Staff and Board of Directors

Gretchen McLennon, Chair

P3 Advisors | Memphis, TN

In 2017, Gretchen founded P3 Advisors to leverage over twenty years working in the philanthropic and non-profit sectors. Gretchen partners with organizations to optimize their capacity and programmatic endeavors in intentional and innovative ways. Using an energetic approach, her practice crafts a robust and collaborative process that delivers assessments and frameworks that integrate measurable tactics to strengthen levers for impact and better articulate and execute a focused narrative for long-term viability. Gretchen has worked with clients in Minneapolis, Atlanta, Chicago, and Wisconsin on projects ranging from strategic planning to staff/leadership coaching and training and change management. 

For the last five years, Gretchen led Ballet Memphis as President and CEO. After a successful tenure as the organization’s transitional leader, Gretchen stepped down in the summer of 2025 and returned to her consulting and coaching work. Prior to launching her practice, Gretchen spent a decade at the Hyde Family Foundation (Memphis, TN) as a Program Director. Her work focused on managing the arts & culture and leadership areas of the foundation by making strategic investments averaging $6m annually across her portfolios. During this time, Gretchen was named one of the Memphis Business Journals “40 Under 40” and participated in New Memphis Institute’s Fellows and Executive LDI Programs.

Gretchen is an ICF ACC-certified executive coach and a graduate of Northwestern (BA) and Wake Forest (MBA) universities. She makes her home in Memphis and Chicago. 

Cathy Adams, Vice-Chair

Consultant | Fernandina Beach, FL

Cathy Callaway Adams is a self-described arts omnivore, with a particular love for opera, choral singing, theatre, and literature. She serves on the boards of South Arts, the Atlanta Opera, the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, and the Suzi Bass Awards. She chairs the board of trustees of Mercer University and is on the advisory councils of Growing Leaders and Mercer University Center for Ethics and Leadership. Cathy volunteers as a mentor with Georgia State University's Women Lead program and Pathbuilders, Inc., and moonlights as a pianist, accompanying the Georgia Festival Chorus, a 100-voice auditioned choral group. Cathy's BA in piano performance is from Tift College, and her MBA in Management is from Georgia State University. After three decades in banking, Cathy maintains a consulting practice focused on leadership coaching and nonprofit governance/management. She and her husband live and work and play on Amelia Island, Florida.

Elliot Knight, Secretary

Alabama State Council on the Arts | Montgomery, AL

Dr. Elliot A. Knight is the Executive Director of the Alabama State Council on the Arts. He grew up in Opelika, Alabama and earned three degrees from the University of Alabama including a BA in Visual Communication, an MA in American Studies, and a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies. Dr. Knight is a Blackburn Fellow, member of the Montgomery Rotary Club, and serves on the board of directors of the Alabama Humanities Foundation, University of Alabama Community Affairs Board of Advisors, and the Alabama Tourism Department Advisory Board. He co-founded and developed the Black Belt 100 Lenses Program, a participatory photography and arts program that worked with high school students in twelve Alabama Black Belt counties from 2007-2012. Knight developed and taught several courses at the University of Alabama in the Department of Art History, the Honors College, and the Department of American Studies. He also served as Director of the Arts Living Learning Community at the University of Alabama. At the Alabama State Council on the Arts, Dr. Knight previously held the positions of Deputy Director as well as Visual Arts Program Manager and Director of the Georgine Clarke Alabama Artists Gallery.

David Lewis, Treasurer

Mississippi Arts Commission | Jackson, MS

David Lewis became the Executive Director of the Mississippi Arts Commission in January of 2023.

As executive director of MAC, Lewis is responsible for strategic planning, public speaking, grants administration, business management, partnership development, and other duties. The executive director of MAC reports to a 15-member board of directors appointed by the Governor and manages an 11-member professional staff.

