Our Board
Our board is comprised of dedicated volunteers who keep this organization running. If you have interest in joining us, fill out the contact form here.
Shevawn Akers has lived in Lexington more than 15 years and worked in the non-profit sector more than 10 years. She earned her Masters in social work from UK and is a passionate social justice advocate, single mom, political junkie, community activist/organizer & event planner. She also loves art, food, music and spending time with her son, Hayden.
Peter Brackney is a twenty-something attorney, practicing in Lexington. He lives with his wife and son in Nicholasville. Passionate about preserving the region’s history and greenspace, he believes that all issues should be addressed on a regional basis. He also maintains the website www.kaintuckeean.com, which explores Kentucky’s unique people and places.
Michael Coblenz is a patent and intellectual property attorney in Lexington. He is an Air Force veteran and has a degree in Engineering from the University of Illinois and law degrees from Gonzaga University and the University of Houston. He is interested in the role of innovation in economic development and the correlation between a culture of creativity and technological innovation.
Tim Davis practices business and employment law and advises businesses of all sizes and individuals. Tim’s passionate about making Lexington and central Kentucky an even better place to live through economic development and quality-of-life initiatives. He enjoys bicycling and is always planning his next trip.
Melody Flowers has been engaged in strategic planning and policy work for over a decade in fields as varied as transportation, the environment, emergency preparedness, homeland security, higher education and healthcare. In addition to working to make Lexington the best place it can be to raise her two young children, Melody has a passion for good food, good wine and good conversation.
Ericka Harney is a Lexington native and is passionate about the nonprofit sector at all levels. She is the Assistant Director of Development at The Council of State Governments and Owner of Cause Head Consulting. Her key policy and community interests include employment, community and social services, historic preservation, volunteerism and philanthropy.
Graham Pohl is a partner at POHL ROSA POHL architecture+design. He is a passionate advocate for design excellence and green building. He has taught at architecture schools and continues efforts to raise design awareness through volunteering, writing articles, cajoling, arm wrestling… anything that might work.
Dan Rowland is a Russian historian by trade, and has been a neighborhood activist since moving to Lexington from Maine in 1974. He is former director of the Gaines Center for the Humanities at UK, loves old buildings, good design and singing.
Becca Self is the Education Director of Seedleaf, a local nonprofit that aims to nourish the community by growing, cooking, sharing and recycling food. A long-term resident of downtown and near-downtown Lexington, she is passionate about making the heart of the city a fantastic core that serves the needs of its many populations, while ensuring a sustainable future. She also loves cooking, reading and singing.
Ben Self is a native Lexingtonian who helps organizations build successful online engagements with their customers or constituents. In 2004, with four other veterans of Howard Dean’s Internet team, he founded Blue State Digital, a consulting firm that specializes in creating new media strategy and technology for political candidates, non-profits and companies. In 2010, Ben left Blue State Digital to spend more time in his hometown and to help make it an even better place to live. He plans to never move again.
R. Chase Southard (sounds like: Suh’ thurd) is a Kentucky native and a Lexington resident since 1996 who might best be described as a biologist seduced by computers. For the past 10 years, he has worked as a research analyst at the University of Kentucky, studying the molecular biology of breast cancer progression. His interests in open source software and open data combined in 2010 when he helped found OpenLexington – a non-profit. non-partisan organization dedicated to promote transparency and open government in Lexington.
Hayward Wilkirson has been involved in social justice activism for years. He was co-director of Vanderbilt University’s Appalachian Student Health Coalition and spent several years in Nicaragua with Witness for Peace, studying the impact of U.S. economic policy on the poor of Central America. More recently, he has become involved in historic preservation efforts in Lexington, leading the effort to prevent the demolition of the Dame block by the CentrePointe developers.
