The Memphis Flyer is seeking nominations for candidates for the 20<30 Class of 2025. This is our 15th year of highlighting the best and brightest of young Memphis.
We’re asking you to help us identify the Bluff City’s future leaders. Nominate your friends, your colleagues, the outstanding young members of your community. Candidates must be no older than 29 on January 1, 2025. Send a brief bio/summary of the nominee’s work and activities and a photo to under30@memphisflyer.com. Use “20<30 Nomination” in your subject header. Deadline for nominations is January 3, 2025. The 20<30 Class of 2025 will be revealed in the February 6, 2025 issue of the Memphis Flyer.
Every year, the Memphis Flyer asks our readers to nominate outstanding young people in Memphis who are making a difference in their community. We chose the top 20 from an outstanding field of more than 50 nominations.
Memphis, meet your future leaders, the 20<30 Class of 2024.
Sara Barrera Economic Development Manager, Downtown Memphis Commission
After studying sustainability at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Barrera returned to Memphis to earn a degree in urban planning from the University of Memphis. She found the Downtown Memphis Commission to be a perfect fit for her talents and interests. “It’s been really rewarding to get to work with some small business owners that are trying to open up their first business, or people who are venturing out into neighborhoods that have been neglected for a long time and want to take on renewed faith in getting some stuff established out there.”
Courtney Blanchard Chief of Staff, Greater Memphis Chamber
A native Memphian, Blanchard interned at the Tennessee legislature before working at the economic development and governmental affairs office at the University of Memphis. She followed her mentor, Ted Townsend, to the Greater Memphis Chamber, where he is now the president and CEO. She describes her role as “The Convener” for the business organization. “We’re very intentional about the economic development that we work with at the Chamber because we don’t want the tide to just drive for some, we say that if the tide hasn’t risen for everyone, we’re not doing our job. We can’t leave anybody behind.”
Briana Butler Associate Attorney, Baker Donelson
“I’ve known since a very early age that I wanted to be a lawyer,” says Butler, who was only the second person in her family to finish college. “I didn’t really know what that would look like, but I knew I wanted to go to law school.”
Her dreams were complicated when she became pregnant. “I had my son at 18, so it was my second semester of freshman year of college, a particularly difficult time.” She managed to juggle the demands of both young motherhood and higher education, graduating magna cum laude from the University of Memphis in only three years and earning a degree at Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. At 23, she achieved her goal of landing a job at Baker Donelson. “Every single day, I feel like I’m taking a class. … If you have a seemingly unrealistic goal — which, my goal was unrealistic — create a very detailed plan. It gives you small little chunks that are more doable and more realistic to get you to the seemingly unrealistic goal.”
Sarah Cai Co-Owner/Chef, Good Fortune Co.
The mind behind Downtown’s favorite noodle shop grew up in Memphis, until her father moved the family to Guangdong, China, when she was 13. “When I was in college, I started working in hospitality and one of my mentors actually recommended that I try being a line cook, since he noticed I had a lot of passion for food. I tried it and absolutely loved it.
“My dad’s from China, my mom’s from Indonesia, so they were immigrants to this country. As we were growing up, they would always take us home as they could afford it, a trip every few years or so. From a young age, I was exposed to whole different types of culture, all different types of cuisine. And so I think being exposed to such variety of cuisine really helped develop my palate and also gave me a lot of experiences that people have never had before. When I decided to open Good Fortune, I was like, I think it’s got to be in Memphis. It just felt right to me.”
Lionel Davis II Energy & Infrastructure Executive, Johnson Controls
“I’ve always been somewhat of a tinkerer; some may call it mischievous,” says Davis, who turned his talents into a mechanical engineering degree and moved to Memphis from Little Rock for his current job. “We spend over 90 percent of our time in buildings, and the pandemic highlighted the value of indoor air quality. These are things that my company and my industry have prioritized.”
Davis serves as the first Black president in the 80-year history of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)’s Memphis chapter, as an assistant basketball coach at Binghampton Christian Academy, and as the former co-chair of the young adult ministry of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church. “I really feel as though once you understand that your life is not solely meant to enrich yourself, the greatest among us is the one who serves the least among us.”
Ahmad George Artist
“I’ve always been drawing, I’ve always been doodling,” says George. “My high school teacher, Mr. Adair, who’s passed now, sadly, he really saw a future for it in me.”
George attended the much-missed Memphis College of Art and devoted themself to their painting. After successful gallery appearances in Miami and Spain, George recently had their first solo Memphis show at Crosstown Arts, “The Molasses Man and Other Delta Tales.” They describe their art as a kind of uncanny realism. “I like the psychological aspects and sensory aspects of art. I want to make people feel things, and not necessarily an overwhelmingly sad or bursting with happiness feeling.”
George’s painting, TheMolasses Man, from their Crosstown show was acquired by the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art this past November.
Sondra Pham Khammavong ALSAC/St. Jude Talent Acquisition Liaison, Asian Night Market Founder
The native Memphian plays an important role at ALSAC. “I recruit students nationwide to join our internship program,” she says.
But you probably know the fruits of Khammavong’s other passion. When she founded the Vietnamese Student Association at the University of Memphis, she was following in her family’s footsteps. “My grandpa was one of those first [Vietnamese] that did come here to Memphis. So I’m just excited to continue the foundation that he started and the roots, even though I was born here in America, but just want to keep that heritage going and now that I have kids, just to be able to incorporate them into the culture.”
Most recently, she helped create the Asian Night Market, which attracted more than 8,000 people to Crosstown Concourse. “The Asian Night Market is the first in this city where we brought all the vibrant Asian cultures to one place with something that people love, which is food,” she says. “It was so amazing to see the city come together for a diverse event. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that, especially for the Asian community.”
Alexa Marie Kintanar FedEx Express Avionics Engineer
After a stint as an Apple Genius piqued her interest in electronics, Kintanar got an internship at FedEx. “I tried it, and I caught what they call the aviation bug from the get-go,” she says. “I saw how massive this technology was and how impactful it could be around the world, and we saw a lot of that actually during the pandemic.”
Kintanar is the first-generation offspring of Philippine-American immigrants. “A lot of what I wanted to do was make them proud — take all the hard courses, get all the scholarships. But also at the same time, make sure I loved what I was doing because I knew from a very young age that if you don’t love what you’re going to do, then it’s torture. You can’t have a job that you hate.”
She pays her good fortune forward as a member of REACH Memphis. “I participate in a lot of mentorship programs. Currently at FedEx, I work with the outreach program to Memphis City Schools for aircraft maintenance. We go to schools with students who don’t have as many opportunities, or aren’t aware of the opportunities that they have.”
Brooks Lamb Author, Farmer, Land Protection and Access Specialist, American Farmland Trust
This Rhodes College graduate’s passion is the land. “Most of my work lies in trying to support small and midsize farmers because they have been getting squeezed and undervalued and underappreciated for quite a long time.”
His two books are about our relationship to the Earth. “Overton Park: A People’s History looks at that in a more urban-focused, very Memphis context, and the way that people have really served as stewards of the park for generations. My newest book is called Love for the Land: Lessons from Farmers Who Persist in Place. It looks at the challenges that small and midsize farmers face, paying particular attention to challenges from farmland loss and farmland conversion from sprawl, haphazard real estate development, and challenges from agricultural consolidations. For farmers of color, there are issues of systemic racism and injustice in the past, but also still very much in the present.”