A Jackson native, Lewis is undeniably passionate about Mississippi and all it has to offer. Lewis came to MAC from the Department of Human and Cultural Services (DHCS) for the City of Jackson, where he served as Deputy Director. In his time with DHCS, Lewis showed a commitment to finding creative ways to bring life, energy, and awareness to Jackson’s incredible places, spaces, and people. Lewis plans to bring this same energy to MAC with a focus on supporting Mississippi’s rich creative economy on a state-wide scale. 

As Deputy Director of DHCS, Lewis worked with the Arts Center of Mississippi, the Russell C. Davis Planetarium, the Smith Robertson Museum, and the Municipal Art Gallery. Lewis also served as Manager of Thalia Mara Hall, where he helped usher in a 35% increase in revenue during the 2018-2019 fiscal year. With allies of the Planetarium, Lewis has shepherded the launch of a campaign to fully renovate and add onto the existing structure, helping to raise over 50% of the fundraising goal to date. Lewis is also the creator and lead for the City of Jackson’s Bicentennial campaign, which ended on December 31, 2022, and the holiday Capital City Lights event, which celebrated its second year in 2022. 

Lewis currently serves on the Advisory Council for Downtown Jackson Partners and has served for three years as Vice-Chairman of the Board for Team JXN. In 2018, Lewis received the AIA “Friend of Architecture” award and Visit Jackson’s SUMMIT “Friend of Tourism” award in 2020.

A graduate of Mississippi State University, Lewis earned a bachelor’s degree in Architecture in 2015. From 2016-2018, Lewis pursued a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning at Jackson State University while working as a Project Specialist for the Greater Jackson Arts Council. In his role at GJAC, Lewis facilitated many creative initiatives, including the Welcome to Jackson mural, the Mississippi Light Festival, the Obama Elementary School mural, and the Community Paint Wall. Lewis rebranded and relaunched Food Truck Friday, increasing the attendee count five-fold.

Lewis and his wife, Mary Lee, live in Belhaven with their daughter, Louise.

Neil Barclay, Past Chair

Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History | Detroit, MI

In January of 2019, Barclay was selected to lead the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History as its president and CEO.

A former attorney, Barclay was most recently executive director and CEO of the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) in New Orleans. During his five-year tenure, the institution’s budget increased by more than 40 percent including lead gifts from the nation’s major art philanthropists.

Barclay’s experience also includes seven years of service as associate director of the Performing Arts Center for the University of Texas at Austin and service as founding president and CEO of Pittsburgh, Pa.'s August Wilson Center. Additionally, he was instrumental in capital development planning for Los Angeles' Vision Theater, originally built by Howard Hughes for the city.

Barclay has demonstrated his personal commitment to art and culture as a peer panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, the Gerbode Foundation and the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. A leading national presenter of contemporary performing and visual arts, Barclay serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the regional arts organization South Arts.

He is currently a member of the College of Communications and Fine Arts Advisory Board for Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, his undergraduate and law school alma mater.

Moni Basu

University of Georgia | Atlanta, GA

Moni Basu is the director of the low-residency MFA in Narrative Nonfiction and the Charlayne Hunter-Gault writer in residence at the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. She aims to help students become stronger storytellers and embrace in-depth journalism as literature grounded in fact.

Previously, she was the Michael and Linda Connelly Lecturer in Narrative Nonfiction at the University of Florida, where, in 2020, she was named the Teacher of the Year.

Basu, an award-winning reporter and editor, has worked at various media outlets, among them CNN and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She has reported exhaustively from South Asia and the Middle East. Her 2012 e-book, "Chaplain Turner’s War," grew from a Pulitzer-nominated series of stories on an Army chaplain in Iraq. A platoon sergeant named her “Evil Reporter Chick” and she was featured once as a war reporter in a Marvel comics series. She still writes as a freelancer and her recent work has been published in magazines including The Bitter Southerner and Flamingo.

Born in Kolkata, India, Basu grew up straddling two cultures and often feeling “othered.”  As such, her work has explored immigration, race and identity.

Basu has served as an editor for The Ground Truth Project and the Bitter Southerner and has taught at the Poynter Institute. She serves on the national advisory board of the Asian American Journalists Association.

