Kristin Fleischmann Brewer is an artist, educator, curator, and Deputy Director of Counterpublic, a St. Louis-based triennial exhibition reimagining the roles of art in public life. She has worked in the arts for nearly 20 years, including as the Deputy Director, Public Engagement at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, and organizer of several artist-run projects and spaces. A leader in the St. Louis arts community, her expertise includes public art with social and environmental impact, cultural programming with community partnerships, strategic communications, and organizational strategy. Projects have received critical acclaim from the New York Times, Architectural Digest, Art in America, and more. Her curatorial projects include commissions with internationally renowned visual and performance artists, architects, landscape designers, and partnerships with local and national arts, history, civic, and educational organizations. Kristin has an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis and BFA from the University of Denver.

Dr. Robert S. Harvey, a longtime and highly-respected social impact and education leader, is the CEO of the Partnership for Equitable and Resilient Communities (PERC). Before PERC, he was President and Co-CEO of FoodCorps, a national justice organization working at the intersection of health, food, and education systems for the nationʼs 50 million public school students through policy, programming, and philanthropy. Prior to FoodCorps, he was a public schools superintendent, school leader, and an historically-Black college chief operating officer (COO) advancing a place-based approach to strategy, organizational design and management, and community impact. Dr. Harvey is also an author, who has published two books in education and community-systems leadership. He serves on Boards committed to PreK-16 education, economic development, and health equity, including Affinia Healthcare and the St. Louis Public Schools Foundation.

Patty Heyda is professor of urban design and architecture at Washington University in St. Louis. Her interdisciplinary research explores design politics and American cities with a focus on mapping and uneven development in weak market contexts and older U.S. suburbs. She is the author of Radical Atlas of Ferguson, USA (Belt, 2024) and coauthor with David Gamble (MIT) of Rebuilding the American City (Routledge, 2016) and Rebuilding the American Town (Routledge, 2024). Heyda holds a Master of Architecture with Distinction from Harvard University, where she has also previously taught. In 2022, Heyda was awarded the APA St. Louis Dwight F. Davis Award for Outstanding Planning Advocacy.

Maxi Glamour is a multidisciplinary artist and social theorist blending absurdism, high fantasy, and intersectional liberation. They challenge systemic oppression through drag, music, and activism with wit, whimsy, and wonder. Their genre-spanning sound fuses electronica, folk, trap, and post-hardcore, captivating audiences for over 16 years. Beyond performance, Maxi is a community organizer in St. Louis, advocating for systems change work and electoral justice. Their philosophical research explores justice, language, Queer theory, ecofeminism, and decolonial thought. 

Bomin Kim is an urban designer and researcher working at the intersection of spatial data, social equity, and the built environment. She is the founder of Urban Matter, a consulting and research practice, and a lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis. Her work focuses on data-informed approaches to social sustainability, drawing on urban informatics and geospatial analysis to examine how urban environments shape social cohesion, public health, and resilience—particularly in communities affected by structural inequity. Before joining Washington University, she worked at Sasaki Associates as a designer specializing in climate-responsive and sustainable design. Her recent projects have been supported by the Mellon Foundation, Novo Nordisk, and the City of Los Angeles. She holds a doctorate in Sustainable Urbanism from Washington University and a graduate degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Reverend Charles Norris serves as the Senior Pastor of the historic St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church in St. Louis, Missouri, a congregation with over 140 years of faithful service. A dynamic preacher, community leader, and visionary organizer, Pastor Norris has built on the strong foundation of the church to deepen its spiritual impact and broaden its role as a beacon of hope and service in North St. Louis. With a longstanding commitment to both faith and justice, Pastor Norris is known for his biblically grounded preaching, steeped in the rich traditions of the African American church, and for creating innovative programs that respond to the pressing needs of the community. His leadership has expanded the church's outreach in areas such as disaster relief, economic empowerment, intergenerational ministry, and civic engagement. Pastor Norris currently serves on the Community Voices Advisory Board for Ameren, the Engaged City Initiative, and as a Liaison for the Ville Cultural Boulevard, a role in which he helps amplify the legacy and potential of one of St. Louis' most storied neighborhoods. An advocate for education, equity, and restorative community development, Pastor Norris continues to be a trusted voice and resource throughout the city and the broader faith.

Miranda is an archivist, historian and educator, currently working as Curator of Local History collections at Washington University Libraries. She is a member of the Association of St. Louis Area Archivists, and co-director of the Mapping LGBTQ St. Louis history project. 

Peter Tao is an architect by profession and founder of TAO + LEE Architects. He has been recognized as a Community Leader, Organizer, Connector, Mentor and Lecturer-Story Teller. He currently serves on the steering committee of the St. Louis Mosaic Project and is board president of OCA Advocates St. Louis, an AANHPI Advocacy-Civil Rights non-profit. Peter also currently serves as Chair of the Chinese American Advisory Group for the Missouri Historical Society’s Chinese American History Initiative.

Damon Davis (b. 1985) is a post-disciplinary artist based in St. Louis, Missouri. In a practice that is part therapy, part social commentary, his work spans across a spectrum of creative mediums to tell stories exploring how identity is informed by power and mythology. He is well known for his solo exhibition, Darker Gods in The Garden of The Low Hanging Heavens, which premiered in St. Louis in 2018 and went to Art Basel Miami later that year. The exhibit explored the surrealist manifestations of Black culture by constructing new mythologies in response to tropes of Blackness. In 2010, Davis founded music collective and label, FarFetched. Filmmaker Magazine selected him and Sabaah Folayan as part of the “25 New Faces of Independent Film 2016” for their work co-directing the critically acclaimed documentary Whose Streets? chronicling the Ferguson uprising of 2014. In 2020, critic Ben Davis cited his project All Hands on Deck, which captured the hands of people who shaped and upheld the Ferguson movement, as one of the “100 Works of Art That Defined the Decade.” Davis is a Fellow of Firelight Media, Sundance Labs, TED, and the Kennedy Center.

Kaveh Razani joined API in 2019 right after its founding as the first Director; he currently serves as Co-Director. For the last four years, Kaveh has overseen API’s operations and has been the project manager for home construction and sales. He has helped build many of API’s strategic partnerships, where his current work is focused. In addition to his work with API, Kaveh is the co-founder and operator of the community arts venue Blank Space on Cherokee Street and has played an active role in the management of the Cherokee Street Community Improvement District Board of Directors, where he currently serves as Vice-Chairperson. He has co-founded several businesses in South City, among which is a collectively-owned commercial real estate company focused on incubating neighborhood-based small businesses. Kaveh is a faculty co-lead of the Regional Arts Commission’s Community Arts Training Institute and is a graduate of its TIGER program.

Meredith Lehman previously served as the Head of Museum Education at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis, where she led inclusive and interdisciplinary educational programming that emphasized critical thinking, cultural engagement, and accessibility. During her time at Kemper, she was awarded the 2021 IDEA Award by the Arts and Culture Accessibility Cooperative for her leadership in reimagining educator training to address race, identity, and structural injustice. She also expanded the museum’s accessibility offerings by implementing American Sign Language tours and partnering with community-centered initiatives like the Deaf Visual Arts Festival. Now, Meredith serves as a curator at the Saint Louis Art Museum, where she continues her commitment to equity-focused practices and public engagement through thoughtful exhibition development and interpretive work.

Ila Sheren is Associate Professor of Art History and Archaeology​ at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research focuses on questions of borders and decolonial theory, whether in the case of the U.S. frontera, environmental crisis in the Global South, or the performative nature of political protest. She teaches courses in new media, activist art, and alternative art practices, as well as surveys of modern and contemporary art.