Emma Less Senior Manager of Development, Overton Park Shell
“I don’t think you can grow up in Memphis and not appreciate music,” says Less. And there is no better place to appreciate music than the Overton Park Shell. “I remember going in high school and being so impressed that it was a place for everyone, and that you could hear really amazing bands. … I think there’s a lot to be said about the fact that it is free, and that means that you can decide to come the night of, and enjoy it with all your friends. You don’t have to worry about getting tickets and planning ahead, and that also means there’s more opportunity for anyone to be able to come regardless of their ability to pay for music and the arts.”
Less’ fundraising work aims to keep the music free. “Every time I carry the bucket through the crowd, it’s always just so lovely. It’s something that came from when the Shell was first built in 1936, and they passed a hat around. It’s always been important that the community has the buy-in and feels that they’re a part of the Shell, because it is theirs, too. Whether you’re giving us $5 or $5,000, it doesn’t matter.”
Richard Massey West Tennessee Vice President, Tennessee Young Democrats
The Marion, Arkansas, native is currently a sophomore at the University of Memphis, majoring in political science and legal studies. “What really propelled me to get involved in Memphis was the modern-day lynching, which I would describe it as, of Tyre Nichols at the hands of the Memphis Police Department, who deprived that man of his life in the most repugnant manner imaginable just 80 yards away from his mother’s residence. That propelled me to go to the city council, the first city council meeting of 2023, following the death of Tyre Nichols and demand a slate of important police reform measures.”
Massey has also been involved in labor issues and in fighting anti-LGBTQ bills in the state legislature, a body he hopes one day to join. “I think it’s important to remind the naysayers, those people who want to undermine youth contributions to these pivotal conversations, that the youth are at the forefront of every major issue affecting Memphis.”
Savannah Miller Director of New Works, Playhouse on the Square
Miller, a writer and dramatist who graduated from Dartmouth College and has already had five of her own plays staged, took over the New Works program in 2023. Under her watch, entries surged to more than 500 plays and musicals from playwrights all over the globe competing for two slots on the Playhouse on the Square stage.
“I would love for Memphis to be on the map as a place for writers. Before I first came here, I was thinking music. I was thinking visual arts. I was thinking history. I don’t know if I was thinking so much writers and theater artists, but I should have been because we have an amazing pool of talent here in Memphis. I feel like my job as a curator of voices is to showcase that to the world, to get these opportunities out there to people, and let other folks outside of the Mid-South see what we’re doing here in Memphis.”
Jessica Morris Counselor, Christian Brothers High School
Morris originally wanted to be a therapist, she says. “However, the more I researched, the more I realized that many mental health issues arise in childhood. Yet in the state of Tennessee, there is only one school counselor for every 458 students. I realized that school counselors have a more preventative effect on student mental health. This convinced me that I belong on the front lines, helping teenagers develop into healthy, emotionally stable adults.
“I think today’s teenagers are facing a near-constant overload of technological stimulation,” she says. “My department’s role is to offer our students a safe, calming environment where they can talk with a trusted adult away from the noise and stimulation of their lives. We take proactive measures in talking to our student body about cyber-balance, how to evaluate one’s mental well-being, and how to ask for help.”
Jordan Occasionally Musician
Born a singer, Occasionally decided to devote their life to music full-time at age 15. They earned a music business degree at the University of Memphis. “I started releasing music during the pandemic in 2021, and it went viral on TikTok and the rest was history,” Occasionally says. “I can say that the local community has been very loving to and receptive towards my music, and it’s given me the courage to break into the L.A. market, or into the New York market, or even around across the globe, the UK market. I wouldn’t have been able to get there without Memphis loving me first.”
At the same time, they have embraced activism, organizing Black Lives Matter protests and advocating for the unhoused community. “Toni Morrison said that all art is political. … I feel like I had an obligation along with having a platform. Anytime you have a stage, what you do with it matters.”
Elijah Poston Musician/Director of Operations, Jack Robinson Gallery
A foundational member of the Smith7 Records collective, Poston began getting attention for his music at a very early age. He created the public access TV show Kids Do Positive Thingz to showcase young talent in the Mid-South. After graduating from Loyola’s music program, he designed the music theory curriculum at Visible Music College. The multi-instrumentalist taught guitar and released music from his band Doter Sweetly. Today, he can be found on drums with General Labor and is prepping new music from a new group, Great Fortune.
Meanwhile, the position at Jack Robinson Gallery has opened up new vistas for Poston, who has begun dabbling in poster design. “I obviously stay busy because when I’m not here, I’m doing General Labor. I’m teaching at the U of M. And when I’m not doing that, I’m doing one of the other projects that I’m doing. But it is a lot. I was very lucky to have been introduced to everybody here, and it ended up being a perfect fit.”
Amira Randolph Youth Leadership Program Manager, Memphis Urban League Young Professionals
“I feel a real devotion to my city,” says Randolph. “Every time that we as a community can come together and do things to refresh Memphis, to move it forward into time, to make it a safer place for everyone and be more inclusive, that just makes it even better. And so whenever there’s an opportunity for me to do that, use my talent to do that, then I’m going to take it for sure.”
Randolph got her devotion to service from her father Ian, and says she believes mentorship is the key to helping at-risk youth thrive. “That is my whole drive and purpose. I deeply, deeply care about our youth. I know how important it is to have somebody there. You can be surrounded by family and surrounded by friends, and you still need that person to guide you outside of that.”
Chloe Sexton Baker and Owner, Bluff Cakes
As a producer for WREG-TV, Sexton was responsible for the political talk show Informed Sources. “Baking was just kind of this hobby that I used to blow off steam. I left TV, and I went into marketing. When the pandemic hit, everybody lost their jobs, and I was terrified. I was trying to learn how can I take all the skills that I have with television, with writing, with storytelling, and with marketing, and blend that into making my little hobby something profitable that’s gonna help me survive a pandemic. That’s how Bluff Cakes came about. Oh, did I mention I was pregnant?”
Now, Bluff Cakes ships Sexton’s creations all over the country, where her more than 2 million social media followers gobble them up. “The best advice that I learned was, if you’re gonna throw yourself into the public eye, you need to grow a thick skin very fast. … Also, trust your gut. It’s not as important as people think it is to follow trends. I would say it’s wildly more important to start your own.”
Jake Warren Corporate Credit Analyst, First Horizon Bank
“Finance was just my bread and butter. I’ve always been a numbers guy, kind of my cup of tea,” says Warren.
He loves “being able to help others achieve their goals, whether it be an individual preparing for retirements, buying their first house, or just helping a small business continue to grow. The end product is really what I enjoy most. There’s a lot of things behind the scenes like lots of graphs, spreadsheets, making predictions, trying to figure out what the best game plan is for them. It is hard work, but at the end of the day, just seeing others succeed is what keeps me going.”
Warren was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at the age of 4 and was involved in the Make-A-Wish program. Now with CF in remission, he is on the Mid-South chapter’s board of directors. “Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time getting ready for an event with the Make-A-Wish Foundation we’re hosting in February. My kitchen is full of boxes of silent auction items!”
