Josh fell in love with artfully crafted beer and the fantastic community that supports it when he was living in Boulder, CO in the early 2000’s. He moved to Austin in 2005 to pursue a career in triathlon and running specialty retail. He eventually helped to open the city’s most successful running retail store. After searching for beer sponsors all over the state with no success, Hare opened his own brewery, focused on the highest quality products and marketing them to an active city loyal to locally produced goods. Since 2011 he has been overseeing the day to day operations of the brewery from recipe & product development to quality management.
The Austin Chronicle is an independent, locally owned and operated alternative newsweekly that reflects the heart and soul of Austin, Texas.
DO512 Do awesome stuff in Austin.
Hops & Grain Craft Brewery in Austin Texas, where we love to make beer and we love the beer we make. We’re living one day at a time, living with a passion for our craft and a passion for sustainability, living the dream.
KUTX 98.9 is your Austin Music Experience, and we’ve unveiled a program schedule featuring the music and hosts you’ve enjoyed on KUT, as well as new music programming.
IImpact Hub Austin is a global coworking community that offers shared workspace, events and programming connecting Austinites to a movement for good.
Snap Kitchen is dedicated to bringing our customers flavorful, handcrafted food that supports our commitment to local, organic ingredients and healthy cooking.
TWYLA You don’t need to know anything about art to love art - even though some places make you feel that way. At Twyla, we make it possible for everyone to directly access exclusive artwork from the most talked about artists in the game.
Anastasia, formerly known as "Anya", is an Austin-based rap artist and vocalist. In the six years since her debut project (Pretty Color Bad News - 2011), Anastasia has worked to design and define her own niche within modern music, releasing several well -received projects (The Unkind Summer - 2012; Kale & Yoga - 2016; Born To Love You - 2017), earning the recognition and respect of media publications and listeners worldwide, and launching non-profit organization CAKE to empower women and girls through music (cakeofficial.com).
Highlights include performances at "Sound on Sound Fest", headlining "Mayfest 2016" Hollins Women's University (Roanoke, VA) and opening spots for Scarface, Azizi Gibson, dead prez, GZA, Astonautilis, Fat Tony, and more.
With her latest release, "Born To Love You," Anastasia has established a creative new sound, blending thoughtful lyrics with rich harmonies and raw energy.
Amber Atkins is a Lead Design Strategist at IBM Design for Services where her team delivers on delightful experiences for clients who are curious about becoming a design lead entity and breaking free from "business as usual". For almost 10 years, she has helped build communities for creative education and design as the Vice President of Education and Mentorship for AIGA Colorado and now in her role on the AIGA Austin board. Amber believes in the power of what a diverse group of humans can do when they challenge one another to think - and then do.
Leslie Moody Castro is an independent curator and writer living and working in Mexico and Texas and has organized and collaborated on exhibitions in both places for more than a decade. In 2017 Leslie Moody Castro has accepted the role of Curator and Artistic Director of the Texas Biennial, a geographically-focused, independent survey of contemporary art in Texas. Aside from her curatorial projects, Moody Castro is also a regular contributor for Artforum, Flash Art International, Frieze, ArtNews, and ArtCritical. Moody Castro earned a Master's degree at The University of Texas at Austin in Museum Education with a portfolio supplement in Museum Studies in 2010, and a Bachelor's degree in Art History at DePaul University in Chicago in 2004.
Photo By: Phil Kline
Having grown up knowing how important my grandfather was to the Belgian and Texan craft beer industries — his old Celis brewery, opened in 1992, was Austin’s first brewery in almost 100 years — and when he passed away in 2011, I was looking for a direction and decided I wanted to fulfill a passion that my grandfather expressed so vividly. After helping my mother, Christine Celis, launch her Gypsy series I felt I was ready to explore my curiosity of beer and moved to Buffalo, New York to intern at Old First Ward Brewpub for a year. To gain further experience, I started working as a brewer at Uncle Billy’s Smokehouse & Brewery, where I worked in an environment that not only taught me the aspects of brewing for a brewpub but helped me develop my brewing knowledge for the distribution side of the business. During this time I became a member of the Pink Boots Society, which taught me a lot about female empowerment in the beer industry. In 2017 I started working at the new Celis Brewery where I plan to continue my Pierres' legacy and re-establish the Celis name in the craft beer world.
