Mentor Sessions

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Collaboration, Systems Change, Communications

Josh Stoltz is Executive Director of Grow Benzie, a Rural Prosperity Incubator in Northwest Michigan that provides nonprofits with essential backbone infrastructure alongside a 4-acre community campus. A former marketing entrepreneur, Josh has studied food systems in Mozambique through the Mandela Washington Fellowship Exchange and systems change in England and Russia via Rotary Charities' Changemaker Fellowship.

About Grow Benzie

Grow Benzie is a Rural Prosperity Incubator and community hub in Northwest Michigan, providing essential backbone infrastructure for nonprofits, including fiscal sponsorship, grant writing, bookkeeping, and communications support. Its 4-acre campus features co-working spaces, an event center, a commercial kitchen, a maker space, a bee apiary, a community garden, and an incubator farm. Grow Benzie also supports collaborative initiatives in education, health, and broadband, fostering collaboration and innovation to strengthen rural communities.

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Creative Marketing, Queer Imagining, Textile Arts, Writing

Cody Cook-Parrott is a writer and artist living on the Leelanau Peninsula in Northern Michigan. They facilitate a weekly writing group called Landscapes, teach classes about writing, quilting, and creative practice. They write the weekly newsletter Monday Monday and are the host of the podcast Common Shapes. They are the author of the books How to Not Always Be Working and Getting to Center.

 

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Operations and Troubleshooting, Nontraditional Educator, Science Communicator

Tom Maynard is the Director of Operations at the Great Lakes Children's Museum. Before joining the Museum, he served as a Volunteer Coordinator and Educator at Inland Seas Education Association. Prior to this, Tom coordinated STEM festivals nationwide as the Mind Trekkers Coordinator at Michigan Tech. He has over a decade of experience as a volunteer coordinator and nontraditional educator.

About The Great Lakes Children's Museum

The Great Lakes Children's Museum was created to provide hands-on, interactive, and informal educational environments for children and the adults in their lives that invite curiosity, allow exploration, encourage participation and celebrate the child-like wonder in all of us. Curiosity Place, powered by the Great Lakes Children’s Museum, is our new location in the Grand Traverse Mall. Curiosity Place not only provides indoor educational play, but also the programs you love, new camps and clubs, birthday parties, holiday celebrations, and the Power of Play Store.

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Tax & Accounting; Audit & 990; QuickBooks Online

Jamie has over 15+ years experience in both private and public accounting. Working with small and large non-profits and businesses, as well as individuals for all accounting and tax needs.

About JCaldwell Consulting PLLC

Local, trans owned and Queer friendly accounting firm providing bookkeeping and tax services to individuals, nonprofits, and business.

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Murals, Installations, Arts Residencies, Abstraction

Quinn Faylor is a queer non-binary artist based in Detroit whose multidisciplinary work spans painting, sculpture, and installation. With vibrant color and playful movement, their practice explores joy, care, and connection across boundaries. Faylor has completed residencies in the U.S. and Canada and created murals in Michigan, San Francisco, and Tokyo. They were awarded a 2024 Emerging Artist Fellowship from PLAYGROUND DETROIT.

 

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Grant writing & management; Public-private partnerships

Julie has written, reported on, and managed millions of dollars in state and federal grants for businesses, municipalities, and agencies. Her technical expertise extends into the municipal realm, where she helps clients navigate zoning, tax abatements, land use issues, and funding opportunities.

About HKM & Associates

HKM & Associates supports inclusive community and economic development projects that foster meaningful connectivity and healthier environments.

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Collaboration, Interdisciplinary, Exploration

Sheila Ruen is the Visual Arts Director at the Crooked Tree Arts Center in Petoskey, Michigan. Previously, she served as the Education Director at Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores, the Galleries Director at Crooked Tree Arts Center, Arts and Design Department Chair at the William Penn Charter School, a Quaker, an Independent School in Philadelphia, and taught as an adjunct instructor at various schools, including Chicago State University, Philadelphia University, and Stanford University. She studied digital design at the University of Edinburgh, enjoyed a post-graduate painting residency at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Karlsruhe, earned an MFA from the University of Michigan, and a BFA from the California College of Art.

About Crooked Tree Arts Center

The mission of the Crooked Tree Arts Center is to create ways for people to connect, learn, and grow through the arts. We offer exhibitions, concerts, classes, lectures, special events, and so much more from our campuses in Petoskey and Traverse City, Michigan.

 

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Exhibitions, Conceptual ideas, Curation, Installation, Proposals

Jessica Kooiman Parker is a visual art curator, art consultant and designer. She grew up in southwestern Minnesota and earned a BFA from the University of WI-Stout. From 2013-2020, she oversaw award winning art galleries in both Longmont and Boulder CO. In 2021, she moved to Traverse City, MI with her husband and three boys. Since then, she has built the visual art program for the Alluvion at Commongrounds, exhibiting over 100 artists last year. Her curatorial practice is rooted in sparking curiosity and dialogue among visitors and commentating artists for their time.

About The Alluvion

The Alluvion is a 180 capacity venue and event space located on the second floor of The Commongrounds Cooperative building at the edge of The Boardman-Ottaway River near downtown Traverse City. This intimate, creative space is designed with optimal acoustics and world-class equipment. It is dedicated to producing high-quality, highly-accessible performances, community events, visual arts, classes, workshops, and so much more.

The visual arts presented by The Alluvion authentically support, showcase and foster artists and their growth, while empowering visitors to appreciate art(ists) in new ways. Exhibitions and installations can be found throughout the entire Commongrounds building and are always free and open to the public.

 

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Marketing, Communications, Branding

Chip Rice is Director of Marketing at Interlochen Center for the Arts, where he’s worked for 14 years. Prior to Interlochen he worked with clients across a variety of sectors on the agency side. He also serves as the Vice President of the board of directors and Chair of the marketing committee for the Michigan Legacy Art Park.

About Interlochen Center for the Arts

Interlochen Center for the Arts inspires people around the world through excellence in education and the arts, providing dynamic opportunities for artists and arts enthusiasts of all ages. Through Interlochen Arts Camp, Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen Online, Interlochen Presents, Interlochen Public Radio, Interlochen Hospitality, and Interlochen College of Creative Arts—Interlochen propels lifelong creativity.

 

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Innovative Brand & Message Strategy, Audience Engagement, Idea Generation

Brad Montague is a New York Times best-selling author/illustrator of books for kids and former kids. A highly sought-after speaker and performer whose encouragement brings hope and humanity to a wide variety of communities - Brad is the creator of the hit web series Kid President, the global social-good movement Socktober, the bestselling picture book The Circles All Around Us, and the creativity-packed Fantastic Bureau of Imagination.

His commitment to childlike wonder and joyful rebellion has led to collaborations with The Disney Channel, Jim Henson Company, Pokemon, The Metropolitan Opera, Hallmark, Rivian, and the United Nations—just to name a few. He lives in Tennessee with his wife and collaborator, Kristi Montague, and their two children.

The newest picture book, Fail-a-bration!, releases September 10, 2024 from Dial Books.

Bonus: Brad is also one of our keynote speakers for the Summit!