Brandon Washington Tennessee Young Adult Advisory Council
At age 15, Washington was thrown into the Tennessee foster care system. Now, he is a sophomore at Rhodes College, and ran for City Council Super District 19 in the 2023 elections, where he garnered more than 16,000 votes.
“I had just came from D.C., advocating up there for expansion of resources for foster care. Two or three weeks later, President Joe Biden signed into law the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which expanded SNAP benefits to include aged-out foster youth, which is something that we were advocating. I realized that young people, we don’t have to wait until we’re more experienced to make change. We can actually make change now. We just need the platform to be heard.”
Washington is an international studies major, with the goal of one day becoming secretary of state. As for Memphis City Council, “I’m already preparing to run in 2027 for the same position.”
Olivia Whittington Real Estate Manager, AutoZone
“I manage the opening of AutoZone stores from site selection all the way to store opening,” says Whittington, who studied urban planning at the University of Memphis. “It’s been a great experience for me, and I’ve learned a lot.”
When she’s not busy expanding the AutoZone empire, she volunteers with Memphis Animal Services, “doing videos and photography for the dogs that are on the ‘urgent list’, who are basically slated for euthanasia. Those get shared with Memphis Animal Services and then other rescue groups around the country. There are groups online that will share that information to try and find a foster adopter or rescue for those particular dogs. And it can be hard, because you can’t save all of them.”
She says she feels obligated to help find homes for these dogs in distress because “the problem won’t get any better if people just want to look away from the problem.”
[Ed. Note: An earlier version of this story listed incorrectly listed Amira Randolph’s as affiliated with the Boys and Girls Club of Memphis. She is no longer affiliated with the organization. The Memphis Flyer regrets the error.]
The Memphis Flyer is seeking nominations for candidates for our 14th class of 20<30 — the class of 2024.
Simply put, we’re looking to find and honor 20 of the city’s best and brightest young people. Candidates must be no older than 29 on January 1, 2024. Send a brief bio/summary of the nominee’s work and activities and a photo to under30@memphisflyer.com. Use “20<30 Nomination” in your subject header. Deadline for nominations is December 15, 2023.
When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
— Fred Rogers
Just a few weeks into the new year and Memphis has already had its fair share of “scary things in the news.” Feeds are inundated with seemingly endless reports of homicides, shootings, car thefts, robberies, and near abductions.
Last week, five officers with the Memphis Police Department were fired after the death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols — a father with no criminal record — following a fatal traffic stop. An administrative investigation determined the officers “violated multiple department policies, including excessive use of force, duty to intervene, and duty to render aid,” according to a statement from MPD. Nichols’ family was allowed to view the body-cam footage this past Monday, and their attorney Ben Crump says the last words Nichols spoke on the video were calls for his mother.
We’ve also lost a handful of Memphis icons this month with the passing of Gangsta Boo, Lisa Marie Presley, Vincent Astor, and Dr. Charles A. Champion. These tragedies and losses just scratch the surface of these first 23 days of 2023 — and this is without mentioning the horrors beyond our city, state, and country. It has been a rough start. And with so much bad news circling, it can be difficult to see the good that’s still — and always — happening in our periphery.
To bring some of that good to the forefront — and highlight a few of those much-needed “helpers” — we’re happy to share with you the 20 < 30 Class of 2023. Within this annual issue, we feature a group of 20 individuals under the age of 30 who are doing work in our community to ignite innovation and push for positive change. The Flyer first introduced this cover feature in 2010, and in the years since, we’ve found determined young people working in various fields, from healthcare to scientific research, advocacy to activism, restaurants to real estate, arts to education, and much more in between.
Each year, we ask our readers to submit nominations for the best and brightest 20-somethings they know, and each year without fail, we receive dozens of emails introducing us to the younger generation aimed at making Memphis a better place. Our team sits down and sorts through these nominations to select just 20 among them to profile in our pages — narrowing this kind of talent pool down is a task I wouldn’t wish on any of you. Every one of them deserves recognition, and we’d love to include them all.
Without further ado, we welcome you to read about this year’s honorees as we celebrate their accomplishments, goals, and contributions to the progress we so hope to see. These are the young people paving the way; they’re the helpers lighting the path toward a brighter future. Let their aspirations be a hopeful beacon for us all.
Every year, the Memphis Flyer asks our readers to tell us all about the outstanding young people who are doing their best to make the Bluff City a better place. This time, we had a record number of nominees, and narrowing it down to just 20 was more difficult than ever. Speaking to an immensely talented 20 never fails to fill us with hope, and allows us to introduce Memphis to the leaders who will be shaping our future.
Here they are: Your 20<30 Class of 2023.
Brenda Lucero Amador President, Voices United
“I was born in Mexico and moved to the U.S. when I was 3 years old,” says Amador. “My parents came here to give [us] a better future, something that couldn’t be offered in Mexico.” Amador grew up in Atlanta and came to Christian Brothers University on an Opportunity Scholarship. Under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), she and thousands like her must reapply every two years to stay in the country. “I didn’t really get into advocacy until I got to college.”
Now, she fights for immigration reform with Voices United. “DACA has been around a long time and we haven’t seen any progression, but if we keep advocating, sharing our stories, and organizing, something can happen in the future.”
The education major is now a student teacher at Idlewild Elementary. “I want to be not only an activist, but also a leader, because education is the root of everything. If we can fix the system or make it better, then everything else will fall into place. Because that’s the future generation.”
Dr. Adam Chan Chief Resident Physician, UTHSC Adult Psychiatry Residency Program
“Growing up, mental health was always a taboo topic in my community,” says Dr. Chan. But during his medical education, he saw a need to destigmatize the topic. “I felt the absence of treatment options in low-resource settings during rural Tennessee rotations and international medical mission trips.”
Now, he’s a leader in researching innovative techniques to treat disorders like depression. “Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive procedure that involves using electrical currents generated from magnetic fields to stimulate different structures and connections in the brain. If your brain was a ‘muscle,’ I like to think of it as helping it train!”
But improved treatment is no substitute for building a healthier society, he says. “Prevention is power! Health and mental health are intimately tied to their sociocontextual components.”
“Dataworks is the first time since FedEx started that we started a brand-new operating company,” says Chasteen.
“The goal of Dataworks is to make supply chains smarter for everyone, and really optimize and make our networks more efficient, and offer our customers more products faster. For instance, Dataworks was behind the vaccine distribution. I really knew that Dataworks had that startup environment, and it was new territory for us. So being able to come over and start building something from scratch, and especially in the talent acquisition world, was a great opportunity.
“My passion is bringing people in. I always say, someone took a chance on me, and I was able to build my career.”
“I’m the oldest of four, and my mom raised us all by herself,” says Desiderio. “She’s a single mother, so a lot of my drive and determination, I always credit back to her.”
Desiderio works full-time as a marketing coordinator for a commercial real estate company, while also pursuing a master’s degree in integrated strategic media at University of Memphis. “It kind of encompasses journalism, public relations, marketing, advertising — all of the things that I like in one very long name.” She also serves as vice president of communications for the U of M Graduate Student Association.
She’s a mentor in the STREETS Ministries Pathways program. “It is in the Berclair/Nutbush area. That’s actually where I grew up with my mom and all my siblings. It resonated a lot. They talk about first-generation college students, and how these kids really don’t have a strong support system, and how having a mentor in their life can really help.”
