Kathryn Lott, Executive Director, Southern Smoke

Food & Beverage

On this episode of Mission Business, host Jennifer Alleva interviews Kathryn Lott, Executive Director of Southern Smoke, a Houston-based non-profit started by James Beard Award Winning Chef Chris Shepherd in 2015.  Southern Smoke has been pivoting way before we all started overusing the word pivot – first raising money for Multiple Sclerosis, then as a crisis relief organization after Hurricane Harvey devastated Texas, and now providing millions of dollars to out-of-work hospitality workers around the country due to COVID closures. Throughout the episode we hear from Kathryn about her journey with Southern Smoke, the challenges of scaling up quickly to meet a need, and how her nonprofit arts background informs her work with Southern Smoke. For more information on Southern Smoke, visit southernsmoke.org.

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Christine Cox, Artistic and Executive Director, BalletX

Arts & Culture

In this episode of Mission Business Podcast, host Jennifer Alleva interviews Christine Cox, Artistic and Executive Director of BalletX, Philadelphia’s premier contemporary ballet, whose dancers were named “among America’s best” by The New York Times. Their discussion covers the struggles endured by BalletX as well as the entire performing arts community in the age of COVID, how BalletX has “pirouetted” in this time, and what lies ahead for similar organizations. This episode also features a special Ask the Controller Segment, where YPTC’s own Jerilyn Dressler talks to BalletX’s YPTC Associate Lily Li, about the most efficient ways of working with arts organizations.
Learn more about Christine Cox and BalletX at https://www.balletx.org/

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