The State of Creatives

Colleen values how design can become the tool for sustainable solutions to gender inequality, social injustice, and environmental degradation. She combines this passion as a social entrepreneur and impact designer through her work at Anchal. Colleen leads the overall strategic and operational planning for Anchal’s programs, partnerships, expansion, and execution of its mission.

A Louisville native with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Kentucky, Colleen earned her Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). In 2013, she was named one of Public Interest Design’s Top Global 100 designers, Louisville Business First’s 2016 Forty under 40 List, and awarded the 2017 NAWBO Humanitarian Award. Colleen has shared Anchal's mission and design thinking model as a keynote speaker at gatherings including the Fair Trade Federation National Conference, NY NOW, the Ali Center's Daughters of Greatness Series, Creative Mornings Louisville, and Alt Summit.

Jon Cherry is a Pulitzer Prize awarded American photojournalist whose work has spanned a wide range of photographic disciplines. His style has been described as deeply romantic, yet joyful. Born in Fort Liberty, North Carolina, Cherry now proudly calls himself a Kentuckian. Cherry aims to capture the spirit of America while developing his storytelling craft through analysis of the truths that define our time. Cherry can be labeled a generalist, reporting on topics from extremism and government to agriculture and conservation with the intention of blurring the lines between visual reportage and fine art photography.

James has been called a “Creative Swiss Army Knife,” “Culture Curator,” and a “Master of Aesthetics” by multiple people. Together those titles are too lengthy to squeeze onto a single business card, but the descriptions do suit him.

Two things interested James in high school—freestyle rapping with friends and attending marketing competitions. Success in both led him to earn a bachelor’s degree in marketing while simultaneously enjoying a blossoming music career. Being a musician gave him an outlet to showcase his creativity while allowing him to connect with multiple brands and form partnerships. Working with some of the city’s biggest and brightest businesses to create long-lasting experiences has been something that James appreciates.

James also holds value in community, family, and equality. He spends his time working with various non-profit boards and recently helped to co-found Louisville Race Club as a way to provide a wellness option for his community. He enjoys playing basketball, traveling, art, sneakers, food, nature, and hanging with his wife Grace and son Artie.

Tyler Deeb is a designer, creative director, entrepreneur, family-man, and business owner. His company, Misc. Goods Co., first became known for its monstrously-successful Kickstarter campaign for a deck of playing cards Deeb completely re-designed. Since then, Misc. Goods has created a whole collection of different products including ceramic flasks, leather wallets and cologne. Deeb has carved out a niche with his brand by focusing on everything good - from the usefulness of the products to customer service to remaining ethical in all manufacturing.

Minda Honey is the author of “The Heartbreak Years” (October 2023, Little A) a memoir about dating as a woman of color in Southern California. Her essays on politics and relationships have appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Oxford American, Teen Vogue, and Longreads. She is the editor of Black Joy at Reckon and was director of the BFA in Creative Writing program at Spalding University, an advice columnist for LEO Weekly in Louisville, Kentucky, and founder of the alt-indie publication TAUNT. Her work is featured in Burn It Down: Women Writing about Anger, A Measure of Belonging: Twenty-One Writers of Color on the New American South, and Sex and the Single Woman: 24 Writers Reimagine Helen Gurley Brown’s Cult Classic. For more information visit www.mindahoney.com.

Teddy Abrams is the acclaimed Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra (LO) and the Britt Festival Orchestra. As an advocate for the power of music, Abrams has fostered interdisciplinary collaborations with organizations including the Louisville Ballet, the Center for Interfaith Relations, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Speed Art Museum, and the Folger Shakespeare Library. His rap-opera, The Greatest: Muhammad Ali, premiered in 2017, celebrating Louisville’s hometown hero. Abrams’ work with the Louisville Orchestra has been profiled on CBS News Sunday Morning, NPR, and in The Wall Street Journal.

Abrams recently collaborated with Jim James, vocalist and guitarist for My Morning Jacket, on the song cycle The Order of Nature, which was recorded for the Decca Gold label. To promote the album release, Abrams and James performed with an ensemble of Louisville Orchestra Musicians on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Kertis has a life-long interest in writing and film and a surprising fondness for John Denver's music. He gets to work with some of his best friends at Kertis Creative, a seven-year-old creative agency located in the Smoketown neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky. His work is often labeled with the now-totally-diluted moniker of "storytelling."

Clients include large foundations, small non-profit organizations, and the best corporations to be found. The work created lives at the intersection of advertising and honesty, and is made to last.