Lily K. Donaldson Miss United States 2022
“I’ve only been Miss United States for two months now and I’ve gotten to go to almost every region of the U.S. so far,” says Donaldson. “It’s been really fun to meet people from all walks of life and all the places across the U. S. and get even more new perspectives than I had before.”
For Donaldson, competing in pageants is a way to flex her communications skills. She holds a computer science degree from American University and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in agriculture, focusing on the development of urban vertical farming. With nonprofit Art Technically, she promotes STEM and arts education. “I took a computer science class my first semester and ended up loving it. It wasn’t something that I had ever really had an opportunity to pursue or interact with. … Art Technically is all about trying to present those opportunities to underserved students, so they can see for themselves if it’s something they would like to pursue.”
Shanice D’Shara Dowdy New Ventures Strategist, ALSAC/St. Jude
“I come up with social media-heavy activations to make St. Jude and Memphis relevant all over the world,” says Dowdy. “We’ve been successful, and because social media is not going anywhere, I bring that sophistication to help us stay cool to young people. I bring innovative solutions to advance philanthropy. I study industries that we haven’t tapped into before.”
Dowdy remains active in Memphis’ Beta Epsilon Omega chapter of AKA sorority, recently organizing a benefit for struggling Black-owned food trucks. She’s the mother of two children and, on New Year’s Eve, married Darry Dowdy Jr. at her grandfather’s church in Greenwood, Mississippi.
“I’m a Baptist who went to a Catholic school, and have traveled around the world to do missionary work,” she says. “It’s being able to embrace differences that allows others to embrace your differences.”
Gunter Gaupp Musician, Composer
Crosstown Arts’ 2022 Composer in Residence has a degree in jazz guitar performance from Rhodes College, but you’ve probably seen him playing bass around town with folks like Louise Page. “It’s such a cool place that it’s hard to leave,” says Gaupp. “Immediately, the music community was so much more inviting than it was for me during 18 years in Baton Rouge. … Every culture I can imagine has a music space here.”
Recently, Gaupp has made the leap to teaching music at the Memphis Rise Academy High School. “I’ve been teaching guitar lessons since I graduated high school, but full-time in the classroom is definitely a different beast. It’s as rewarding as it is challenging. … I think with any of the arts, we’re trying to teach people how to be people.”
Fred Griffin Fashion Designer, Founder of Swish
Have you seen those pink U of M Tigers shorts? Those were Griffin’s idea. “I started making apparel in middle school,” he says. “Anything that I do, I always try to have meaning behind. My mother and my father are really both big into community work. We’ve always done things with breast cancer awareness.”
Griffin designed and made a limited edition of the now-iconic streetwear in 2020 through his brand Swish. “I shot a commercial and put it on Instagram, and I couldn’t turn my phone off because the reaction was crazy. And that was in the middle of a pandemic! I love the fact that the people of Memphis appreciated it enough to where they still talk about it. People still love them, people still wear them.”
Griffin has parlayed his success with Swish into jobs with Nike and the Memphis Grizzlies. “Fashion is really tough because there’s so many people doing it,” he says. “I still keep at it because I’ve been doing it for so long, and I have such a passion for it. The ideas that pop in my brain and the concepts I come up with are able to stand alone by themselves.”
Sarah Jemison Director of Strategy and Services, Alco Management Inc.
Finding affordable housing is an increasingly difficult problem for low-income Memphians. “HUD [United States Department of Housing and Urban Development] has defined affordability as 30 percent of your income or less going to housing — but plenty of people are spending 50 to 60 percent,” says Jemison. “We have the added issue in Memphis of out-of-state and out-of-country investors who are buying up rental properties to make a profit on them. These are people’s homes, and they can’t live there because their rent goes up or the property’s not well-maintained.”
Alco Management is committed to providing quality, low-cost housing to those who need it the most, with rents based on percentage of income. “We have a Memphis that works really well for people like me who went to private school and are white and privileged,” says Jemison. “I think we need to deeply examine the ways in which that system makes the rest of the city not work for so many people.”
Dante Lizza Lawyer, Bass, Berry & Sims
Originally from rural Pennsylvania, Lizza came to Memphis during his first year of law school in 2019. “I fell in love with the city instantly,” he says. “I think the thing I like the most is just the culture of the city, the spirit of perseverance, grit and grind. People are very proud of the city and want to make it a better place. I’m from a small town, and I went to law school in Washington, so I’ve had the big city experience, and I’ve have the small town experience. For me, Memphis is the perfect balance.”
He currently practices healthcare law, helping pharmacies and clinics comply with regulation, while also providing free legal services for elders in Orange Mound. “I really enjoy getting involved in the local community in Memphis and helping people have access to resources and advice that they otherwise may not be able to get. I know I’m in an incredibly privileged position, and I feel it as my duty to pay it forward.”
Meghan Meadows-Taylor Pre-Award Coordinator, University of Memphis School of Public Health
It was coincidence that Meadows-Taylor earned her Ph.D. in epidemiology just as the coronavirus pandemic was exploding in March 2020. She quickly found herself in charge of a $13 million CDC grant to the Shelby County Health Department to serve under-resourced populations. “It’s been extremely rewarding, seeing the impact of what we do in the community,” she says. “There’s some challenging aspects for sure, dealing with the political aspect. There’s a lot of resistance to change, but I think Memphis is open to making sure we have a healthier community.”
An author of 20 published research papers, she’s only getting started. “Violence prevention is another aspect of public health. We’re trying to build a violence prevention center within the school. … I want to make sure that we can all come together. I think diversity is important, everyone has their place, but we all need to take care of each other.”
Moth Moth Moth Drag Performer
Two weeks after graduating from Memphis College of Art, “I put on a wig and dress and started performing at nightclubs. I’ve had part-time to full-time work doing that ever since my very first gig. I’ve been very lucky.”
That first pro drag show was a benefit for victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting. “Drag for me is much less about being fierce or whatever. Plenty of people are really good at that. Drag for me is like being a nun or something. It has a huge community service component. The most important people I serve as an entertainer are the lonely people and the people who need connection.”
Moth Moth Moth has become the most recognizable drag figure in the Mid-South, doing events for the Focus Center Foundation and hosting a podcast, Musing with Mothie. But that visibility has come with an increase in harassment and threats from conservatives, and now the Tennessee Legislature is considering legislation that would ban drag performances in public. “Y’all should be focused on making sure that mamas and babies are not starving across the state. They’re mad at me for reading stories to children in a yarn wig? Please.”
Kayla Myers Programmer & Black Creators’ Forum Manager, Indie Memphis
Myers had always loved film, but it wasn’t until she was studying digital storytelling at the University of Missouri that she wanted to make a career out of it. Now, she’s preparing to program short films for her fourth Indie Memphis Film Festival. “I’ve learned so much in my time with Indie Memphis, not just as a person, but thinking a lot about what it means to be a programmer and to advocate for independent filmmakers and especially filmmakers from marginalized backgrounds,” she says. “I’m constantly thinking about ways to expand my own taste, or recognizing that this [film] may not be for me, but I think there’s someone in Memphis who may really enjoy this experience and get something out of it.”
Working on the Black Creators’ Forum has been an especially meaningful experience. “I think it’s really important for Black filmmakers to have a space where they don’t feel like they need to be representing all Black artists, all Black people. … We’re always trying to make sure the Black Creators’ Forum is a space for connection and gathering and warmth, but also honesty about the ways that this industry really works.”
