About Us

The Louisville Story Program strengthens the bonds of community by amplifying unheard voices and untold stories. Through rigorous writing and oral history workshops, and with professional editorial support, participating LSP authors from historically underrepresented communities document the richness of lived experience in Louisville communities from the inside out, and in their own words. Their work is published in professionally designed books, exhibits, and radio programs that promote dialogue across the community and increase awareness of overlooked aspects of Louisville's culture and history. Our authors are paid for their work, and we leverage their achievements into as many additional professional, educational, cultural, and social opportunities for them as possible.

Staff

  • Darcy Thompson

    Darcy Thompson

    Director

    Darcy has been at the helm of LSP since its inception in 2013, and has been devoting his energies to the organization full-time since October 2015. Prior to his work with LSP, Darcy worked on the national staff of Teach For America for over eleven years, during which time he conducted research on teacher effectiveness in urban and rural schools, helped refine the organization’s framework for effective teaching, led their national STEM recruitment efforts, helped found Teach For America – Appalachia, and managed and secured large federal grants.

    Darcy has been a high school teacher in Helena-West Helena, AR and Chicago, IL, and has designed and taught writing courses at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He gained his first experience working on a book project as a graduate research assistant, when he helped develop the award-winning anthology Black Like Us: A Century of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual African American Fiction. Darcy has lived in Louisville since 2003, and has enthusiastically adopted the city as his home. He is thrilled to combine his enthusiasm for stories and books with his lifelong commitment to education as an engine for social justice.

    Contact: darcy@louisvillestoryprogram.org

  • Joe Manning

    Joe Manning

    Deputy Director

    Joe is the project lead for the book project with authors at the Kentucky School for the Blind. Joe worked closely with the authors of Our Shawnee in the early stages of LSP’s pilot project. In 2013, Joe was offered a Jackson Fellowship in the prestigious creative writing program at Hollins University where he studied and wrote toward a Master of Fine Arts degree and where, as a Teaching Fellow, he developed the curriculum for and instructed two semesters of the undergraduate writing workshop, “The Fundamentals of Writing Poetry and Fiction.” After completing his graduate work in the spring of 2015, Joe returned to Louisville, the hometown of his heart, where he previously wrote award-winning essays, columns and features for the Louisville Eccentric Observer and the Louisville Paper. He is continuously writing narrative non-fiction, recently completed a draft of his first book of essays entitled Certain Relevant Passages. In addition to his current work with LSP, Joe works with the Backside Learning Center teaching English as a second language to workers at Churchill Downs.

    Contact: joe@louisvillestoryprogram.org

Board Members

  • Cassiopia Blausey

    Cassiopia Blausey

    Director of School Choice

    Jefferson County Public Schools

  • Quaniqua Carthan

    Quaniqua Carthan

    Director of Planning and Data Management

    Cities United

  • Jennie Jean Davidson

    Jennie Jean Davidson

    Partner

    Better Together Strategies, LLC

  • Yvette Gentry

    Yvette Gentry

    Project Director

    Metro United Way Black Male Achievement Initiative

  • LaTanya Henry

    LaTanya Henry

    President

    LMH Accounting & Consulting

  • Stephen Kertis

    Stephen Kertis

    Founder and President

    Kertis Creative

  • Anne McKune

    Anne McKune

    Senior Program Officer, Mission & Impact

    Community Foundation of Louisville

Partners

  • American Printing House for the Blind
  • Backside Learning Center
  • Center for Neighborhoods
  • Iroquois High School
  • Kentucky School for the Blind
  • Kertis Creative
  • Louisville Free Public Library
  • Louisville Writing Project
  • Muhammad Ali Center
  • Shawnee Boys & Girls Club
  • Shellee Marie Jones
  • Spalding University
  • The Academy @ Shawnee
  • The Mayor's SummerWorks Program
  • University of Louisville Oral History Center and Archives

Financial Supporters

  • Anonymous
  • Arthur K. Smith Family Foundation
  • Augusta Brown Holland and Gill Holland
  • Brown-Forman
  • C. E. and S. Foundation
  • CHAMP Foundation
  • Community Foundation of Louisville
  • Cralle Foundation
  • David A. Jones, Jr. and Mary Gwen Wheeler
  • Emily Bingham and Stephen Reily
  • Fund for the Arts
  • Gheens Foundation
  • Gilbert Foundation
  • John Everts Speed Memorial Fund
  • Kentucky Arts Council
  • Louisville Metro Art Fund
  • Norton Foundation
  • Republic Bank Foundation
  • Snowy Owl Foundation
  • Stegner Fund
  • The Awesome Foundation