Josh founded the non-profit organization, Songs For Kids, in 2007 during his career as a music manager. As the executive director, Josh oversees a team that typically performs both with and for over 17,000 hospitalized children across the country throughout the year, while providing year round music mentorship for kids with disabilities, injuries, and illnesses at the Songs For Kids Center in Atlanta, GA. At the Center, kids and young adults can take any musical journey they dream with their mentors, at no cost to their families.

Songs For Kids was born out of his "day job" managing a band and being a musician himself, his father's life as a trauma surgeon, and the desire to rock out while bringing people together. Josh has been featured on CBS This Morning and as one of People Magazine's "Heroes Among Us." His proudest achievement thus far is overcoming a self professed "Worst Singer in Georgia" title, when in 2013, he completed the goal of singing at (nearly) every children's hospital in the United States.

Aimee Copeland, LCSW, MA, CCTP, CHT, RYT is a psychotherapist, activist, registered yoga instructor, competitive swimmer, and executive director of Grant Park Counseling Group, Asheville Center for Inner Healing and Aimee Copeland Foundation. Copeland contracted flesh-eating bacteria at a tragic ziplining accident that ultimately led to quadruple amputations. She went on to complete dual masters degrees in psychology and social work.

Copeland served as an intern at a top 10 rehabilitation hospital where she used her experience and training to teach others to cope with life changing circumstances and thrive. Shortly after her injury, Copeland launched All Terrain Georgia to bridge the gap between nature and accessibility. Copeland is the Chief Executive Officer of Grant Park Counseling Group in Atlanta, GA and the Center for Inner Healing in Asheville, NC and practices psychotherapy as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Aimee holds certifications as a Clinical Hypnotherapist and a Clinical Trauma Provider and has training and experience using mindfulness-based modalities, internal family systems therapy, and somatic psychotherapy. Clinical Social Worker.

Aimee holds certifications as a Registered Yoga Teacher, Clinical Hypnotherapist, Clinical Trauma Provider and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapist and has training and experience using mindfulness-based modalities, internal family systems therapy, and somatic psychotherapy.

Named the “Funniest Woman in Georgia” by Southern Living Magazine, Lauretta Hannon is the bestselling author of The Cracker Queen–A Memoir of a Jagged, Joyful Life (Gotham Books, Penguin) and has been a commentator on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, where her stories have reached 25 million listeners. Her memoir was named “One of the Top 25 Books All Georgians Should Read” by the Georgia Center for the Book. A documentary about her story, Raised in the South of Normal, captured numerous awards at film festivals across the country. In 2018 she was selected to be a faculty member at the prestigious Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop at The University of Dayton.

Lauretta mentors and teaches writers and others and is a shameless promoter of joy and wonder. She blogs and podcasts at laurettahannon.com. By day she serves as executive director of the Georgia Northwestern Technical College Foundation.

Ryan Gravel is an urban thinker, designer, author, and builder – an entrepreneur working on ideas about the future of cities. Best known for his master’s thesis and early work that launched the Atlanta Beltline, Ryan’s work centers on strategies for change that advance a broad, inclusive vision for communities. He was the lead creator of the Atlanta City Design, which designs the city’s inevitable change so that it grows into a better version of itself. And along with other projects at Sixpitch and his book, Where We Want to Live, Ryan investigates the cultural side of infrastructure, describing how its intimate relationship with our way of life can illuminate a brighter path forward for cities. Connect with Ryan via www.ryangravel.com or on social media at @ryangravel (Twitter and Instagram).

John Stephens is vice president of consumer strategy for the residential division of Shaw Industries, a global flooring provider and pioneer in Cradle to Cradle® design. Immersed in commercial and residential spaces throughout his 30-year career, John is focused on the impact of the spaces around us on our lives and creating thoughtful, sustainable, human-centric solutions for people and the planet. What Shaw calls sustain[HUMAN]ability®. 

John has been active in the International Interior Design Association and served on the Shaw Corporate Diversity and Inclusion Council.  