Daniel Stuart Nelson Actor, Director, Choreographer
Since he first auditioned for Playhouse on the Square seven years ago, the Kansas native has appeared on Midtown’s biggest stage 27 times. In the process, he discovered a talent for choreography, made his directorial debut with Smokey Joe’s Cafe, and earned three Ostrander awards. “I got to fill a dream role last season,” he says. “I got to be Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors!”
These days, he splits his time between Playhouse and his position as advertising manager for the Orpheum Theatre. “It’s interesting to have these calls with marketing reps who are from LA or New York or Chicago,” he says. “They want to know about the Memphis market and what’s the best way to spend ad money here. I tell them, try as much as you can to make a personal connection with Memphis. That’s the way to go. Never be fake here.”
Alex Robinson Educator, The Collective Blueprint
“I teach young people about the art of getting jobs,” says Robinson.
A Memphis native, Robinson went to college in North Carolina and decided to enroll in Teach For America when she graduated. “Teach For America sent me back home, which ended up being one of the best things I think could have happened to me.”
After her TFA hitch was up, she moved to The Collective Blueprint. “We work with young adults without college degrees. We help them train for a job field where they’re able to make a living wage. That was really important to me after being an elementary school teacher. I saw just how big an impact poverty has on absolutely everything. You can’t learn if you’re hungry. You can’t learn if you’re stressed. It was really important for me to get into a space where I was able to help combat that economic inequity in this city.”
Kelsey Seiter Project Engineer, Memphis Light, Gas & Water
The Mississippi State graduate is the president of the Memphis chapter of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers. At MLGW, she’s a mistress of all trades. “Basically, I do process improvement projects,” she says. “If there’s something at the company that they don’t really know who could tackle it, they ask our group to do it. I’ve done a lot of different types of projects, from workload studies for staffing to cost analysis. Right now, I’m doing a company-wide truck inventory.”
She also finds time to volunteer for the United Way steering committee and MLGW’s Mobile Food Pantry. “When it comes down to it, our biggest mission is to serve the customer,” she says. “I don’t think everybody even realizes that we are not a private company; we’re a public [utility.] We try to do a lot of stuff in the community, like our bottled water drive when we had the boil water advisory, our mobile pantry, and the Share the Pennies program, where we ask people to round up on their bills, and we use that money to weatherize people’s homes.”
Amber Sherman Political Strategist
While Sherman was a student of political science, legal studies at University of Tennessee, Martin, the UT system tried to outsource the jobs of the schools’ maintenance workers. “I organized the first protest there in like 20 years,” she says.
That was the beginning of a lifetime of scholarship and advocacy. “I took an unconventional path from my parents and my family in general,” Sherman says. “They work in government or have stable corporate jobs. I just knew that that wasn’t what I wanted to do. I was really passionate about making a difference in people’s lives, beyond being a teacher or something like that. I really wanted to like be in the action, and be the reason a policy was changed, or writing new laws, or advocating for people. I wanted to be right in the thick of it.”
Sherman has worked on campaigns all over the country, but her greatest visibility is her podcast, The Law According to Amber. “I created the podcast because I like to talk, and I’m passionate about policy and law. It’s a great way for me to explain stuff to people in layman’s terms they can understand, so they don’t feel like they’re being left out.”
Jazmyne Tribble University Relations Coordinator, International Paper
When she was a struggling college freshman, a mentor from STS Enterprise helped Tribble stay in school. Now, she pays it forward as a mentor herself. “I love STS. They’re like a second family to me,” she says. “A lot of young adults in Memphis just don’t have that positive role model who could tell them the ins and outs of what life is like really like after high school, after college. I like being that voice of reason sometimes for students because I think, especially now, you see students who have big dreams and aspirations, but no real guidance, no road map to get there.”
In her role at International Paper, she’s always on the lookout for fresh student talent. “I think there’s a lot of opportunity, and I see Memphis growing all the time, especially in the work that I do. There’s so much potential here, and I want to pay it forward by staying here and doing what I can to help bring the city up.”
Ana Vazquez-Pagan Ph.D. Candidate, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
A native of Puerto Rico, Vazquez-Pagan decided to dedicate herself to medicine after a pregnant family member died in the 2009 influenza epidemic. Now, she researches the effect of pregnancy on vulnerability to infectious disease in one of the most prestigious Ph.D. programs in the country. After defending her thesis this spring, she will be traveling to Ghana as a Fogarty Global Health Fellow to study malaria in pregnant women and infants.
“I’ve always just been innately curious about everything around me, from nature to the way things work. Science allows you to ask questions, the most basic questions we can think of. And research allows you to answer those questions. I love that I get to be creative and ask the questions I’m most interested in, that we think have potentially a very big impact globally as well.”
Oakley Weddle Founder, Jubilant Communications
There aren’t many people Weddle’s age who have started their own PR firm, much less work full-time as marketing manager for an IT firm as large as ProTech Services Group, all while still in school. “I majored in public relations as an undergrad, and I’m getting my master’s right now in journalism and strategic media. So I’m all about communications. I think it’s incredibly important.”
Weddle was homeschooled, and now he runs a theater program for other homeschoolers. “I’m teaching these kids at a young age that it’s important to stand up for themselves, to use their voice,” he says.
The PEYitforward Foundation is a nonprofit he founded with his family after the 2016 death of his brother Peyton, and it recently established a scholarship at the University of Memphis Fogelman College of Business and Economics. “That’s where he went to school,” says Weddle. “He unfortunately was not able to finish college, so we have a scholarship there for people who want to pursue higher education but may not be able to afford it.”
In the olden days, these were used to contact people. Send us an email instead. (Photo: Quino Al | Unsplash)
ICYMI, last week we announced some new and exciting things happening here at the Memphis Flyer. We’re still working out the kinks on a few items, but we have welcomed the glorious return of Rob Brezsny’s Free Will Astrology horoscopes and the always-fun (if not gross or creepy) News of the Weird column. We’ve got the bigger, better New York Times crossword puzzle for your brain-teasing enjoyment, and we’ve revived our After Dark live music schedule.
Speaking on the latter, please help us fill out this schedule with your events! Send your live music info to afterdark@memphisflyer.com to be included in our online and print (space permitting) calendars. For other events — arts, fests, fitness, theater, film, etc. — as always, send those to calendar@memphisflyer.com for inclusion. It doesn’t cost you a thing to submit your listings, and we’ll do our best to fit them in our weekly print editions, as long as you send them two weeks in advance of the issue date. Also be sure to check out the full calendar of events online, any time, at events.memphisflyer.com. It’s searchable by category and date, and perfect for planning your free-time fun stuff!
