COMMUNITY
I care about the places I am part of.
Community has shaped a large part of how I work, create, and understand the places I live.
I am drawn to projects and organizations that bring people together, make something more accessible, support local culture, or respond to a real need.
For me, being part of a community means more than living in it. It means paying attention, participating, and being willing to contribute when I can.
LOWER TOWN ARTS & MUSIC FESTIVAL · DIRECTORS + BOARD · 2026
LEADERSHIP + SERVICE
I tend to get involved by helping things move forward.
My community work usually grows from a real need: something needs organizing, funding, rebuilding, communicating, or carrying through. I am most useful when I can combine practical work with creativity, relationships, and a willingness to stay involved after the initial idea.
ARTS · LEADERSHIP · COMMUNITY
Lower Town Arts & Music Festival
The Lower Town Arts & Music Festival is one of the places where my professional skills and personal investment in my community overlap most clearly. The festival depends on artists, musicians, volunteers, local businesses, sponsors, neighbors, and people who simply care enough to keep showing up.
My involvement has grown into a leadership role, but what matters most to me is helping build something that belongs to the community around it.
PLANNING · COMMUNICATIONS · PARTNERSHIPS · VOLUNTEERS · DIGITAL STRATEGY
SERVICE · FUNDRAISING · COLLABORATION
Fresh Start Village
Through Leadership Paducah, I worked alongside my class to support Fresh Start Village, a transitional shelter for women and children. The project reminded me how much community work depends on relationships: people understanding a need, trusting the people asking for help, and deciding that they want to be part of the solution.
FUNDRAISING · DONOR OUTREACH · COMMUNITY STORYTELLING · PROJECT SUPPORT
HOW I WORK
Community work starts with paying attention.
Community work is rarely about having the loudest idea in the room. I try to understand what people need, what already exists, where the gaps are, and what I can realistically contribute.
Listen first
I try to understand the people, history, and context around a project before deciding what should happen next.
Make it useful
Good intentions matter, but so do follow-through, organization, communication, and work that actually helps.
Respect local knowledge
The people closest to a community usually understand it best. I value collaboration over arriving with a ready-made answer.
Stay involved
I care about what happens after the launch, event, campaign, or meeting. Sustainability and relationships matter more than a single moment.
WHERE I SHOW UP
Different causes. The same commitment to community.
My community involvement moves across arts, health, service, and local leadership. Some roles are ongoing, some are project-based, and all of them have helped me better understand the place I call home.
LOWER TOWN ARTS & MUSIC FESTIVAL · YEISER ART CENTER · MAIDEN ALLEY CINEMA · OUTFIT INC. / ART GAYLLERY
Supporting artists, events, creative spaces, and projects that make the local arts community stronger and more visible.
HEALTHY PADUCAH · MCCRACKEN COUNTY ASAP · WESTERN KENTUCKY OPIOID TASKFORCE · FAMILY SERVICE SOCIETY · LOCAL FOOD ASSISTANCE
Contributing to community health, prevention, basic-needs support, and collaborative efforts focused on access and well-being.
ARTS + MUSIC + CULTURE
Creative communities are where I feel most at home.
Creative communities have given me places to participate, experiment, meet people, and feel connected. Galleries, festivals, music venues, film organizations, artists, and small cultural spaces do more than provide entertainment. They create reasons for people to gather and give a place some of its identity.
I care about supporting that ecosystem, whether I am helping with an event, promoting someone else’s work, volunteering, collecting local art, or simply showing up.
SERVICE + CARE
Showing up matters, even when the work is quiet.
Some of the community work I value most is not particularly visible. It happens through volunteer shifts, fundraising, prevention work, food assistance, coalition meetings, introductions, follow-up calls, and the practical things that help organizations keep serving people.
I am drawn to work around health, basic needs, access, and support because those systems matter most when someone actually needs them. I try to contribute in ways that are useful, respectful, and grounded in what the organization or community is already doing well.
WHAT COMMUNITY GIVES BACK
I have found a lot of my life through other people.
Community has introduced me to artists, organizers, volunteers, friends, mentors, collaborators, and people whose experiences are very different from my own. It has given me places to learn, people to learn from, and opportunities I never would have found by staying in my own lane.
Some of the most important relationships in my life have grown from simply showing up, helping with something, asking a question, or saying yes to a project before I knew exactly where it would lead.
That is one of the reasons I keep getting involved. Community work is not only about what I can contribute. It is also one of the ways I continue to learn who I am and how I want to move through the world.
The more connected I become to a place, the more responsibility I feel to help take care of it.
KEEP EXPLORING
Good things usually happen when people care enough to get involved.
I am grateful for the people, organizations, and places that have given me reasons to participate, contribute, and keep learning from the community around me.