Dr. Bill’s acute awareness of being “different” inspired him to explore and subvert constructs of gender, sexuality, culture, and individual identity.Early influences of folk and fiber art traditions were passed down from his grandmothe...

Tyler Small is a St. Louis based event photographer, digital producer at SLAM! Agency, board member of The Village Path, and, greatest of all, a proud father of two beautiful daughters.

New York-based artist, writer, and publisher Paul Chan came to prominence in the early 2000s with vibrant moving image works that touched upon aspects of war, religion, pleasure, and politics. Around 2009, following a decade of art-making, Chan...

Culture curator and music business coach Julian Keaton is one of the leading voices in the St. Louis music community. For the past 15 years, Julian has worked with award-winning talent and organizat...

Herman "Lee" Jimerson II owns a wealth management practice in Saint Louis, MO in the Chesterfield area. He started his practice in 2017 and only 5 years later was nationally recognized as not just one of the fastest growing advisor practices, b...

Alexa Seda, who will receive this year’s Emerging Artist award, is considered a rising star in the St. Louis arts scene. She weaves together her passion for theatre and urban design. As a co-producer at EncoreSTL, a platform that creates opport...

Lisa Melandri is the executive director of the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.

Artist, Designer, Producer, Patrick Gutierrez has his hand in many different creative outlets most notably through UVA a brand that Patrick started. He also serves as a Co-Manager of House of Vision (HOV).  An innovative "retail space sell...

Harvey E. A. Lockhart is a Grammy nominated music educator, saxophonist, and composer. He is also the Founder, Executive and Artistic Director for HEAL Center for the Arts in St. Louis, MO, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and multi-disciplin...

Leon Hite, III, affectionately known as Coach Hite, is an energetic, innovative, and compassionate inspirational speaker! His gift for inspiring others has enabled him to speak to, coach, and mentor over 10 thousand people of all ages in both t...

Artist, educator, and speaker Katie Banister works  to educate and empower others through motivational speaking and disability education.  As the Co-founder  of Acces-4-All she and her partner Steve strive to fulfill the vision o...

From engineering and party promoting to entrepreneurship, Ono Ikanone has sprouted his St. Louis roots to create a legacy within the city's cultural fabric. In the heart of downtown St. Louis, Ono has tried his hand at his latest and greatest v...

An artist and writer, Dominic Chambers composes contemplative narratives which pull inspiration from critical voices within the Black literary canon. He introduces the figurative subject to create a new discourse around identity and perception....

Jacqueline “Jackie” Hamilton, MBA, CFRE, currently serves as Assistant Director of Advancement for St. Louis County Library (SLCL). As the Library’s Chief Fundraiser, she leads SLCL’s  Foundation team of four, which is responsible f...

MyCol (Meta MyCol Martin) is a self-motivated multidisciplinary actor, artist, and visionary of a production company, DLiNX. His work derives from his admiration of the fine arts, education, and Hip-Hop. He studies cultural television, film, an...

Sara Burke is recognized as a Woman of Achievement. First as a dancer in East St. Louis with The Dunham Company and then as a working artist in St. Louis, she has fostered inclusiveness in the arts and provided numerous opportunities to minorit...

Jorge is a non-profit management professional who, for the last three years, has led Delmar Divine, a transformative project in North St. Louis City that provides shared space and myriad capacity building tools to 33 nonprofit organizations tha...

Tyrell Manning is a public health specialist working to end the HIV epidemic. Appointed by St. Louis City mayor Tishaura Jones, Manning is an active member of the LGBTQIA Advisory Board in pursuit of bringing the LGBTQIA+ communities and the la...

Lois Conley is the Founder/President and CEO of the Griot Museum of Black History. She has dedicated many years toward researching African-American history, with particular emphasis on the Underground Railroad and Westward Expansion. Conley con...

Ashley Winters is a St. Louis native reporting for the St. Louis American, covering news impacting African Americans in the St. Louis metro area which includes education, business and entertainment. She is a two-time award recipient of the Exce...

Welcome back to the Speak Up St. Louis Podcast as it launches season 2! Quinton Ward (Co-creator/Host), Tré Alexander (Executive Producer), and Michelle Dezember lay the ground-work for the upcoming season, sharing their thoughts and hopes for ...

Mark Saxon is a local baseball writer who covers the St. Louis Cardinals. He's worked for decades in the industry as a beat reporter with organizations such as The Athletic and ESPN, and is a frequent contributor on local sports radio.M...

KYJUAN is a rapper from the legendary Hip-Hop group the St. Lunatics! Hailing from U-City, KYJUAN and his brother Murphy Lee made it HUGE in the music industry, and put St. Louis on the map for hip-hop internationally.On the pod...

Katie Finch is the Director of AmeriCorps at Mission St. Louis, and oversees 150 AmeriCorps service members across 30 nonprofits in our region. As a result, Katie has her finger on the pulse of the St. Louis nonprofit ecosystem.In this ...

Jeffrey Blair (and his wife Pamela)  are the owners and founders of EyeSeeMe African American Children's Bookstore. While raising children of their own, they sought to change a key problem with their education: the absence of books that re...