It is with great pride that we present to our readers the 2011 New Faces of Philanthropy—Todd Crawford, Jackie Keating, Maggie Keith, J.K. McKnight, and Gerome Stephens.

In December 2010, NFocus launched the 1st Annual New Faces of Philanthropy, bringing our readers the holiday gift of inspiration—stories of young people who were combining 1960s style do-it-yourself, grass roots activism with 21c science and technology to literally change the face of philanthropy in Louisville. The response to that issue was so overwhelmingly positive, we decided to make it a holiday tradition.

This year, a partnership with The Community Foundation of Louisville has allowed us to not only bring you five new inspiring stories but also to give financial gifts to the courageous, unique and innovative nonprofit organizations represented by this year’s New Faces of Philanthropy: The Todd Crawford Foundation to Cure Paralysis, The Dare to Care Food Bank, New Roots Inc. for sharing of fresh, local food resources, The Forecastle Foundation for the Preservation of Environmental Hot Spots, and The Kids Center for Pediatric Therapies.

The following pages illustrate the good work that our New Faces do both by day and by night. As if out of the pages of a comic book, they battle to thwart malnutrition, physical disability and environmental sabotage. Join us as we marvel at their selfless determination, ambitious dreams and seemingly superhuman fight. These characters walk among us, proving that we each possess the power to make a difference in our community and in our world.

Within this tirelessly positive young woman lies the perfect contrast between one who honors tradition and one who blazes her own independent path. Jackie Keating grew up in Southern Indiana and attended Providence High School, where her grandparents were part of the first ever freshman class. She followed a longstanding family convention in attending Indiana University and joked, “There would have been problems,” when asked if she ever considered otherwise. Armed with degrees in Art History and Business, she left the family she values so much to follow a dream she had since the age of six – to live in Chicago.

Like most young professionals, Jackie took a roundabout to her heart’s desire. She began work at an office furniture company but never felt inspired by the corporate world. Luckily, her boss was on the board of Children’s Memorial Hospital where she began to volunteer after helping him plan a fundraiser. “I found I was happiest when doing work for the hospital.” After a year and a half, a non-profit organization called her office for a furniture donation and while facilitating that request, her energy was recognized by the Executive Director, and quickly she was named the Development Officer for Children’s Oncology Services. “I hit my stride and felt like I finally knew what I wanted to be when I grew up.”

Jackie and her husband, Dan, knew they would eventually move back to Louisville to be closer to their families so she started what she believed to be a very preliminary job search. When an opportunity at Dare to Care came to her attention, she thought, “That would be a job worth moving home for.” Upon her first interview, she immediately felt at home and knew she would get the support she needed to be successful there. Almost two years later, she still celebrates “the opportunity to work in such an inspiring culture” as Chief Development Office of Dare to Care Food Bank.

“When I work, I think of one family in particular. The parents were close to my age with a 5-year-old daughter. Like so many families that we serve, they suffered the perfect storm of unfortunate events. The husband’s mother had recently passed and they were paying for unexpected funeral costs; he had taken on the responsibility and expense of his 16-year-old brother; his wife lost her job - they had fallen into an unenviable tough spot. They came in and were embarrassed because they had never needed help before and kept apologizing to me. But that is why we are here, I explained. He hugged me in tears and that moment was so much bigger than me. So many people made that one exchange possible and my job felt like such a privilege that day. This family represents that the idea that our services could be needed by anyone, and never more than in this economy. Dare to Care has been around for forty years and the need has never been at the current level.”

When Jackie is not attending morning boot camps with her aunt, cooking with her husband in their Highlands home or spoiling her Golden Doodle, Ralph, she is excited to attend Supper Club, a new endeavor with emerging leaders in the community and Dare to Care. A host committee picks a restaurant bi-monthly and they gather for dinner to help fight hunger with proceeds from a preset menu going to Dare to Care. She credits the Leadership Louisville Center and her participation in Ignite Louisville with swiftly helping her find her way in the volunteer community. daretocare.org

Gerome grew up on a cattle farm in Eastern Kentucky. He was, in his own words, “a very average student. I was always very involved in the community but didn’t even realize it because it’s just what people did in a town like that.” He recalls the impatience he experienced as a child at trying to get his parents in and out of a grocery store – a plan that was always foiled when they stopped for heartfelt conversations with friends and acquaintances. “They realized the importance of listening and sharing. Many times they would follow-up by sending a card, preparing food or even dropping a check in the mail if they knew someone may benefit. My parents were not rich, but they recognized their ability to impact others. What a great example they were to me of social awareness and valuing relationships.” Gerome has one brother who is a firefighter in his hometown and by all definitions, a local hero. Since finding himself in Louisville, Gerome, too, has become a hero to many.