In his current role, John is responsible for developing a consumer-centric and future-focused marketing strategy, including developing and executing innovative consumer experiences.

Lisa M. Russell is a writer, instructor, and academic assistant dean. She writes micro-history books about “lost things.” She supports regional historical societies. She guested on several local television/radio programs and podcasts, including the History channel.

Russell earned her Master of Arts degree in professional writing (MAPW) from Kennesaw State University. The MAPW awarded Lisa the 2020 Distinguished Alumnus Award. Lisa teaches English full-time at Georgia Northwestern Technical College, where she serves as the Assistant Dean of Dual Enrollment. She is a part-time professor of communication at Kennesaw State University.

In her “spare time,” you can find Lisa exploring North Georgia with her micro-historic lens to discover her next “lost” story. She is currently writing two more books about lost Georgia history.

Anne is the Chef/Owner of Bacchanalia, Star Provisions, Floataway Café, and W.H. Stiles Fish Camp. She has helped steer the trajectory of Atlanta’s dining scene for more than two decades by pioneering a simple principle—she was one of the city’s first chefs to showcase local ingredients prepared with precision and presented artfully.

Much of what she serves at her restaurants comes directly from her own Summerland Farm in Cartersville, and she steadfastly supports wholesome wave, local organic growers and Georgia Organics.

Quatrano is a graduate of the University of Vermont and San Francisco’s California Culinary Academy and her career has taken her through fine dining establishments from the Bay Area to New York City before she relocated to Atlanta. She has won numerous James Beard nominations and awards, including “Best Chef Southeast” in 2003. In 2013 and 2014, Quatrano was nominated for the James Beard “Outstanding Chef Award,” and in 2013 Bacchanalia was nominated for “Outstanding Service Award.”

Outside of her restaurants and farm, Quatrano is very involved in culinary nonprofits, especially those focused on women chefs. She is currently a Director on the Board for the James Beard Foundation, Chairman of the JBF Awards Committee and has served on the Board of Directors for Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, and Georgia Organics, as well as on various committees for the James Beard Foundation and Southern Foodways Alliance.

Quatrano’s cookbook, Summerland: Recipes for Celebrating with Southern Hospitality, was published by Rizzoli in October 2013.

Amanda Reed Myers is the former Chief Operating Officer and current Chief Strategy Officer for HealthOne Alliance, Alliant Health Plans, and Serventy Insurance. She is also the President and Chief Executive Officer of Live4It Community, a non-profit 501(c)3. Amanda earned her B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill's Kenan Flagler Business School. She has been Rotary Club of Dalton's President (2019-2020), executive leadership member for the American Heart Association's Dalton Heart Ball, board member of the Community Foundation of NW Georgia, executive board member at the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce (Chair 2022-2023). For 10+ years, she was Chairman of Rotary's Charlie Bowen Service Above Self Program which recognizes 5th Graders for their selfless service. In addition, Amanda has been trained on community resilience with the goal of increasing awareness about the correlation between stress and trauma and short/long-term health status.

Jackie is co-founder of K & M Technologies – a technology and innovation scouting firm that connects entrepreneurs and start-ups with established corporations. She is also the founder and President of Khensani Business Advisors – an organizational management and training firm that helps organizations unlock their potential and be better versions of themselves.

Jackie is a High Energy Disruptive Innovator, Strategic Planner, Learning Enthusiast and Master Connector of Innovation. She is passionate about discovering and nurturing innovations that will disrupt traditional industries. She works with small organizations, university researchers and entrepreneurs to advise them on strategic and technical direction and to assist them with building relationships with larger corporations. She is an accomplished problem-solver with a unique blend of technical, engineering, and business expertise that is useful to developing business strategies and translating those into technically and commercially viable products and services.

Jackie received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Auburn University and her MBA from Kennesaw State University.

She lives in Dalton, GA with her dogs Zeus and Dash. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, hiking, watching college football, and being around people who make her world better.

