Jun 26, 2017•29 min
Lora Tucker loves leadership responsibility – and making a difference – and has used that love from childhood through her military career and as CEO of the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana. Tucker is a retired US Army colonel. She led troops in Operation Desert Storm, jumped out of airplanes as part of the Airborne Corps, directed public affairs officers in the US Army Reserve, and commanded a joint press camp at Guantanamo Bay. Tucker earned the Bronze Star Medal and served 25 years as a soldier and ...
Jun 26, 2017•29 min
Angela McCormick Bisig is a Jefferson County district court judge who is driven to get out into the community and make a difference. She has been a Jefferson County district court judge since 2002 and is a strong supporter for foreign language education for court personnel. As judge, Bisig introduced the enhanced family supervision docket to review domestic violence cases. She is also an advocate for more training on multi-cultural court issues and created a Spanish language and cultural emersio...
Jun 26, 2017•29 min
Growing up Derek Anderson listened to the positives around him. This drove him through his NBA career and the founding of a successful business and charitable foundation. Anderson played for the championship-winning men’s basketball team at the University of Kentucky. He then went on to be the 13th overall pick in the NBA Draft, selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Anderson played with five other NBA teams throughout his basketball career. After retiring from the NBA, Anderson became a director ...
Jun 26, 2017•20 min
Gerald Neal credits his parents’ commitment to the community as laying the foundation for his career in politics. Neal advocates for economic development, education, health, welfare, and safe communities. He is a powerful voice for those who need it most. In his five years as Kentucky state senator of Louisville’s 33rd district, Neal has been included in the Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame and received both the Clarence Mitchell Award from the NAACP and an Anderson Laureate Award. Neal was aw...
Jun 26, 2017•26 min
Jeff Van Note played football eighteen years for the NFL Atlanta Falcons, the second longest for any player on one team. After attending grade school in Louisville and college at the University of Kentucky, Van Note established himself as one of the finest centers in the NFL, playing for the Atlanta Falcons. He was voted by fans as their favorite Falcons player, inducted into the Falcons Ring of Honor, and also inducted into seven different football halls of fame. Van Note is a 6-time Pro Bowler...
Jun 26, 2017•29 min
Carol Haddad is driven by a desire to be a participant, not a spectator, in improving education for children. At the critical juncture of the education merger and a federal judge’s order for busing, Haddad ran for the JCPS school board. She felt strongly that her voice could make a difference to improve education standards. Haddad’s motivation to advocate for children and their education came from joining the Parent Teacher’s Association in 1967. From there, Haddad continued to help the PTA for ...
Jun 26, 2017•17 min
Inspired by creativity, Bruce Simpson credits the joy of life for what drives him and fuels his career in ballet. Simpson came to the Louisville Ballet as artistic director in 2002, bringing over 30 years of experience in the ballet world with him. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Simpson mastered the art of ballet. He danced for South Africa’s State Theatre Ballet for 30 years and experienced many performances and leading roles. In 1983 Simpson was named ballet master, and in 1985, he was named senio...
Jun 26, 2017•24 min
Major General Donald Storm dedicated 37½ years to serving his country with the U.S. Army. Storm first enlisted in the Army in 1970. He served in the MACV, or Military Assistance Command in Vietnam. Storm later transferred to full-time service with the Kentucky Army National Guard. He was then commissioned as an infantry officer. Storm commanded and served in staff officer positions at the Company Battalion Brigade at state headquarters level with senior level leadership assignments. Storm was th...
Jun 26, 2017•31 min
A consistent love for sports and entertainment drives Lynn Abramson-Saltzman in her career. Abramson-Saltzman is the general manager of the Louisville Arena Sports and Entertainment Properties, the exclusive marketer for the KFC Yum! Center. In 2007, Abramson-Saltzman hit the ground running, and during her first year she assisted in securing sponsorship commitments exceeding $50 million over the next decade. Abramson-Saltzman graduated from Syracuse University. She came to Louisville with 20 yea...
Jun 26, 2017•19 min
A passion for the arts and to make things better by introducing new generations to the art drives Stephen Klein in his career. Since 2005, Klein has been president of the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts. He has spearheaded a comprehensive and ongoing strategic plan, served as the chair of the Arts and Cultural Attractions Council, and successfully organized a $9 million request for deferred funds. Klein also assisted in preserving Stage One Children’s Theatre and sits on many boards thro...
Jun 26, 2017•29 min
Over the years, Kent Oyler has started 19 different business ventures and created over 1,000 jobs. Oyler is currently CEO of OPM Services, a financial services and investment firm. In 1996, Oyler and a friend formed high-speed access (or HSA) that delivers broadband Internet over cable television wires, attracting over $90 million in significant, well-known investors. In 1999, at age 41, Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan took HSA public in what still stands as the largest IPO in the history of the C...
Jun 26, 2017•30 min
Berk Bryant is fueled by a desire to bring bluegrass and traditional country music to the world to enjoy. Bryant was born in Virginia and grew up listening to bluegrass music while helping on his grandparents’ farm. After attending Polytechnic Institute, he went on to serve in the Army, spending time in Korea, Vietnam, and Fort Knox, Ky. During his years in the Army, Bryant managed to work on various radio stations, earning him the title “Mr. DJ USA” from WSM in Nashville. In 1989, he launched h...
Jun 26, 2017•30 min
Madeline Abramson served as Louisville’s first lady for 21 years and is a tireless community volunteer. As the wife of the longest serving mayor in Louisville history, Mayor Jerry Abramson, Abramson has selflessly devoted a great deal of her efforts to volunteerism. Her passion for public service has placed her as the board chair for the Kentucky Center for Performing Arts and the Red Cross, and leading the board at Maryhurst. Abramson has also served on the board for the Prichard Committee for ...
Jun 25, 2017•21 min
Hal Heiner served as a vice chairman of Greater Louisville, Inc., and in 2002, he was elected to the Louisville Metro Council. On the Council, he spent eight years focusing on finding efficiencies in services, shedding light on the inner dealings of Metro Government, and finding smart ways for the community to grow and prosper. After receiving a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Louisville, he became a partner in one of the city’s largest civil engineering firms. In 1997, Hei...
Jun 25, 2017•21 min
Louisville-born Greg Fischer is an entrepreneur and community leader. In 2008, Fischer ran for the Kentucky Democratic Primary for the U.S. Senate and finished second among the seven candidates. Fischer co-invented and holds the patent for a combination ice and beverage dispenser. This invention led to forming SerVend, a family business with his father and brother. Under his leadership the small business grew to a global manufacturing company and employed over 300 people. In 1999, Fischer retire...
Jun 25, 2017•18 min