He became first aware of the impact of service when he was Coordinator of Student Activities at Morehead State University where he was pursuing a Master’s in Public Communications. Gerome was tasked with planning a trip to the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina and ended up taking 120 students. “I felt so lucky to be able to do that for my job.” He is able to develop that passion for service ever further as the Coordinator for Student Leadership at the University of Louisville where he is completing his PhD in Higher Education Leadership and Organizational Development. In his current capacity, he saw an opportunity to help students develop organizations committed to service and philanthropy.

Through one of his students, he was invited to attend a yearly breakfast to learn about the Kids Center and says, “I was moved more than I can describe. Having worked in education, the idea of inclusion and acceptance is the basis of everything I want to do. We all have issues or something that we are conscious of but these children have to wear it on the outside which means it is harder for them to be included socially which is unfair. To see these families face something that they didn’t choose and couldn’t prepare for and be able to create ability in disability or find strength in weakness is very exciting and meaningful to me.”

Gerome says that Louisville embraced him with a lot of opportunity and he feels very fortunate to live in a city that allows him to explore creative ways to engage and use his time, talents and treasure, and a job where he can help students do the same. “UofL allows me to give to a lot of nonprofits and support students in their service efforts every day for my job. But I choose to devote my free time to the Kids Center.”

Gerome is continually inspired by the words of his college campus minister, who told him to do as much as he could with what he’s been given. “You’ll be miserable if you look at what other people are doing and compare yourself to that. And you can’t look at someone else and say they aren’t doing enough. Your joy comes from what you can do personally.” Gerome’s advice is to “Lead through who you are. After all, that is what you have been given.” Kidscenterky.org

Maggie Keith spends her days managing 18 employees as the Owner of Foxhollow Farm in Crestwood, and, as she says with a laugh, “Growing food, eating food, cooking food and teaching people where food comes from.” In the summertime, she likes to get out in the 10-acre market garden and work with the 215 head of grass fed cattle herself.

Despite being a fourth-generation owner of Foxhollow Farm, Maggie’s passion for cultivating the land didn’t arise until her collegiate days at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, where she witnessed a culture that supported local food, farmers markets and composting. She had always enjoyed the outdoors and loved to hike and camp during her days growing up in St. Matthews and attending Kentucky Country Day. Her professional goal when she graduated from the Walker College of Business was to be an entrepreneur, but it wasn’t until she returned to Louisville in 2007 that her aptitude for marketing and business development found clear direction. With her mother, she decided to turn Foxhollow back into a working farm and become the first in her family to actually farm it rather than lease it.

It was around the time of her return to Louisville four years ago that the St. Matthews Farmers Market started. Now, you can go to a Farmers Market every day in the city. “There is definitely more effort in preserving food and appreciating where it comes from. When I first started at Foxhollow, I had a difficult time selling to restaurants but more and more have embraced the local food movement and a great deal are calling me now.” Maggie’s biggest struggle continues to be reaching out to a diverse customer base. “There is a huge gap in availability and education,” she explains. “I don’t want my food to only be available in expensive restaurants. My desire is for it to be attainable to all economic groups.” For those who argue that eating organically is too expensive, she is quick to counter, “Some people will spend $8 on a glass of wine but won’t spend $4 on a really great pound of tomatoes. With all the recalls and food scares, why not do the right thing for your family or for yourself. Get bulk items like rice and beans and supplement with local vegetables.”

Aiding in her desire for increased availability is New Roots, Inc., a Louisville-based non-profit that is working to improve distribution and utilization of fresh foods. In addition to providing a fresh box of vegetables to families in neighborhoods through the Fresh Stop Project, New Roots is able to provide education materials and guidance on the use of fresh food products encouraging long-term healthy lifestyles. “My hope is that New Roots can expand Fresh Stops in more neighborhoods and develop a real leadership team in these communities to spread the word and train others on how to run the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). It really is a self-sustaining model.”