Feral the Earthworm is a 23 year old nature loving extremist from Texas who loves art more than he loves himself. Operating somewhere between hip hop and poetry his music often depicts incredibly honest first hand accounts from his experiences. Feral recently bought a camper van and built it out with solar panels, a kitchen, small studio space, and bed. He leaves this July to live on the road and tour full time.
Douglas Ferguson brings 17 years of product development experience and a passion for creating delightful user experiences to his role as VP of engineering at Twyla. Prior to Twyla, Ferguson was CTO of Famigo, a company that provides a directory of child- and family-friendly applications for mobile. He has also previously held leadership roles at BuzzStream, Escalation Point, Story Stores and Coremetrics, an IBM Company. Douglas is active in the Austin startup community where he serves on the board of non-profits and as a software mentor and is an advisor to several early stage ventures. Ferguson spends his free time patching up his modular synthesizer, playing guitar and taking photographs. He graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Michael Graham is a co-Founder of Austin Beerworks. He oversees the brewery's sales and marketing efforts, as well as production scheduling and governmental compliance. Basically, he spends a lot of time on the computer. Born and raised in Austin, Michael moved to Boulder to study geology at the University of Colorado. He doesn't use his degree, but credits his time there for sparking his passion for beer. Michael is happy to be back in his hometown with his wife and two future brewers.
For more than 17 years, Nicole has worked with local, national, and international media to grow audiences for visual arts organizations. Since 2014, she has been building local, national, and international awareness for The Contemporary Austin, including exhibitions and programs at two distinct museum locations (The Jones Center, a traditional museum space downtown, and Laguna Gloria, a 14-acre art-in-nature experience that includes the Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park and a thriving Art School), a vibrant Museum Without Walls program that brings contemporary art to the public in unexpected ways and venues, and an ambitious mission to reflect the spectrum of contemporary art through exhibitions, commissions, education, and the collection. Before coming to The Contemporary, Nicole managed public relations for the Seattle Art Museum and PR and marketing for Austin’s Blanton Museum of Art.
Chris is Head of Media & PR for NLand Surf Park, the first surf park in North America. Chris has enjoyed a diverse and squiggly career spanning multiple disciplines. Before coming to Austin in 2015, Chris was a white-collar defense attorney at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, where he represented financial institutions and Fortune100 companies in white-collar criminal and securities enforcement actions. He’s also advised the Haitian government and international NGOs on matters such as judicial reform and media regulation. Prior to his work as an attorney, Chris worked as a journalist covering government and politics, including the 2008 Iowa Caucus and general election. He received a BA from BYU and a JD from Duke University. An outdoor enthusiast, Chris loves chasing waves and powder, depending on the season.
Tressie is making healthy, handmade meals the next big thing in her role as Chief Marketing Officer at Snap Kitchen, where she joined in 2016 to take the start-up brand to the next level. She is responsible for rapid menu innovation, leading a world class culinary and dietitian collaboration to create share-worthy dishes. The team develops on trend meals that ignite conversation with marketing incorporated into the thinking for menu design on day one. The team is creating campaigns that captivate the brand loyalists and drive trial with future fans across retail, delivery and wholesale channels. Tressie is extremely passionate about empathizing with customer needs, connecting to culture, defining the brand voice, challenging the status quo, and developing others.
As one-half of Austin's three-peat 'Band of the Year,' (RAS) Riders Against the Storm, and co-founder Body Rock ATX, one of Austin's largest monthly dance parties, Jonathan 'Chaka' Mahone knows how to move a crowd. Knowing that it's truly 'bigger than hip hop' though, Mahone also has a strong background in youth empowerment/education through arts, currently serving as an Educational/Curriculum Consultant with various non-profit arts organizations. In 2013, Mahone became a co-founder of Divine and Conjure Enterprises, LLC, a production company with a focus on empowering audiences through creative events, films, music, and more.
The Dallas, Texas, native and founder of Human Influence
released his debut single "All Vibes Matter" in September of 2016 to public acclaim. "I am an advocate of balance. With so many disparaging messages in today's culture, I just want to help people make better decisions through my music," Omenihu says.
Courage aside, Omenihu's knack for authenticity creates an unbreakable bond between him and his audience. Following the September 2016 release of his music, Omenihu has given the city of Austin numerous breathtaking performances from hip-hop stomping grounds such as Spiderhouse, and most recently, at the world-famous Mohawk Austin.