We also want to hear from you for 20<30 nominations. Every year, we highlight 20 inspiring folks under 30 years old who are doing outstanding things in our community. And believe us, there are a lot of you out there — narrowing down and selecting 20 from the list of nominees each year is a difficult task! For our 13th 20<30 class — the class of 2023 — we’re looking to find and honor 20 of the city’s best and brightest young people. Candidates must be no older than 29 on January 1, 2023. Know someone who fits the bill? Send a brief bio/summary of the nominee’s work and activities, along with a photo, to under30@memphisflyer.com. Use “20<30 Nomination” in the subject line. Deadline for nominations is December 9, 2022. Honorees will be announced in our January 26, 2023, issue. We want to hear from you on other stuff, too! What would you like to see more of? Less of? What are we doing right? Or just plain awful at? What about bringing back our “I Saw You” missed connections? The personals ads? Do you have a lead on something we should investigate? Is your neighbor’s cat using your planter as a litter box and destroying your begonias? We won’t regret at all asking you to email or call (but really, who makes actual phone calls anymore?). So please do! Carrier pigeon, smoke signals, or messages in a bottle are all acceptable forms of communication, but you’ll probably fare best by emailing. And I will personally respond (even if it’s to tell you, “Heck no! We’re not pestering your neighbor or their cat! But sorry about your begonias.”). If you’re not already, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (are people still using that or is it a dumpster fire now?), Shplerble, Tweedle-Dee, and Tweedle-Do. (No, those last three aren’t actual things.) Add our website to your browser bookmarks. There’s always more happening beyond these pages. We’ll see you back here, same place, next week.
The Memphis Flyer is seeking nominations for candidates for our 13th class of 20<30 — the class of 2023.
Simply put, we’re looking to find and honor 20 of the city’s best and brightest young people. Candidates must be no older than 29 on January 1, 2023. Send a brief bio/summary of the nominee’s work and activities and a photo to under30@memphisflyer.com. Use “20<30 Nomination” in your subject header. Deadline for nominations is December 13, 2022.
20<30 honoree Shelby Smith poses with a copy of the Flyer. (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)
Last week, the Memphis Flyer celebrated our 20<30 Class of 2022 with an event at Central Station Hotel.
The gathering was sponsored by New Memphis and Jim Keras Subaru, and featured remarks from most of this year’s class of talented and motivated young Memphians. Some of this year’s honorees were unable to attend, primarily thanks to their being so successful in their fields. Actor Carrie Bernans was filming a project in L.A., and Memphis Grizzlies point guard and NBA All-Star Game starter Ja Morant was busy leading his team to a 118-110 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. We suppose we can excuse his absence, given the circumstances.
The honorees met, mingled, and made remarks about what in Memphis makes them excited. With the city’s future in the hands of these young people, we can’t help but be excited too.
Author Brennan Steele (center) poses with Flyer editor Jesse Davis and Contemporary Media Inc. CEO Anna Traverse Fogle. (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)The mood was celebratory. (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)20<30 honoree and Director of Operations and Educational Programming, PRIZM Ensemble Marissa Manthongkham (center) with her parents and husband (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)Margaret Haltom, Director of Emergency Rent Assistance and Housing Policy, The Works Inc., delivers remarks to an enthusiastic crowd. (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)Flyer editor Jesse Davis says a few words for absent honoree Carrie Bernans. (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)HomeT3amHoops COO Valencia Jennings accepts her award. (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)Toasts were made. (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)And still more toasts were made. (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)Actor and Program Director for Memphis in May International Festival Jonathan Mosley receives his award. (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)20<30 honoree and Mental Health Outreach and Engagement Specialist at CMI Healthcare Services Irah Gates (center) with supporters. (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)Andrew Mok receives his award. (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)Educator Kevin Carpenter receives his award. (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)20<30 honoree Alex Hensley with boyfriend Paul Garner (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)Lyndsey Pender, Research and Evaluation Specialist for The Works Inc., receives her award. (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)She-E-O of Remember Media Cori McCleskey receives her award. (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)Still more celebrating (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)Stories were shared. (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)L-R: Sarah Garner from Jim Keras Subaru, and Nora Murray, Anny Wohrman, Kayla Smith, and Laura Beth Davis with New Memphis (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski) Sarah Garner from Jim Keras Subaru (Credit: Lawrence Kuzniewski)
Every year, the Memphis Flyer asks our readers to nominate the city’s best and brightest young leaders. From sports to government to tech, here are the Memphians who will be shaping our future.
Photo: Matthew Hise
Carrie Bernans Actor, stunt performer, film producer
Carrie Bernans had already lived all over the world by the time she came to the Bluff City. “I loved Memphis. It’s a place that I consider home — the longest place I really stayed in my childhood.”
She turned down scholarships at Fordham and Vanderbilt to study international business and theater at the University of Memphis, where she became a track and field star. “I wanted to be a black belt. I speak six languages, and I knew some martial arts, but I needed to learn more. So I got into it and found out that there was a niche market for girls like me.”
Her athleticism made her a natural stunt performer. “It became a very lucrative side job,” she says. “People were hustling tables to make ends meet, and I was just going to sets to do some stunts.”
In 2018, she was cast as a Wakandan warrior in the Dora Milaje in Black Panther, a role she reprised in Avengers: Endgame. “Show business for me was a way of telling stories that were important to tell. I want younger people of color to see themselves on screen in other ways beyond what we were already used to. It wasn’t only rappers and drug dealers, but also astronauts and warriors and many other things.”
Photo: Courtesy Alfonso Canady
Alfonso Canady Lead Software Engineer, Cinilope
It was a middle school Minecraft obsession that introduced Canady to programming. He recalls the first time he was able to make a computer say, “Hello world!” “Even just doing something really simple like that, I was dumbfounded by the power at my fingertips.”
Now, Canady works on more complex problems. At the Memphis tech company Cinilope, he develops new technology for drones and self-driving cars. “You get a lot of titles when you’re in a start-up,” he says.
While he was at Rhodes College, he found another passion: introducing others to programming. “CodeCrew is a nonprofit organization that brings computer science classes and programs to individuals who are historically underrepresented in the field.”
Ultimately, he wants to help make the Bluff City a world-class tech hub. “That would mean people taking the initiative, these young people who are intelligent, who are bright, staying in Memphis. That’s what we’re doing here within Cinilope.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Kevin Carpenter Music educator, Shelby County Schools
“My mom’s family is full of teachers, and my dad’s family is full of varying degrees of musicians. I had two amazing elementary school music teachers when I was a kid, and then had great band directors after them. I grew up with church choir.”
When the trumpet player first stepped in front of a class to teach, he knew he had found his calling. “The most important thing for me is to be a meaningful agent of change. And that means delivering equitable, high-quality music education to every student that needs it.”
When the pandemic hit, he used his skills as a recording engineer by organizing the Memphis Area Virtual Youth Choir. “It was a really beautiful thing to see come together. Then I realized this isn’t just a thing that our kids need here. This is a thing that everybody needs access to everywhere. So I opened up my own virtual performance studio and have put together performances for over a thousand musicians, all around the world.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Irah Gates Mental Health Outreach and Engagement Specialist, CMI Healthcare Services
Irah Gates says attending Rust, a historically Black college, “was very important to me, to learn about myself, my history, about our people and give back to the community.”
Giving back has been a major theme in her life. “That’s just the way my mother raised us,” she says. “I had lost my father at the age of 7, so she struggled to put us through school, my two big sisters and myself. So we built that resilience.”
She has organized volunteers for St. Jude’s Pantry Restock project through her church, New Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal; raised funds for Ronald McDonald House; and spearheaded the Operation Warm Hearts winter clothing drive. She traveled to South Africa, where she tutored and organized after-school programs in the low-income townships near Cape Town.