Jeff Bell

North Carolina Arts Council | Raleigh, NC

Jeff Bell is the Executive Director of the North Carolina Arts Council. Previously, he was the Arts Innovation Coordinator for the City of Wilson, which included being the Executive Director of the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park. He attended UNC Wilmington and received two bachelors of arts degrees, one in Art History and one in Studio Art and received his MFA from UNC Greensboro. Previously, Bell was the Registrar at Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, The Exhibitions and Gallery Manager at Contemporary Art Museum Raleigh and the Museum Manager at 21c Museum Hotel in Durham. He has curated exhibitions at CAM Raleigh, 21c Museum Hotel and at the Ackland Art Museum at UNC Chapel Hill. His artwork has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the state and the region.

Bell lives in Wilson, NC with his wife Amanda Duncan, and their four boys.

Christopher Cathers

Kentucky Arts Council | Frankfort, KY

Chris is the Executive Director of the Kentucky Arts Council. He has been with the arts council for 14 years. He serves as Advancement Chair for South Arts, a regional arts organization and on the nominating committee for the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.

Formerly, as program branch manager for the arts council, Chris managed community-based initiatives, developed the Kentucky Certified Cultural District program and produced The Kentucky Crafted Market. Additionally, his duties included research, development and implementation of processes, programs and initiatives to promote community building through the arts, integrating and promoting cultural heritage tourism and marketing of the arts.

Prior to the Arts Council, Chris spent three years at Eastern Kentucky University as program manager of the Kentucky Artisan Heritage Trails program, a nationally recognized cultural heritage tourism project in the Appalachian region of Kentucky. Under his direction, the program garnered numerous awards including the Kentucky Earth Day Award, Center for Information Technology Enterprise’s Best Practices in the KY120, and the University Economic Development Association’s Award of Excellence in Community Development. He also helped to develop the first-ever Geo-Tourism Map of Appalachia in partnership with the National Geographic Society. Chris holds an MBA in Business Management from Morehead State University. His background includes Internet Marketing, Sales and Retail Management experience.

Chris resides in Lexington with his wife Misty, daughter, Olivia and son, Jasper. His personal interests include photography, reading, film (especially Horror) and outdoor activities.

Natalie Chanin

Alabama Chanin | Florence, AL

Natalie “Alabama” Chanin was born and raised in Florence, Alabama. She has a degree in Environmental Design with a focus on industrial and craft-based textiles from North Carolina State University. After graduation, Chanin worked in the junior sportswear industry on New York's Seventh Avenue, before moving abroad. For the next decade, she worked as a stylist, costume designer, and filmmaker. Chanin returned to Florence, Alabama in 2000 and developed an idea to create a small line unique t-shirts. This started the development of Project Alabama, which consisted of a 22-minute documentary called Stitch, the two-hundred limited hand-sewn and hand-mended t-shirts, and a hand-made catalogue. After taking the collection to New York City to showcase at the Hotel Chelsea, it was immediately recognized by buyers from department stores including Barneys New York. Chanin draws inspiration from her academic studies, including ideas about color as espoused by Josef and Anni Albers, the Bauhaus artists who fled Nazi Germany for Asheville, North Carolina, in 1933 to teach at Black Mountain College. Southern literature and stories have always been a love of hers. Growing up, her grandmother sewed every garment her children wore as well as Chanin's, while also gardening and cooking fresh food. This led to her naturally to make a community of her own through Alabama Chanin.

Gina Charbonnet

GeChar | New Orleans, LA

Gina Therése Charbonnet is a dynamic creator, producer, and advocate for diverse voices, with over two decades of experience in the arts, entertainment, and production. As the founder and principal of the GeChar Agency she is a leading force in multimedia production, specializing in branding, cerative content, and talent acquisition.

