Moxietalk With Kirt Jacobs

Vincenzo Gabriele and his brothers grew up with a love for fine dining, inspired by their father, a captain in the Merchant Marine. In 1969, Gabriele came from Italy to work with his brother Giovanni in St. Louis. In 1975, Don and Michael Grisanti approached Gabriele to come to Louisville as maître d’ of their family restaurant. With his great people skills and an incredible knowledge of the art of hospitality, Gabriele eventually became the restaurant’s co-owner. In 1981, Gabriele was awarded the Ivy Award, an award given by his peers. In 1986, Humana approached Gabriele to take over its downtown dining facilities. With the help of his brother, world-renowned chef Agostino Gabriele, Vincenzo’s Italian Restaurant was born. Vincenzo’s is an upscale, fine-dining establishment that has been honored with numerous industry awards and is a favorite stop for famous guests to Louisville. The Gabriele brothers have donated financial support and food to a wide variety of charitable organizations and Vincenzo has receiv

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz experienced the calling and desire to serve others through the clergy while in high school. Kurtz is the 4th archbishop, the 9th bishop of the Archdiocese of Louisville, and Benedict XVI appointed him Most Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D. He served from 1972 – 1999 in the Diocese of Allentown, Pa., receiving the distinguished title of monsignor in 1986. He moved on to be the bishop of Knoxville, Tenn. until 2007. The Archdiocese of Louisville is the oldest Roman Catholic Archdiocese west of the Appalachians, covering 24 counties and hosting a Catholic population of greater than 200,000 individuals. In 2010, Kurtz was elected to a 3-year term as vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, serving on the executive and administrative committees. Among his numerous roles and titles, Kurtz is the vice chancellor of the Board of the Catholic Extension Society and the Episcopal advisor to the Catholic Social Workers National Association.

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 Repertory Theatre from 2003 to 2011. In 2000, and again in 2004, Waters came to Louisville to direct shows for the Humana Festival. In 2012, he was hired as artistic director of the Actors Theatre of Louisville (ATL) and took charge of the Humana Festival, succeeding Mark Masterson. In its previous 50 years, ATL only had three artistic directors. ATL is considered one of the most prestigious professional theatre companies in the United States. It has introduced over 400 plays and earned many awards, including a Tony award. Wat

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 drinking water to developing communities and disaster environments. Hogg, along with WaterStep, trains and empowers ordinary people to provide safe and sustainable water, sanitation, health and hygiene solutions in their own communities. In 2012, WaterStep began manufacturing its own chlorine generator, a simple water purification system. WaterStep has impacted the quality of life for people all over the world. WaterStep also added beehives to the rooftop of their building as a way to support the local urban gardening moveme

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. Hartman also served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member. Hartman is the first director of Louisville’s 20-year-old Fairness Campaign and a steering committee member of the Kentucky statewide Fairness Coalition. He also founded and produced Project Improv, improvisational theatre troupes located in both St. Louis and Louisville.

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 Entertainment LLC, which includes a film production company, talent management division, music company, and art gallery. He has produced more than 70 feature films, including “Hurricane Streets,” the first film to win three Sundance Film Festival awards. Holland founded sonaBLAST! Records featuring CDs made from recycled plastics with cardboard cases. He has also authored two fundraising books for children and serves on many local cultural boards. Louisville magazine named Gill Holland the 2009 Person of the Year.

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 Financial. Davenport built a nationally recognized sales organization and earned numerous company management awards. In 2005, he opened his own firm, Kentucky Planning Partners. KPP has become one of the top financial planning and wealth management firms in Louisville. Davenport’s best-known contribution to the community is the creation of the Louisville Concours d’Elegance, a vintage car show benefiting children and family organizations. He also founded the annual Anchorage dog show, benefitting Bellewood Children’s H

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 first run in 1780. The Epsom Derby serves as a model for our very own Kentucky Derby. Calling the Epsom Derby was a realization of a dream Johnson has held since the age of four. On British television, Johnson is a host of the dedicated horse racing channel, “Racing UK,” where he fronts much of the channel’s international racing coverage, including the Arc de Triomphe from France. In January 2009, following the unexpected and sudden death of Churchill Downs’ announcer, Luke Kruytbosch, at age 47, Johnson became the tra

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 of Women’s and Children’s Community Partnerships and executive director of the Children’s Hospital and Norton Healthcare Foundations. Meyer was selected as one of twenty nurses nationally to join the 2008 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Executive Nurse Fellows Program. She was also named a Bellarmine Distinguished Graduate and one of the 40 under 40 from Business First magazine.