Dr. Marc Feuerbach understands the transformative power of education and is committed to serving the students, staff, and local community as superintendent of Cartersville City Schools. A lifelong educator, Marc's career has taken him from the classroom to the superintendent’s office.

His teaching career began at Gordon Central High School where he was a special education teacher, and later he was appointed assistant principal. In 2010, he was named principal of Ashworth Middle School and became Calhoun Elementary School’s principal three years later. Marc served as principal at Cartersville High School from July 2014 – June 2018 before serving in his current role as superintendent.

Born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Marc obtained his bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Florida, his master’s degree from Kennesaw State University, his specialist degree from Georgia College and State University, and his doctorate from Valdosta State University. 


He and his wife, Rebekah, have two children, Will and Addie. He enjoys spending time outside and being with his wife and children when he is not working. He and his family attend Cartersville First Baptist Church. An avid fan of leadership-focused material and experiences, Marc enjoyed his participation in Leadership Bartow in 2020. Currently he serves on the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and will serve as the Chamber of Commerce Chair in 2023. He also serves on the Board of Trustees for Advocates for Children. Marc received the 2022 President's Award from the Georgia School Superintendents Association, of which he has been a member for four years. He has also been a member of Cartersville Rotary Club for eight years and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators for fifteen years.

ENTERTAINMENT

Storyteller Carol Cain is from a big family and a small town, which both give her plenty to talk about! She first discovered the power of storytelling thirty-five years ago, as a new mother, when her 12th grade English students begged for stories about her son as a way to get her off the topic of British literature. She continued to tell stories in her classroom until her retirement last summer, after thirty years of teaching language arts and theatre arts with the Troup County School System in LaGrange, Georgia. In addition to being her school system’s Teacher of the Year for 2000, Carol was named a top five finalist for Georgia’s 2001 Teacher of the Year.

Carol has been a member of the Azalea Storytelling Festival planning committee since the festival’s inception in 1997. She has been the emcee of the Azalea Festival for the past eleven years and was a featured teller in 2015 and 2022.

In addition to her work at museums, schools, churches, senior centers, and libraries throughout the Southeast, Carol performed at the 2011 Timpanogos Storytelling Festival in Orem, Utah. She is featured on the Donald Davis workshop video entitled “What's Your Story?” which has been broadcast on both BYU-TV and North Carolina Public Broadcasting. More recently, Carol portrayed Captain Nancy Hill Morgan, organizer of a female Civil War militia, in a documentary called “The Nancy Hart Militia: Women of Uncommon Courage” which debuted on Georgia Public Broadcasting. For the past twenty-eight years, Carol has performed as Rosie the Riveter at the Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia and other locations throughout the U.S.

EDUCAINMENT

The Chattahoochee Nature Center will share some thoughts about raptors.

Nearly 25 species of raptors can be found in Georgia at one time or another, with roughly half of them here year-round. Others such as the Swallow-tailed Kite and Broad-winged Hawk migrate from Central and South America to have their young in Georgia. Species such as the Snowy Owl and Northern Goshawk that are typically found in the other parts of the US can sometimes be observed here when weather conditions have been especially harsh. Each of the species on exhibit at CNC is a year-round resident.

What makes birds unique?

>> They are endothermic (warm-blooded, can regulate body temperature)

>> They have feathers made of keratin

>> They have hollow bones

>> Their feathers molt annually as new ones grow

ENTERTAINMENT

David Crawford and Tom Brown are both retired educators from the Whitfield County School System. The are founding members of Spatial Effects, a North Georgia based bluegrass band known for its slightly bent originals.

The musical duo also wrote the two act musical comedy Fat Shirley's: A Trailer Park Opera which has been performed in numerous theaters in the southeastern United States and has been on tour by two theater companies in the United Kingdom.

These two award winning songwriters have also written jingles, had their songs recorded, and also appear from time to time as the Snopes Brothers in their alter ego group the Gobbler's Knob String Band.

As for the Acworth Beach Boys, they are sure to bring the house down on August 20 at the Savoy, as they play original music for the audience gathered at TEDxCartersville.