Charbonnet's expertise has been sought after by numerous esteemed companies and organizations, including ESSENCE, the Ashé Cultural Arts Center, Prospect New Orleans, Watermark Conferences for Women, the City of New Orleans, Black Girls Rock! and Converse, among others. Her professional accomplishments are highlighted by a longstanding partnership with the Essence Festival of Culture, where Gina and GeChar serve as Executive Producer for the festival's daytime programming. This includes the festival's Empowerment Programming, BeautyCon, the Gospel Tribute, and Keynotes from A Listers, thought leaders and politicians. She consistently establishes and manages relationships with a diverse array of influential figures, which have included Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Monét X Change, Lenya Bloom, Ava Duvernay, Deepak Chopra, Rosario Dawson, and Halle Berry, among others.

Film Producer credits include the short narratives "Happy Birthday Leonard" and "Mosaic", as well as the award-winning "Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans". Executive Producer credits include the critically acclaimed short "Benediction" and the Sundance Audience Award-winning feature "Ma Belle My Beauty". Charbonnet boasts an impressive repertoire of credits in both feature films and documentaries, with "Eve's Bayou" being a pivotal work that kickstarted her production career.

Charbonnet has spoken on panels and been featured on podcasts for being a creative entrepreneur and demanding equity for black women working in the cultural economy and entertainment. Her experience extends to academia and philanthropy having served as a Communications Lecturer at the University of Southern Mississippi and an Instructor in Xavier University’s Art Department. She co-founded the Beautiful Foundation, a New Orleans nonprofit for teenage girls of color and is developing the GeChar Foundation, dedicated to promoting social change through arts, education, and media initiatives. Motivated to address the disparities and inequities COVID exposed, Charbonnet is an executive coach and consultant to a handful of clients, whom she works very closely with on redefining their purpose and impact branding.

Charbonnet holds an M.A. in Arts Administration from the University of New Orleans, a B.A. in Journalism from Southern University, and a Minor in Communications and Film Studies from the University of New Orleans. They have also attended the Producer's Intensive Program at New York University, completed the Goldman Sachs 10k Small Business Program, and the Urban Studies Community Development Finance Program at the University of New Orleans.

John T. Edge

University of Mississippi | Oxford, MS

John T. Edge writes about the American South. In 2017, Penguin published The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South, named as book of the year by NPR, Publisher’s Weekly, and a host of others. Now in paperback, Nashville selected the book as a citywide read for 2018. Edge is also the host of the television show TrueSouth, which airs on the SEC Network and on ESPN. Edge is a contributing editor at Garden & Gun and a columnist for the Oxford American. For three years he wrote the monthly “United Taste” column for The New York Times. His magazine and newspaper work has been featured in eleven editions of the Best Food Writing compilation. He has won three James Beard Foundation awards. In 2012, he won Beard’s M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award. Edge holds an MA in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Goucher College. He directs the Southern Foodways Alliance, an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, where he documents, studies, and explores the diverse food cultures of the American South. Edge has written or edited more than a dozen books, including the foodways volume of the New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. He is series editor of Southern Foodways Alliance Studies in Culture, People, and Place, published by the University of Georgia Press. Edge has served as culinary curator for the weekend edition of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and has been featured on dozens of television shows, from “CBS Sunday Morning” to “Iron Chef.” Edge lives in Oxford, Mississippi, with his son, Jess, and his wife, Blair Hobbs, a teacher, writer, and painter.

Olga Garay-English

OMGArtsPlus | Los Angeles, CA

Olga Garay-English, an independent arts consultant, is Senior Advisor for International Affairs to Fundación Teatro a Milin Santiago, Chile, the producer of the three-week Festival Internacional Santiago a Mil. In 2016, she became Executive Director of the historic Ford Theatres, a 1,200-seat amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills for three-years before the Los Angeles Philharmonic assumed its management. Olga was Executive Director of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. During her tenure at the City, DCA and its programs were awarded more than $23 million in funding from private and public entities 2007-2014). As founding Program Director for the Arts of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (1998-2005), she awarded $145 million to U.S.-based and international arts organizations. Ms. Garay-English became a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres in 2012. Awarded a "Bessie", the New York Dance and Performance Awards, for sustained contribution to the field – 2006. Fan Taylor Distinguished Service Award, Association of Performing Arts Presenters – 2003. Born in Santa Clara, Cuba, she became a naturalized United States citizen in 1978. She is the widow of Dr. Kerry English, a developmental pediatrician who dedicated his life to serving abused and foster children in South Los Angeles.

