Meet the 17 Leaders Reimagining the Tri-State

Meet the 17 Leaders Reimagining the Tri-State

Sasha Bush

The Ashland Beacon

Seventeen People. Three States. One Big Question. What if there’s a better way to solve the challenges facing the Tri-State?

This fall, 17 nonprofit leaders from Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia will step away from the everyday demands of their jobs and into a different kind of experience — one designed to challenge assumptions, spark new ideas and change the way they think about serving their communities.

They are the inaugural Innovation Fellows selected by the Foundation for the Tri-State, representing a remarkable cross-section of people working to make the region stronger.

From children’s museums and food banks to child advocacy, housing, preservation, education, workforce development and community engagement, these leaders see the Tri-State from very different perspectives. What they share is a commitment to their communities — and a willingness to ask what might be possible if familiar problems were approached in unfamiliar ways.

Beginning September 11, the Fellows will take part in an intensive leadership experience focused on innovation, collaboration and human-centered problem solving.

  “We see incredible leaders working throughout our region every day who care deeply about their community and the people they serve,” said Kathryn Lamp, President and CEO of the Foundation for the Tri-State. “The Innovation Fellowship is about investing in those leaders and giving them new tools, new connections and the opportunity to step outside of their day-to-day work to really explore the challenges they are seeing in their community.” And these are the people taking on that challenge.

Kentucky: Building Stronger Communities from the Ground Up

Kim Jenkins — Executive Director, Highlands DO!zeum

At Highlands DO!zeum, Jenkins works in a world where curiosity and creativity are at the center of the mission. As an Innovation Fellow, she will bring that spirit of exploration to the broader challenges facing the region.

Mike Maynard — Executive Director, Hillcrest-Bruce Mission

Maynard’s work through Hillcrest-Bruce Mission places him close to some of the region’s most pressing needs. His participation offers an opportunity to examine those challenges from a new perspective and explore creative approaches to helping the people Hillcrest-Bruce serves.

Lisa Phelps — Executive Director, Hope’s Place Child Advocacy Center

Phelps leads an organization dedicated to serving children and families during some of life’s most difficult moments. Her experience brings an important perspective to a Fellowship built around understanding people’s needs before designing solutions.

 Marshall Tyson — CEO, United Way Northeast KY

Tyson works at the intersection of community needs, partnerships and resources. Through the Fellowship, he will join other regional leaders in looking beyond traditional approaches to the problems communities face.

Mark Wilson — Chief Development Officer, Ramey-Estep Homes Inc./Re-group

Wilson brings experience from an organization focused on supporting individuals and families. His role adds another perspective to the conversation about how organizations can identify needs, test ideas and create meaningful change.

Ohio: Investing in Connection and Community

Mandy Carte — Accessibility Coordinator, Third & Center

Carte brings a focus on accessibility — an essential part of creating communities where people can participate, connect and belong. Her perspective will help the Fellowship understand challenges through the eyes of the people experiencing them.

Matthew Delong — Chairman, Ironton aLive

As chairman of Ironton aLive, Delong is involved in efforts to strengthen and energize the Ironton community. His participation represents the importance of place, local identity and community engagement in the region’s future.

West Virginia: A Broad Network of Ideas and Experience

The West Virginia contingent makes up the largest portion of the inaugural cohort, bringing together leaders whose work touches nearly every corner of community life.

Megan Archer — President & CEO, Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce Foundation

Archer brings a perspective shaped by business, economic development and regional collaboration. Her work connects organizations and people working toward a stronger Huntington-area economy and community.

Aaron Arnold — Strategic Business Development & Policy Maker, Facing Hunger Foodbank

Arnold works on issues surrounding food insecurity while also focusing on strategic development and policy. That combination offers a valuable perspective for a Fellowship centered on finding new ways to understand and respond to community needs.

Stephanie Hurley Collier — CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Tri-State

Collier leads an organization built around relationships and mentorship. Her work provides a firsthand understanding of how personal connections can influence the lives of young people and strengthen communities.

Destini DelPapa — Program Operations Coordinator, Huntington Rising Inc.

DelPapa brings an operational and program-focused perspective from Huntington Rising, adding another piece to the Fellowship’s mix of experiences and approaches.

 RL Ely — Outreach Coordinator & Adventure Park Manager, Heritage Farm

Ely’s work at Heritage Farm combines community outreach with an experience-driven approach to connecting people with place, recreation and one another.

Michelle Goodman — Director of Marketing & Community Engagement, United Way of the River Cities Inc.

Goodman’s work sits at the intersection of communication, engagement and community impact — a natural fit for a program emphasizing collaboration and understanding the people behind the problems organizations are trying to solve.

Lauren Kemp — Executive Director, RenewAll

Kemp leads RenewAll, bringing her experience in community-focused work to a cohort designed to look for opportunities beyond the most obvious answers.

Raine Klover — Executive Director, Huntington Children’s Museum

Klover brings a perspective rooted in children’s learning, creativity and exploration. Her work is particularly aligned with the Fellowship’s invitation to approach challenges with curiosity and ask better questions.

Jamie Saber — Program Manager, Compass

Saber contributes experience in program management and community service, adding another perspective to the diverse group of leaders coming together through the Fellowship.

Brittany Trippett — Executive Director, Southside Preservation and Enhancement Alliance

Trippett brings a focus on neighborhood preservation and enhancement, representing the role that local places, history and community identity play in shaping the region’s future.

More Than a Leadership Program

What makes the Innovation Fellowship different is that the Foundation isn’t simply asking these leaders to learn new management techniques. It’s asking them to think differently.

Throughout the Fellowship, participants will be encouraged to resist the temptation to jump immediately to the first solution that comes to mind. Instead, they’ll spend time understanding the people affected by a problem, asking better questions and identifying what communities actually need.

Through a partnership with Marshall University’s iCenter, the Fellows will be introduced to Intuit’s Design for Delight methodology, a human-centered approach to understanding problems, developing ideas and testing potential solutions.

  They’ll work together through hands-on workshops, individual coaching and collaborative learning experiences. That means the 17 Fellows won’t just be learning from instructors — they’ll be learning from one another. And that may be one of the Fellowship’s greatest opportunities.

A leader working with children may see a problem differently than someone working in economic development. A food-insecurity expert may approach a challenge differently than a preservation advocate. Someone focused on accessibility may ask questions others haven’t considered.

Put all of those perspectives in the same room, and something interesting can happen. A new idea can emerge. From Ideas to Action. The Fellowship won’t end with a notebook full of good ideas.

At the conclusion of the program, Fellows will have an opportunity to participate in a pitch competition, presenting ideas developed during the Fellowship to a panel of judges.

Up to $35,000 in unrestricted funding will be awarded to help turn those ideas into action.

That gives the inaugural Fellows something more than an opportunity to rethink problems. It gives them a chance to do something about what they discover.

For the Foundation for the Tri-State, that is the larger vision behind the program.

  The organization has traditionally invested in the region through grants and charitable funds. The Innovation Fellowship represents another kind of investment — one focused on the people, relationships and ideas that can strengthen the Tri-State for years to come.

“When we invest in people, give them room to think creatively and bring them together to learn from one another, the impact can extend far beyond any one organization,” Lamp said. That’s the experiment beginning September 11.

Seventeen leaders will enter the room with 17 different backgrounds, experiences and views of the Tri-State.

The question is what they’ll see when they walk out — and what they might build together.