By Marci Ovadia, Senior Program Associate for Equity and Communications
Exploring Inclusive Prosperity in Louisville: Innovation, Systemic Change, and Funders’ Roles at the OIC Annual Meeting
Register Now!
May 23-24, 2018 | Louisville, Ky.
A resurgent post-industrial city that has become both a destination for the bluegrass-meets-craft bourbon crowd and an increasingly diversified economic hub, Louisville, Kentucky, is taking charge of both its future and its history in surprising ways. Recent media attention has focused on Louisville’s public commitment to creating a civic culture founded around the value and practice of compassion. Less apparent are the steps the city has taken to meld economic competitiveness goals with an agenda of economic inclusion. This conference will explore how innovations in Louisville’s metro government—often supported and even catalyzed by the philanthropic sector—are addressing systemic racial and other inequities in the city, and are leading to strategies that intentionally connect historically excluded neighborhoods and geographic communities to economic growth and opportunity.
A draft agenda will be available soon. Stay tuned for more details.
5 Fun Facts About Louisville
L
ouisville Knows Bourbon
95% of the world’s bourbon is produced in Kentucky!
You can learn more about this Kentucky spirit touring the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Or, if you want to stay in Louisville city limits, check out the Urban Bourbon Trail
Disco is Stayin’ Alive in Louisville
Disco balls reign in this town. 90% of the disco balls in the USA are produced in Louisville by National Products on Baxter Ave.
Louisvillians Love Their Southern Belle
The oldest operating Mississippi-style steamboat in Louisville, the Belle of Louisville, is over 100 years old! Belle has been a National Historic Landmark since 1989, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. She moved around the country a bit before calling Louisville home and you can still cruise the Ohio River on this lovely historical boat.
Fireworks Are Serious Business
Louisville has the largest annual pyrotechnics show in the country aside from Independence Day. The launch of Kentucky Derby season comes in with a bang. Each year, people from all over flock to the Ohio River for Thunder Over Louisville, a pyrotechnic display involving 60 tons of firework shells.
The Mega Cavern is a Reclaimed Limestone Quarry
You’ve probably heard of the Louisville Zoo, but do you know that most of the zoo sits on top of the Louisville Mega Cavern? It’s a man-made cavern, originally a limestone quarry, and has been open to tourists since 2009. For the adventurous there are zip line tours, an underground bike park with over 320,000 square feet of trails (the only underground bike park in the world), an aerial ropes challenge course and, for the history buffs, there are historic tram tours.
Reserve Your Room Now!
The Funders’ Network has reserved a block of rooms at the historic Brown Hotel in Louisville, Ky. There is a discounted room rate of $189 per night for attendees. To book your hotel room, call the hotel toll free at 502-209-7346. When calling to book your reservation, reference the Funders’ Network group block.
The meeting will begin at 12 p.m. on May 23 and end at 2 p.m. on May 24.
Limited space will be available to attend the annual meeting of the Federal Reserve-Philanthropy Initiative, which will take place from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on May 23 at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Louisville Branch.
An agenda will be circulated closer to the meeting date.