Jamie DeMent Holcomb

Kidzu Children's Museum | Hillsborough, NC

Jamie DeMent Holcomb is a Morehead Scholar and graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, began her career as a Legislative Aide on Capitol Hill and later served as Director of Special Projects at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. She and her husband, Richard Holcomb, went on to run Coon Rock Farm and several food ventures in North Carolina, including Piedmont Restaurant and Bella Bean Organics. Jamie is the author of two cookbooks—The Farmhouse Chef and Canning in the Modern Kitchen—and has lectured widely on Southern foodways and sustainable cooking. Her work spans food, farming, tech, and the arts, including consulting for museums and startups, and contributing to national media. Currently CEO of Kidzu Children’s Museum and incoming Chair of the NC Science Museum Network, Jamie was selected as a 2024 Eisenhower Fellow and spent the fall collaborating with leading cultural institutions across the UK, France, and Italy.

Glenda E. Hood

Hood Partners | Orlando, FL

The Honorable Glenda E. Hood is President of Hood Partners, a strategic consulting firm focused on civic innovation serving the business, government, and independent sectors. Hood served as Florida Secretary of State from 2003-2005 and Mayor/CEO of the City of Orlando from 1992-2003. Before being elected Orlando’s first woman Mayor, she was a City Council member for 10 years and president of her own public relations business. As Mayor, Hood was a strong advocate of growth management and smart growth principles to build safe, livable neighborhoods, a revitalized downtown, and a strong local economy. As Secretary of State, Hood was responsible for the Department’s Divisions of Administrative Services, Corporations, Cultural Affairs, Elections, Historical Resources, and Library and Information Services; and was instrumental in crafting the State’s Strategic Plan for Economic Development and leading numerous international business initiatives. Hood has served as President of the National League of Cities, the Florida League of Cities, and Chair of the Florida Chamber of Commerce. She is a Trustee of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and active participant and chair of more than 20 ULI Advisory Services and Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership panels; a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration; and long-standing board member and Past Chair of Partners for Livable Communities. Hood serves as a corporate board member of Delta Apparel (NYSE: DLA), Baskerville-Donovan, Inc., and chairs both the SantaFe HealthCare, Inc. and Axiom Bank, NA, boards. She is also a board member of the Orlando Land Trust, Alabama’s Kentuck Art Center and Festival and the Florida Chamber of Commerce where she chairs the Small Business Council. Hood received her BA degree in Spanish from Rollins College after studying in Costa Rica and Spain. She attended the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government Executive Program and participated in the Mayor’s Urban Design Institute at the University of Virginia and the Society of International Business Fellows.

Stewart Hubbard

AMH Group, Inc. | Charlotte, NC

Stewart Hubbard has over 25 years of experience in corporate and investment banking, capital markets, private asset management, and risk management, along with eight years in biomedical, pharmaceutical testing, and environmental research. He serves on advisory boards for two fintech startups and previously worked with a third. He holds a BS in Biology from Morehouse College, an MS in Molecular Biology from North Carolina Central University with thesis work in Genetic Toxicology, and an MBA in General Management and Economics from Campbell University. A former FINRA Series 7 and 66 licensee, he is a devoted father to a teenage daughter, enjoys running, working out, traveling (34 states and four continents), and visiting museums. Passionate about the arts and nonprofit work, he is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. and a Prince Hall Mason. Originally from Detroit, MI, he now lives in Charlotte, NC.

Phillip March Jones

New York City, New York

Phillip March Jones is an artist, writer, and curator based in New York City. In 2009, Jones founded Institute 193, a nonprofit contemporary art space and publisher in Lexington, Kentucky. He later served as the inaugural director of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation in Atlanta, and as director of the Galerie Christian Berst (New York/Paris) and the Andrew Edlin Gallery in New York. Jones currently serves as Institute 193’s Curator-at-Large and oversees Institute 193 (1B), a project space in Manhattan’s East Village that organizes collaborative exhibitions with cultural institutions from the Southern United States. Jones’ photographs and writings have been published by the Jargon Society, Vanderbilt University Press, Dust-to-Digital and Poem 88, among others.