Maggie is married to Benton Keith and is also involved in a local volunteer organization called Slow Food Bluegrass which is based on a global grassroots movement that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment and seeks to bring good, clean and fair food to all. “It’s fun to get together with other like-minded foodies, many who are from the Fresh Stops, for the same good cause.” She adds with a laugh, “We are definitely bringing the potluck back. It’s great to see women coming in and rescuing our food systems.” Newrootsproduce.org

J.K. McKnight is a curious fella, and not one that responds in the slightest to conventional boundaries or limits. It was this natural curiosity that spurred him to come up with the idea for the Forecastle Foundation when he was 14 years old. Through reading magazines and watching Discovery Channel, he came to learn about “hot zones,” a term coined in 1988 by British ecologist Norman Myers to define areas of the world with extreme amounts of biodiversity. With the understanding that these threatened areas cover only 2.3 percent of the Earth’s land surface yet hold over 50 percent of the world’s plant and vertebrate species, teenage J.K. did what few 14 year olds would do – he wrote letters to the White House questioning how one could go about purchasing hectares of this territory. Several attempts at an answer eventually garnered a response and an introduction to the US Ambassador of Brazil who explained the process. 15 years later, the Forecastle Foundation was developed for local education and international conservation.

Chances are, you’ve heard of The Forecastle Festival and may even be familiar with its accompanying slogan “Music. Art. Activism.” After all, it has been named the “Top 15 Outdoor Festivals in the Country” as well as “Top 10 Events in the State.” J.K., an accomplished musician himself, founded the music festival in 2002 when it was held in Tyler Park and featured several local bands. The festival grew the following year to include the visual arts community and the participation of several socially-conscious groups. Under J.K.’s direction, it has continued to grow exponentially each year and is now the “largest gathering of musicians, artists and activists in the Midwest.” In 2010, it was held on Louisville’s Waterfront Park and featured over 100 internationally acclaimed bands. Through all the growth and accolades, J.K.’s goal has remained true to his original mission: to “merge entertainment with education and inspire a voyage of personal growth and global change.”

Throughout the years, J.K. has worked with over 100 non-profit organizations, but 2012 will be the first year the Festival will be a platform for Forecastle Foundation specifically. He hopes to partner with Conservation International (CI) and World Wildlife Fund, who have spearheaded the preservation movement. And lest you feel far removed from the subject, he adds, “Local education brings it back home to Louisville – teaching people how their daily actions affect these places all over the world. Some people don’t realize that products they use every day come from these places.” Ultimately, J.K. plans to start an ambassador program through the Foundation where you can identify and get involved with the “hot zone” of your choice.

J.K.’s curiosity still leads him to question, discover and change. From a 14 year old challenging our nation’s leaders to a young man who himself leads a yearly world-wide melting pot of culture to Louisville, he hasn’t earned the moniker “The Captain” for nothing. He credits his parents for inspiring him to give back recalling that they never forced the issue on him but were always involved in non-profit causes. “I guess it rubbed off on me.” Here’s hoping his commitment to activism through Forecastle Foundation rubs off on others.

A graduate of Saint Xavier High School, Todd Crawford attended the University of Kentucky and has an MBA from the University of Louisville. He enjoys technology, gardening and going to dinner and occasionally to the track with a close-knit group of family and friends. He loves to travel but admits he would never want to move away from his home base. He owns a website development company called Crawford Designs and cherishes going out into the city and seeing someone he knows everywhere he goes. Named Young Philanthropist of the Year in 2010 by the American Federation of Fundraising Professionals, Todd Crawford lives a very full life and he does it all while battling paralysis.

At age 22, Todd was injured when he slipped and fell into shallow water from a rope swing near 18 Mile Island. In 2006, four years after his spinal cord injury (SCI), Todd started a not-for-profit organization called the Todd Crawford Foundation to Cure Paralysis. He recalled the tremendous mobilization of friends and family to fund raise following his injury and decided to lead and direct that momentum toward research on SCI. Despites days filled with out-patient rehab in Atlanta and Cincinnati and, most recently, in-home rehab, Todd says, “I’ve always had too many friends and family around me to ever feel doomed. People tell me I have an optimistic outlook but I truly believe it comes from their support.”

Todd had followed the Christopher Reeve foundation and started to hear about breakthroughs in neuroscience that completely overturned what was once considered a hopeless view on functional recovery. There are 450,000 people in the United States living with SCI, an injury that was once considered permanent. “There is now scientific rooted optimism in possible cures for the future thanks to spinal cord repair methods,” Todd explains with an enthusiastic light in his eye.

Every year, the Foundation hosts a 5K at the Waterfront and they are in the third year of an annual softball tournament though Todd says he is debating changing the format to a more participant-friendly kickball tournament. 100% of the proceeds raised from these events are donated to the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center (KSCIRC) which is part of the University of Louisville School of Medicine.

Todd speaks very candidly about his injury in a way that puts others around him at ease. When asked what he missed most about life pre-injury, he has little to say, but when questioned about where he sees himself in ten years, he doesn’t hesitate: “In the last year, scientists have started clinical trials on humans that have finally started to get FDA approval. I would like to be in a good position with my company and participating in one of those clinical trials.” toddcrawfordfoundation.org