Changing the Narrative

BY SHANNON HOLBROOK

Kentucky is well known for horses, bourbon, and bluegrass. But what about the people? When you picture Kentuckians, do you envision NASA engineers? World-renowned ballet dancers? Nobel or Pulitzer Prize winners?

The Commonwealth has them all in spades, with plenty of visionaries on the horizon: award-winning chefs, authors, actors, Olympians, poet laureates, and presidents of worldwide companies from every corner of the Commonwealth.

Kentucky to the World (KTW), a Louisville-based nonprofit created to impact the way the world views Kentucky, shares stories of extraordinary people like these through live programs, multimedia platforms, and student educational programs. Their team of creatives and thought leaders develop short-form documentaries about successful Kentuckians and their innovations.

Its founder, Shelly Zegart — world-renowned for her work with American quilts — was inspired to start KTW upon seeing influential Kentuckians frequently appearing on the national stage.

“We have some of the most amazing people, and we need to use that as ammunition to tell the story of this state,” she said.

An example is Sam Ford, executive director of AccelerateKY. The Ohio County native, MIT graduate, media innovator, and strategist is a catalyst for economic and workforce development in Kentucky. He collaborated with KTW to develop “Kentucky: Resilience in the Face of Economic Change,” a series that shares stories of Kentucky innovators and discusses the realities of and opportunities for its evolving economy.

(left) llustrated playing cards spotlight Kentucky natives. (below) Sam Ford and Shelly Zegart work together to promote cultural pride in Kentucky.

One of those stories features Rusty Justice, a civil engineer who made the pivot from coal mining to data mining when co-founding the software and app development company Bit Source in Pikeville, Kentucky. Bit Source has employed several local residents who reskilled/upskilled from jobs around coal mining.

“You have to tell the stories of the future you’re working toward,” Ford said.

Zegart and Ford are collaborating to both tell these stories and help write new ones. This fall, KTW moved into a space where new innovators’ stories will be born — a second headquarters at Western Kentucky University’s Innovation Campus in its Collaborative SmartSpace, a 30,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art workspace. Partnering with strategists and creatives there, they’ll develop and present content, with a goal to attract talent from outside of Kentucky to work at the facility.

“We’re becoming more connected to economic development,” Zegart said.

In its 10th year, KTW continues to promote cultural pride in Kentucky and encourages Kentuckians — who they know to be fiercely loyal to their state — to help them. Zegart encourages every Kentuckian to have a positive story ready about a Kentucky innovator they can share.

KTW also has a series of illustrated playing cards featuring famous living Kentuckian profiles so you can learn who won NASA’s highest honor, who that Nobel Prize winner is, and innovators from your part of the state.

“Change the narrative,” Zegart said. “Learn about the innovators, the changemakers, here.”

“Kentucky is not an overly braggadocious state,” Ford said. “Telling your story is not to pat yourself on the back but to inspire others — show them what we can do. Be proud to be a Kentuckian; think about your roots and our generations of innovation. There’s no one more innovative than someone who’s kept their family farm alive.”

Learn more at kentuckytotheworld.org.

Shelly Zegart (left) and Sam Ford (right) collaborate to tell Kentucky stories.

Illustrated playing cards spotlight Kentucky natives.

Sam Ford and Shelly Zegart work together to promote cultural pride in Kentucky.