Volume 38

Bar open from 6:30 - 11 PM (with lots of great N/A options!)

Show 7:30

The Mule @ Devil’s Foot
131 Sweeten Creek Rd

No food truck tonight. Feel free to bring your own food or do DoorDash/Uber Eats/etc. to the venue.

Presenters

Karin Heiman

Karin was born with a curiosity & fascination with nature which she translated into her career. Her environmental impact work ties into nearly every federal and state agency (including state DOT, USDA, National Park Service, US Forest Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service, National Institute of Health, EPA, US Army, state Natural Heritage Programs, and numerous universities, land trusts, engineering firms, and of course lichens. She has also spent many years in conservation work with non-profit land trusts focusing on protecting land forever. When she stumbled upon lichens in college, she was blown away by how fascinating they are and has been captivated ever since (including that she will soon have a genus named after her). She has been struck by lightening, hitch-hiked all over, was kidnapped, has been thrown off of horses, and she’s still here so far.

Anne Chesky

Anne Chesky has published several local history books, including Murder at Asheville’s Battery Park Hotel: The Search for Helen Clevenger’s Killer, which was a finalist for the 2022 Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award. She grew up in Asheville and has worked in local museums in Buncombe County since 2010.

Dave Love

Dave Love is a Research Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and lives in  Asheville, NC. His research focuses on environmental health and sustainable food systems.

Brett McCall

Brett is a connector, culture crafter, and creative strategist who designs immersive experiences that spark transformation, insight, and belonging.
As founder of Better Than Unicorns, Brett has led award-winning VR-powered summits, coached TEDx speakers, and hosted community salons that reimagine learning as a participatory act.
Brett’s work lives at the intersection of story, play, and strategy. He’s a keeper of dialogue, a magician of meaning, and a systems thinker in disguise…blending technology, story, and heart to help people and organizations awaken their weirdest, most wonderful selves. In his world, neurodiversity is a superpower, wonder is a leadership tool, and culture is something we co-create through brave questions and better games. He believes the future belongs to the curious, the misfits, the edge-walkers…and he’s here to make sure we don’t lose the map on our way there.

Sydney Cole

Sydney is the Resource Development Manager at United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County, where she stewards philanthropic interests with advocacy-oriented and mission-forward impact areas that work to co-create resiliency and care in the Asheville-Buncombe County community. In addition to her nonprofit experience, she was also an ESL teacher, and during her postbaccalaureate studies, she was a student research assistant in the foreign languages department at Qingdao University in Qingdao, China. In her free time, Sydney pursues her hobbies such as reading, studying languages, creating art, playing video games, and getting into medieval shenanigans on the weekends with her husband. She is an alumna of UNC Asheville and loves the mountains and communities of WNC.

Molly Milroy

Molly Milroy is a photographer, communications professional, storyteller, & hospitality enthusiast based in Asheville. Her career spans hospitality, travel, wellness, nonprofits, restaurants, and international nonprofit work, but the common thread is connection—between people, places, and the stories that bring them together.

She now oversees regional marketing and social media for McKibbon Hospitality, elevating the guest experience by capturing and sharing the distinct character of each hotel. Previously, she served as Communications Director for Chai Pani Restaurant Group and spent years in global nonprofit work, coordinating medical programs across Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America for Operation Smile, and working with former child soldiers in Uganda for Invisible Children.

Molly is a graduate of Appalachian State University in International Public Relations.

David Novak

David Novak is an internationally touring storyteller and veteran of the National Storytelling Festival. His experience as a performing and teaching artist includes Master Storyteller for The Disney Company, The Lincoln Center Institute, L.A. Music Center, the Singapore International StoryFest, Czech Children’s Theatre Festival, Sydney International Storytelling Conference, and international schools throughout China. David is recipient of the Circle of Excellence for storytelling, and the Aurand Harris Memorial Playwrighting Award for excellence in theatre for children. He is an A+ Fellow for the NC Arts Council and a Wolf Trap Teaching Artist. David is Artistic Director of A Telling Experience, telling stories to enrich discourse, entertain imagination, engage emotion, and discover our common ground. David lives in Asheville, North Carolina.