Tina Lilly

Georgia Council for the Arts | Atlanta, GA

Tina Lilly is the Executive Director of Georgia Council for the Arts. She has been with GCA for 14 years and previously served as the Grants Program Director. In that role, she managed all aspects of a $2 million grant program, including the distribution of CARES Act funds and the creation of both the Vibrant Communities, Cultural Facilities, Resiliency and Bridge Grant programs. While at GCA, she also served as a member of the Tourism Resource Team with Explore Georgia and advised communities across the state about utilizing the arts for community and economic development.

Prior to coming to Georgia Council for the Arts, Tina served as Executive Director of the Madison-Morgan Cultural Center in Madison, GA; Administrative Director at 7 Stages Theatre in Atlanta; and Managing Director at Live Bait Theatre in Chicago. She also worked as an adjunct professor at The Theatre School in Chicago and a freelance director at various theatres in Chicago, Atlanta and New York.

Tina received a BA in theatre from Birmingham-Southern College and an MFA in directing from The Theatre School at DePaul University (formerly the Goodman School of Drama).

Yvahn Martin

Apple | Oakland, CA

Yvahn Martin is an expert digital marketer, brand manager, and e-commerce technology professional with over twenty years of business management experience ranging from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies. She completed an MBA at NYU Stern Langone School of Business and undergraduate studies in Dance and Women's Studies at Newcomb College of Tulane University. Yvahn is a former singer, dancer, choreographer and filmmaker who has also proudly served for over 14 years on the governing board of Urban Bush Women dance organization.

Sejal Mehta

North Carolina Arts Council | Raleigh, NC

Sejal Mehta has a strong love of the arts. She serves on the boards of North Carolina Arts Council and International Focus of North Carolina. Previously, she served on the board of the Raleigh Little Theater and Raleigh Review.  Sejal also served on the fiction staff of the Raleigh Review, and she has assisted on the production of short films and various commercials in both New York and the Triangle. In addition, Sejal worked as a contract attorney for Duke Energy, an attorney at the New York Medical Examiner's Office, and a prosecutor in the Queens District Attorney's Office in New York City. She lives in Raleigh with her husband, Jay Chaudhuri, their two teenage children, and their golden retriever Lincoln.

Nina Parikh

Mississippi Film Office | Jackson, MS

Nina Parikh has been with the Mississippi Film Office for 22 years, currently serving as the director. She studied filmmaking at New York University and University of Southern Mississippi, worked in the industry as a producer, and currently teaches as an adjunct professor at Millsaps College. She and the team of “Ballast”, an independent feature film made in Mississippi, were honored with two awards at the Sundance Film Festival 2009. Nina is a co-founder and board member of the Crossroads Film Festival & Society and Mississippi Film Alliance, a non-profit supporting indigenous filmmaking. She also serves on the boards of the Association of Film Commissioners International, Mississippi Book Festival, Creative Mississippi, and is the producer of TEDxJackson.

David Platts

South Carolina Arts Commission | Columbia, SC

For the past 26 years, David Platts has worked in South Carolina as an educator, principal, and district level administrator. Prior to becoming the Executive Director of the South Carolina Arts Commission, David served as the arts and sciences coordinator for Lancaster County School District, a position he held for 15 years. In addition to his work as an educator, Platts has served the Lancaster County Council of the Arts as a board member and president. He has statewide experience as a member, president, and treasurer of the Palmetto State Arts Education board and as a current member of the South Carolina Arts Alliance board, where he has been active as an arts advocate. On the national level, David served as a member of the Education Advisory Committee for the John F. Kennedy Center’s Partners in Education Program. David keeps his own artistic expression fresh by serving as an accompanist and conductor for school and church choral programs.