“My passion is working with children since I went through what I went through at an early age, and I just wanted to give back and let people know — and their students know — that it’s okay to go through adversities in life. You can always turn that into positivity and you can accomplish anything that you put your mind to.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Alex Gordon Project Manager, LEO Events
“We are the only destination management company in Memphis. We work with a lot of outbound or inbound, groups and corporations. … I feel very fortunate to be able to wake up and love what I do every day.”
If you were one of the 20,000 people who ran the St. Jude Marathon, you were greeted in the Edge District by Alex Gordon. Organizing comes naturally for her.
Gordon is also on the Edge District board of directors, and volunteers with Best Buddies International, where she helps throw the Joy Prom, an annual event for high schoolers with special needs. “It’s so awesome,” she says. “You get to walk them down a red carpet, get their photo taken, and then you just go and dance all night! It is just such a great thing because those kids are so happy to be alive.”
Photo: Brandon DIll
Margaret Haltom Director of Emergency Rent Assistance and Housing Policy, The Works Inc.
“Urban planning to me is all about building relationships and working in partnership with communities,” says Haltom. “I wanted to start my planning career working in the city I knew best, my hometown.”
She’s come a long way since her first job at Shelby Farms. “I tended to the giant compost pile of bison manure after school and on the weekends,” she recalls.
Now, she works to save pandemic-strained families from losing their homes in the midst of a nationwide eviction crisis. “Since March of 2021, we’ve paired over 6,000 households facing eviction in Shelby County with free legal representation, and administered over $40 million in rent relief across over 15,000 households. … I want to build a city where all Memphians have access to stable, high-quality, affordable housing, and when crises come, have the support they need to stay in their homes.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Alex Hensley Former Special Assistant to Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris
“I’ve had a sense of injustice since I was little and always wanted to make life a bit easier for folks,” Hensley says. Through their work at BRIDGES and the county mayor’s office, they have devoted themselves to the larger good. “What is rewarding about my work is tangibly improving quality of life — even if it’s for a few families. Policy-level work has allowed me to make change on a larger scale and that’s rewarding as a big-picture kind of human.”
Hensley became notorious when Councilman Edmund Ford obnoxiously objected to their email signature identifying their preferred pronouns. “I use both ‘she’ and ‘they’ pronouns because my sense of myself goes beyond being a woman,” they say. “We don’t have to understand how people identify to respect it. Our communities and our world is better when everyone can feel safe to embody themselves authentically.”
Whether it’s affecting change at the governmental level or bringing together artists for the Art Kognito collective, Hensley says, “Organizing is crucial because we can only address the urgent issues of climate change and social and economic injustice by electing and building power among folks who prioritize people over profit.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Emily Jennewine Pediatric nurse practitioner, Lifedoc Health
Keeping Memphis’ children healthy is a big job, but Emily Jennewine is on the case. “Providing care to patients in the school setting not only provides healthcare that students may otherwise not receive, but also allows for early intervention to address identified health concerns. Together with a team of school nurses, we are able to provide close, school-based follow-up and coordinate further care for these patients. Beyond that, through community partnerships, we are able to provide interventions such as nutrition education and access to nutritious foods through a food bank at the schools,” Jennewine says.
“My goal is to build a future for Memphis that is healthier. I believe we need to invest in preventative healthcare for our children and shift the focus to disease prevention. This should include an emphasis on health education and access to health resources. One of the first places we can start to build a healthier Memphis is in our school systems.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Valencia Jennings Human Resources, Baptist Hospitals, COO HomeT3amHoops
“During my undergraduate years, I realized I needed to have a career in business where I can be around people,” says Jennings. “I am very much a people person, and I thrive off human interaction.”
After earning a master’s degree in human resources, she joined Baptist Hospitals two years ago. “HR healthcare professionals must acknowledge that the group of individuals under their stewardship includes not only employees who receive a paycheck, but also patients who are receiving treatment,” she says.
Outside the hospital, she co-founded HomeT3amHoops. “Since high school, I’ve known that I wanted to create a non-profit to afford the youth of my community opportunities that are not usually afforded to them. My best friend and I [Trey Draper, 20<30, Class of 2019] created this vision in 2021. Our focus is to not only impact the lives of youth by helping them gain the fundamental skills through basketball, but also by giving them needed life skills, educational resources, and volunteer opportunities. We want to ensure that the children of our community know that there are opportunities for them in arms reach and we will help get them there.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Marissa Manthongkham Director of Operations and Educational Programming, PRIZM Ensemble
Raised in a music-rich Memphis household, Manthongkham left to pursue her career as a clarinetist, eventually earning a Ph.D. at Michigan State University. “After 11 years of performing and studying in various regions of the country and abroad, I realized I wanted to return home to apply these global perspectives. I am so thrilled to be back in Memphis as a leader in the local musical community.”
With PRIZM Ensemble, she helps provide musical opportunities for a wide range of marginalized groups. “It has been proven that students who study music excel academically above their classmates. These studies show that music is the key to a more well-rounded education. Since I have personally benefited from these advantages, I feel obligated to share my knowledge and experiences with others in an effort to encourage more youth to study instrumental music. As an advocate, I will ensure that I reach as many young children as possible to inspire them to recognize the full benefits of music. As a woman of color, I understand the importance of community and how music functions within the cultural structure.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Andrew Mok Category Manager, AutoZone
The son of Korean immigrants, Andrew Mok knows what it’s like to struggle. Now he is one of the youngest executives at AutoZone. “I’m very fortunate to be in the position that I am today at such a young age, but I wouldn’t be here if it was just me working. I had leaders in the community who really invested in me to help me get to this point.”
Mok gives back to the community with the Technical Center at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Memphis. “I don’t want us to just focus on the big things, like making Downtown better. There are a lot of areas that need our help. That’s the reason why I am drawn to the Boys & Girls Club. I volunteered to take the lead on that project because I know what they’re going through. I’ve seen it firsthand growing up.”
He is also on the board of directors for the University of Memphis Alumni Association, a position that “means everything to me. There’s a lot of characteristics and qualities and traits that I have today that I wouldn’t have had if it wasn’t for the University of Memphis.”
Photo: Ja Morant courtesy of Joe Murphy / NBAE | Getty Images
Ja Morant Point Guard, Memphis Grizzlies
Memphis has seen our share of basketball stars, but no one has ever thrilled our city like Ja Morant. The 2020 NBA Rookie of the Year has led the Memphis Grizzlies to a record 11-game winning streak, putting the team in playoff contention and his name in the conversation for MVP. In the process, he has become the hero to the city.
“Since day one, Memphis made me and my family feel comfortable here and made us feel like home. I love everything about it, from the front office down, the fans, the community. Me and my family couldn’t ask for anything better, I want [Memphis] to receive more recognition. I feel like we have something good going here and just got to continue to grow.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Jonathan Mosley Program Director, Memphis in May International Festival; actor
As an event manager, Mosley has been responsible for Diner En Blanc, the Downtown Riverfront Market, and the Covid-era “Santa in a Bubble.” “Luckily in Memphis, it’s not too hard to have a good time! You can throw a rock and hit singer or DJ, the community will always come through, and our city has some of the best scenic backdrops for any event-type venue. Mix in a good cause and you’re bound to have a good event for good people looking for a good time.”