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 basic values and willingness to persevere as the sources of his success in building the event. He works from four quotes that he keeps on his desk which embody the principles of discipline, integrity, honesty, and strength of indomitable will. Originally from Cincinnati, McKnight now makes Louisville his home.

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 the company’s record on child labor issues, gender discrimination, and poor healthcare plans. Phelps is also a published author and an occasional guest columnist for the Courier-Journal newspaper and Leo Weekly magazine, as well as EthicsDaily.com, where he also serves as a board member. Phelps was the founder of an interdenominational, inter-racial group, No Murders Metro, and is a board member of Kentucky Refugee Ministries.

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 Louisville Presidential Medal for service to the university and the Louisville community. In 2012, Swope announced his retirement, naming his daughter Patti Swope the new chairwoman of the board, and putting his nephew to work as president and CEO. In memoriam: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/louisville/obituary.aspx?n=Samuel-G-Swope&pid=173427183

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 her energy, enthusiasm, and dedication to giving listeners an engaging program. Connell makes sure to keep up on everything from politics and news, to entertainment and more. In 2011, Connell came in number six of America’s top ranking local radio talk show hosts. She has become a popular addition to Louisville, and has fallen in love with the city in return.

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 House. From 2008 to 2011, Burden and his family had the opportunity to live in Australia, where he served as an administrator, helping people living with HIV. Since moving back to Louisville, Burden has become a Highland Baptist Church member where he volunteers with the children’s music program, senior adult ministry group, and hand bell choir, and has also served as the deacon.

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, and donations, and has helped raise over $2 million to fund local programs and services to more than 80,000 residents affected by some form of dementia. She received a certificate of non-profit leadership from Bellarmine University for her efforts and lives in Louisville with her family.

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 this beer-lover learned of the expired Falls City Beer trademark (a local beer company from 1905 to 1978), he applied for and secured the trademark for himself. Easterling is bringing back the iconic beer brand that had not been distributed in over 30 years.

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 approaches his art with honesty, humor, and skepticism, and has gained many famous clients. His impression of Michelle Obama, titled “My Attorney,” hangs in the White House. He is the first artist to ever paint at a presidential inaugural ball and the first artist in residence at the Mohammed Ali Center. The son of working-class Irish immigrants, Gallagher was born in Pennsylvania but spent childhood summers on an Ireland farm. He found his voice with art and now connects to others on a daily basis, selling his work ar

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 officer for the U.S. Army. She was walking outside of the Pentagon and saw first hand the devastation when terrorists flew a plane into it on 9/11. After her military retirement, Tucker returned to the area and accepted the position as CEO of the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana. With 23,000 girls enrolled, she describes the organization as a leadership experience where girls discover who they want to be. Tucker also holds several degrees, including a B.A. in social science from Boston College, a master’s in administration f

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 emersion program for the Jefferson County court system. Before becoming a judge, Bisig earned a J.D. from the University of Louisville. She also worked as a law clerk, litigation associate, and a waitress before becoming a prosecutor in the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office. When she is out of court, Bisig volunteers locally for charities such as Dare to Care Food Bank, and is a regular participant in the Louisville Girls Leadership Summit.

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 and screenwriter. His documentary about playing on the Kentucky Wildcats team quickly sold out in stores. He continued his work in film and television by writing for several more productions, and currently owns Loyalty Design LLC, which designs movie posters, television logos, and equipment inventions. He established the Derek Anderson Foundation, with the mantra of “to be different means to make a difference.” The foundation’s mission is to help abused and battered women and children, as well as feeding and helping su