Anne B. Pope

Tennessee Arts Commission | Nashville, TN

Anne B. Pope serves as the executive director of the Tennessee Arts Commission. Previously Pope served as the executive director of the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network, a priority of the Tennessee First to the Top Initiative, designed to promote and expand the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in k-12 public schools across Tennessee. Pope was instrumental in the partnership between the State of Tennessee and Battelle Memorial Institute, the largest research and development nonprofit in the world, and, in a public partnership with the Tennessee Department of Education, is a managing partner of the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network. Prior to her work with the STEM Innovation Network, Pope served as federal co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission, an economic development partnership between the federal government and the governors of 13 states. She previously served as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, and as executive director of the Tennessee Film, Entertainment, and Music Commission. In the private sector, Pope served as president/CEO of Proffitt’s of the Tri-Cities, Inc., formerly a division of Saks, Inc., and prior to that as president/CEO for the Parks-Belk Co., a chain of department stores located in northeast Tennessee. A graduate of Vanderbilt University and the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, Pope is admitted to practice law in Tennessee and the District of Columbia. Growing up in Kingsport Tennessee, Pope has a life-long passion for the arts. She enjoys music, film, reading, the outdoors, and spending time with her son.

Meg Reid

Hub City Writers Project | Spartanburg, SC

Meg Reid is the Executive Director of the Hub City Writers Project in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and the Publisher of Hub City Press, where she finds and champions new and overlooked voices from the American South. An editor and book designer, her essays have appeared online in outlets like DIAGRAM, the Oxford American, and The Rumpus. She holds an MFA in Nonfiction from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where she served as Assistant Editor of the literary magazine, Ecotone, and worked for the literary imprint Lookout Books. She was a Publishers Weekly Star Watch 2021 Honoree. She is outspoken about the need for transparency and accountability in book publishing and advocates for a decentralized model, grounded in local communities.

Photo by Joshua Gaffney

Leea Russell

Louisiana Division of the Arts | Baton Rouge, LA

Leea Reese Russell is an accomplished arts educator and administrator with a career spanning teaching, leadership, and advocacy. Now serving as Executive Director of the Louisiana Division of the Arts, she leads statewide efforts to enhance arts engagement. Her previous roles include Director of Arts Education and Accessibility for the division and Chief Programs Officer at the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge.

A former dancer and dance educator, Leea spent a decade teaching in East Baton Rouge Parish School System.  She brings expertise in community development, grant management, and cross-sector collaboration to expand arts access. Leea holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre and Dance from Northwestern State University and is completing certification in Arts Management from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Leea has served as a grant panelist for the Alabama State Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts and presented workshops for organizations such as the National Guild for Community Arts Education, the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, and the Kennedy Center Partners in Education. She serves on the boards of the Louisiana Partnership for the Arts, South Arts,the LSU Museum of Art and is a member of the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Advisory Committee for the Foundation for Louisiana. Her work remains focused on uplifting and enhancing the rich cultural legacy that defines Louisiana.
 

Sandy Shaughnessy

Florida Division of Cultural Affairs | Tallahassee, FL

Sandy Shaughnessy became director of the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs in 2005 after serving in the agency as arts administrator for various programs, special events and initiatives since 1997. Prior to the Division of Cultural Affairs, Sandy served as Box Office Manager for Old School Square Cultural Arts Center in Delray Beach, and as Director/Treasurer of Box Office Operations for the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center in Tampa. She has over 25 years of experience working with performing arts venues, artists, producers, Broadway Road Show managers and nonprofit arts administration. Born and raised in New York City, Shaughnessy spent her off school hours working at ABC’s office of World News Tonight and 20/20 as well as at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Shaughnessy has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dramatic Literature, Theatre History, and the Cinema with a minor in Political Science from New York University. Her graduate course work has been in arts administration and she is trained in international protocol. She enjoys writing, designing and hanging art exhibitions, international collaborations, meeting people and serving the community. In addition to the South Arts board, She has served on the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies Board, currently serving on the governance committee and on the 2020 awards task force. She has also served as a grant panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and on American’s for the Arts’ Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network and task-specific working group.