“Show Me the Money!”

Room 229 | 10:30-11:15am

Tameaka Taylor is a grants coordinator who supports grant seekers through research and agency coordination. She assists applicants with identifying federal funding opportunities that match their project needs. In her spare time Tameaka writes fiction and poetry. She is currently completing a contemporary novel on friendships and the interconnectivity of humanity. Her writing style is conversational with focus on dialogue. She is influenced by current events and her everyday life. Her favorite pastime is cuddling with her toddler.

“Why is No One at My Events?”

Room 220 | 10:30-11:15am

Jason Edwards is a graphic designer and entrepreneur. As the founder and Creative Director of Shoo.in Company LLC and Final Regard, Jason has spent over two decades transforming brands, uplifting communities, and elevating excellence through digital and print design. Jason fuses design with cutting-edge marketing to craft unforgettable experiences—from dynamic websites and compelling campaigns to soulful memorial tributes. His entrepreneurial roots run deep, grounded in a commitment to storytelling, empowerment, and practical simplicity for small businesses and underrepresented voices.

“Why I Need This in My Portfolio?”

Room 227 | 10:30-11:15am

Da’Shika A. Street is an Akron, Ohio native, community builder, and serial entrepreneur serving as founder of VineWorks Marketing, BABE Magazine, Project Sew United, Da’Shika Street Décor, and Street Craftery. Mrs. Street’s interest in community advancement through entrepreneurship was first developed while serving as a freelance marketer for newly formed start-ups in the Akron area. Street Craftery, her creative studio in Downtown Akron, and her role as an Ohio Teaching Artist. Da’Shika continues to share her multi-disciplinary artistic skills and experiences to help individuals of all ages and backgrounds materialize their creative aspirations through skill-building workshops, classes, and events.

Power of Writing

Room 220 | 11:30-12:15pm

As a Toni Morrison scholar, Dr. Mobley has published several articles, essays, and book chapters on the Nobel Laureate. Her first book, Folk Roots and Mythic Wings in Sarah Orne Jewett and Toni Morrison: The Cultural Function of Narrative in 1992, one of the first cross-cultural studies on Morrison, received a Toni Morrison Society book prize award. In 2016, she published a spiritual memoir, The Strawberry Room and Other Places Where a Woman Finds Herself (Westbow Press). Geopoetics of Place, Race and Be/longing (Temple UP, 2024) is her latest book.

“Taking Care of You!”

Room 229 | 11:30-12:15pm

Kenneth L. Wilson, Jr., aka Kent Le Mar, has worked with Kent Le Mar Productions, Inc. instructing and creating family entertainment for over two decades. Kenneth has conducted workshops, after-school programs, and summer camps throughout Summit, Stark, and Cuyahoga counties; he is a professional instructor and has worked as a dance studio manager. He is also a skilled vocalist, actor, choreographer, dancer,pianist, director, stage manager, and writer.

“Taking Care of You!”

Room 229 | 11:30-12:15pm

Ava Blu is a multi-genre published author and illustrator, an instructor, and performing artist skilled in acting, spoken word poetry, vocals, storytelling, and dance. Ava Blu embraces the importance of thinking beyond herself and seeing the world past her fingers and toes. She believes an open mind and heart fuel creativity, adventure, and the ability to speak the truth of the wonder in this vast world. Ava Blu and her husband, Kenneth Wilson Jr., aka Kent Le Mar, work their family business, Kent Le Mar Productions, Inc.

Executive Director & Founder of StreetLight Guild

Burton D. Morgan Room | 1:30-2:15pm

Scott Woods is a writer and event organizer in Columbus, Ohio. Woods is the author of Urban Contemporary History Month (2016), We Over Here Now (2013), Prince and Little Weird Black Boy Gods (2017), and Black Night is Falling (2024). He has been featured multiple times in national press, including appearances on National Public Radio. He is the founder of Streetlight Guild, a performing arts non-profit, a 2018 Columbus Foundation Spirit of Columbus Award recipient, as well as the Greater Columbus Arts Council winner of the 2017 Columbus Makes Art Excellence Award for his event series, “Holler: 31 Days of Columbus Black Art". Woods was named the first-ever “Face of Columbus” by Columbus Alive. He is the 2022 winner of the Press Club of Cleveland’s Ohio Excellence in Journalism award for Best in Ohio Essay Writing, and was awarded “Best Columnist in Ohio” in 2023 by the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists. He is the co-founder of the Writers’ Block Poetry Night. In 2020 he won an Ohio Valley Regional Emmy Award for contributions to A House That Cannot Fail. In 2006 became the first poet to ever complete a 24-hour solo poetry reading; a feat he bested seven more times without repeating a single poem.

Founder of JBurgess & Design

Design Showcase Host & Panel Moderator

“Designing the Vision”

Burton D. Morgan Room | 11:30-12:15pm

Jessica Skinner is a self taught wood worker and home decor artist in Akron, Oh. She is passionate about reimagining and designing bold functional furniture, from previously preloved pieces, and home decor through patterning and texture mixing and wood layering.

Growing up she would visit her grandparents in Pensacola, Fl. She often watched her grandpa, James Burgess, create numerous things from scraps of wood. Inspired by his work, Jessica went on to teach herself the trade which serves as a deep connection to her rich heritage.

Jessica began her public artist journey in 2017 as a working artist at Summit Artspace. Her work has since been featured in Bounce House Innovation Hub, Summit County Land Bank offices, local government buildings and on News Channel 5 and PBS Ideastream. She is overjoyed at all of the opportunities that have already come her way and looks forward to what is to come!

Executive Director

NorthHill CDC

Director of Operations

East Ave Market & Gallery

Co-Founder & Chief Catalyst

Art X Love