Staff

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  Darcy Thompson

  Executive Director

  Darcy has been at the helm of LSP since its inception in 2013. Prior to his work at LSP, he 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, and helped found Teach For America – Appalachia. 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.

  darcy@louisvillestoryprogram.org

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  Joe Manning

  Deputy Director

  Joe helped establish Louisville Story Program in 2013 and worked as an instructor and editor before he came on board full time as the role of Deputy Director in 2016. Joe was a Jackson Fellow of Creative Writing at Hollins University's prestigious MFA program where he focused on nonfiction. He's published award-winning essays, columns, and features for The Louisville Eccentric Observer and The Louisville Paper, has written for Fjords, theRS500.com, and Oxford American. Joe's first collection of single-topic essays, Certain Relevant Passages, was published in 2017 by Dock Street Press. In 2018 Joe was awarded the Kentucky Arts Council's Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship.
  

  joe@louisvillestoryprogram.org

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  Althea Allen Dryden

  Program Director

  Althea officially joined the LSP team in late 2021 but her love affair with the Louisville Story Program began in 2013 while working for LSP’s fiscal agent, the Network Center for Community Change. The Our Shawnee book launch is still one of her favorite professional accomplishments. She recently became a published author herself as a contributor to I Too Am America: On Loving & Leading Black Men & Boys by Shawn Dove and Nick Chiles. Althea comes to LSP after a decade in Louisville’s nonprofit community. Most recently, she served as the Director of Operations and later Director of Marketing and Storytelling at Cities United, a national organization committed to working with communities across the country to reimagine public safety and reduce the homicides of young Black men in boys. Althea has long dreamed of working alongside the staff, board, and authors to continue the heartfelt mission of the Louisville Story Program.
  

  althea@louisvillestoryprogram.org

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  Christine Gosney

  Director of Operations

  Christine joined LSP in 2022 to bring additional leadership in operations, development, and communications. Her time in the local nonprofit sector has included eight years at a refugee resettlement agency, Kentucky Refugee Ministries. Prior to moving to Kentucky, Christine worked in emergency shelter services and re-entry programs in Arizona.

  christine@louisvillestoryprogram.org