Mosley’s passion is acting. In 2018, he got the role of a lifetime at Hattiloo Theatre. “Playing the role of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an extreme honor, privilege, and challenge. This was my first lead role in the city that MLK died in, and the show was running during the 50th anniversary of his assassination. The pressure was on, to say the least, but with the help of Hattiloo, I was ready. One of the most rewarding moments from that run of shows was being able to perform in front of seniors who had actually seen and heard Dr. King in person. Their compliments, stories, and comparisons are words that I will cherish forever.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Cori McCleskey She-E-O, Remember Media
“I wasn’t a leader growing up,” McCleskey says. “I was really, really shy. I couldn’t even go through a drive-through or order a pizza over the phone. It was that type of social anxiety. I did not like that about myself.”
The Marion, Arkansas, native sought to overcome her fears by facing them head-on. Her first exposure to social media was as an art gallery coordinator for the University of Arkansas. “At one point in college, I was running a little agency. I had eight accounts, and that led to me doing social media for the Arkansas Razorbacks for two football seasons.”
McCleskey was working a corporate job when the pandemic forced her to re-evaluate her path. “I knew it was time for me to jump off that entrepreneurial ledge. Around that time, all my friends were asking me to manage their social media accounts for their small businesses. So I was like, ’Why do I keep refusing?’”
Her company Remember Media now counts many Downtown businesses among its clients. “Even through the highs and lows of running a business over the last 18 months, I’ve always believed in myself and believed in my team. We can overcome anything together.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Nora Murray Director of Community Impact, New Memphis Institute
When Murray moved to Memphis in 2018, she says she had a lot of trepidation about a place where she knew no one, and which gets a lot of bad press. “Memphis and Memphians quickly wrapped their arms, souls, and hearts around us, and we love sharing that experience to continue working to change the narrative about Memphis.”
Now, greeting newcomers is one of her duties at the New Memphis Institute. “Having been a newcomer myself, I love to ensure that each person I meet becomes connected to Memphis and feels a sense of community here.”
Last year, she took over as the organizer of TEDx Memphis. “Bringing TEDx Memphis to a new, outdoor location certainly had its challenges, but it was so rewarding to see the tradition continue and to amplify the Memphis voice on a grander stage. We have so many incredible people in this city doing really innovative work,” she says.
“What makes our city unique is that when Memphians have an idea, they can quickly garner a community to support that idea and put it into action.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Louise Page Musician
Louise Page didn’t expect to stay in Memphis after graduating from Rhodes College. “But I’ve just never wanted to move. I love it here. I’ve established myself in a really good community of artists and musicians.”
The English major worked as a librarian for two years before quitting to pursue music full-time. “I started playing the original songs I’d been writing since high school, but never performing, right after I graduated. That was organically picking up steam, and I felt like I could make it my real job.”
Since then, she has released three independently produced albums, most recently Play Nice, a collection of solo piano and vocal songs she wrote during the pandemic. “All of my songs are really personal,” she says. “I don’t necessarily write what I think will be popular. I write what I need to write.”
Before the pandemic sidelined her gigging and touring, she devoted time to organizing benefit shows for organizations like Mariposas Collective. “My parents instilled these values in me,” she says. “If you have more than you need, you should share. You should help your community. You should do good things for people just because they’re good, not because you want something in return.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Justin J. Pearson Founder, Memphis Community Against Pollution
“I’m an unlikely leader of the environmental justice movement,” says Pearson. “I didn’t truly understand those words until our fight with the Byhalia Connection Pipeline.”
Memphis Community Against the Pipeline fought the construction of a new oil pipeline that would have bisected the predominantly Black, Southeast Memphis community where he grew up. “What I believed, and what I think our team and neighborhood association believed was, ‘We may not win, but they don’t expect a fight. So they’re not prepared for us; whereas, we mentally can be prepared for them.’”
But after a bruising few months of protests and City Council meetings, win they did. Now, Pearson has pivoted the organization he founded to fighting for environmental justice for all Memphians. “I want to build a Memphis where we can live in peace,” he says. “People deserve to not live in fear that the air we’re breathing is going to kill them.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Lyndsey Pender Research and Evaluation Specialist, The Works Inc.
“I’ve always been really interested in people — making authentic connections and genuine interactions with people,” says Pender.
The Memphis native decided to switch course from photojournalism to anthropology while in college, and returned from Kentucky to her hometown. “I was lucky because the anthropology program at the University of Memphis is nationally ranked, a great program.”
Now, with The Works, Inc., her mission is to make life better for all the people of Memphis. “We are a Community Development Corporation, a 501c( 3), and our focus has historically been on housing,” she says. “But we really take a holistic approach. For the health and wealth and safety of a family, you have to have a stable home environment, but we understand that you can’t address housing without addressing some other problems at the same time. … I do work across all of our programs. My background is medical anthropology.
“I think Memphis is unique, in that we are a predominantly Black city. But like a lot of Black Americans, our Black citizens don’t have the same job opportunities and educational opportunities. I want a city where everyone can flourish, regardless of the ZIP code that they were born into.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Shelby Smith Director of Communications, Choose901
“I was always talking about moving away,” says Smith, who grew up in the eastern portions of Shelby County. It was a college internship at Choose901 that changed her mind. “I wasn’t really coming to the city very often, because the media was only telling me about the bad things. I wasn’t hearing about the good things.”
Now, it’s her job to tell people about the great things her city has to offer. “I’ve been here my whole life, and I’d rather put on my gloves and fight than see someone from a different city think they know what’s happening here and try and fight that battle on their own,” she says.
Smith “grew up as a dancer” and taught for Collage Dance Collective before the pandemic. “Dancing is my happy place. If I’m on stage, it doesn’t matter if I’m wearing shoes or if I’m barefoot, if I’m in my Nike Dunks or my heels, that form of expression is a release for me.”
Smith is set to continue spreading the good news about the Bluff City with an upcoming partnership with Unapologetic. “I want to continue to build a Memphis that’s proud of itself.”
Photo: Brandon Dill
Brennan Steele Author & Director of Advancement, Believe Memphis Academy
Brennan Steele says he was drawn to teaching by the many small acts of kindness he received from teachers. “I was taught to whom much is given, much is required,” he says. “Over the course of my educational journey, I was afforded a lot of educational wealth by people, specifically teachers and counselors, who were looking out for me. … What really pushed me over the edge was when I had my first and only Black male teacher in the 11th grade.”
Having an AP English teacher who looked like him made Steele believe anything was possible, which “made me want to have that impact on all students.” Soon after he came to Memphis to teach, he had the idea for Breathe: A Guided Healing Journey for Black Men, a journal with 45 days of writing prompts designed to facilitate self-discovery. “I think there are so many times where Black people are reduced to a hashtag, especially after people have been murdered,” he says. “This is like the active reclaiming of your story.”
The 20<30 Class of 2020 (Photo by Justin Fox Burks)
Update: The deadline for nominations for the 20<30 class of 2022 has been extended to December 31, 2021.
The Memphis Flyer is seeking nominations for candidates for our 12th class of 20<30 — the class of 2022.
Simply put, we’re looking to find and honor 20 of the city’s best and brightest young people. Candidates must be no older than 29 on January 1, 2022. Send a brief bio/summary of the nominee’s work and activities and a photo to Jesse Davis at jesse@memphisflyer.com. Use “20<30 Nomination” in your subject header. Deadline for nominations is December 31, 2021.