Haley Robison is the Chief Executive Officer at Kammok, an outdoor gear company based in Austin, Texas. Prior to joining the Kammok team, Haley worked as a curriculum designer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she designed and implemented “Career Design,” a new career methodology to help incoming MBAs assess their personal and professional priorities. She also spent three years as a consultant at Bain & Company, a global management consulting firm, advising clients on a wide range of strategic issues. An outdoor enthusiast, Haley completed the three-month National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) in 2011 and has also led climbing and backpacking expeditions focused on personal leadership for high school students. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business and Finance from the University of Texas at Austin and a joint master’s degree in Business Administration and Education from Stanford University.
(RAS) Riders Against the Storm is a musical movement in Austin, TX that can only be described as 'historic.' As recent recipients of 'Band of the Year' honors at the 2014 and 2015 Austin Music Awards, Chaka and Qi Dada (husband and wife) represent a significant first in the 'Live Music Capital.' Over the past 32 years, hip hop has never received the top honor at the annual awards show. Winning the title twice in a row is an accomplishment shared by only a handful of bands, including: Spoon, and Los Lonely Boys.
Ariel Saldivar is the vice president of artist relations at Twyla, where she oversees curation, art fairs and unique artist activations. Prior to Twyla, she was the vice president of creative capital at Headington Companies, providing the creative direction for the Joule Hotel and retail spaces TenOverSix and Forty Five Ten in Dallas. Saldivar founded and served as the executive director of ArtPrize Dallas, an international art competition and was also the associate director of The Goss-Michael Foundation (founded by the late George Michael and Kenny Goss), one of the leading contemporary British art collections in the United States. She currently serves on the SXSW Art Advisory Board in Austin and the Oak Cliff Foundation in Dallas.
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Ryan Spencer graduated from Texas State University - San Marcos in December 2009 where he received his BS in Water Studies with a minor in Geology. He continued his education at Texas State University and in December of 2013 graduated with a Masters of Applied Geography in Geographic Information Systems.
Ryan is currently working as the Manager of the Children in Nature Collaborative of Austin. In this capacity he helps bring awareness, resources, and people together to help solve the children in nature issue in Austin, Texas.
Cam Turney, better known as Cam The Tastemaker, has quickly become one of the most sought out influencers across the country. By aptly using social media and personal relationships to discover and launch new artists, events and brands, the self-proclaimed ‘#1 Tastemaker’ garnered his mass experience – with both brands and youth alike – by his profound ways of "Making IT happen". Cam's network partnered with his contagious enthusiasm and influence is what helped him transcend from the local and regional realm to the national spotlight. Whether he’s leading his own branding/marketing, curating mind blowing concerts, giving you an exclusive look at events like SXSW, managing up-and-coming artists with Indie Culture Artist Development, pop up interviews with celebrities for his #KeepYourHighFives podcast, or launching his own Tastemaker Radio on WBMP Radio, Cam The Tastemaker is nothing short of a force to be reckoned with.
NOOK Turner took the world by storm with inspiring, poignantly crafted, bold lyrics and an energetic performance style that captivated many audiences throughout the nation! He creates "movement music" that touches all aspects of life! As to date, NOOK Turner is a very accomplished artist on the Texas music scene. His club single "I'm On It" that featured platinum artists Ying Yang Twins did great numbers garnering major deal offers and world wide notoriety. He is an artist whose passion for greatness for himself and his community fires everything he does. He speaks truthfully and wittily about his view of life in a way that all who hear it feel it. He has been mentioned in Billboard Magazine and named “Top 25 under 25 in America” by the Future 500 Magazine. He has also produced collaborations with Texas legend DJ Michael Watts of Swisha House, Chalie Boy, & Kstylis to name a few. Paying homage to his hero Nat Turner and his mentor the late Dorothy Turner, NOOK Turner is here specifically for those who love music with substance and true passion. He has a great future in front of him that's driven by his vision of becoming hip hop's new "Commander in Chief"
Caroline Wallace turned her passion for craft beer into a career in 2015 when she began working for the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, an organization which exists for the purpose of promoting Texas craft beer, educating the public about the qualities and attributes of craft beer and advancing the common interest of Texas craft brewers. As the Events Manager, she has had a hand in planning one of the state's largest beer events, the Texas Craft Brewers Festival, as well as the guild's industry conferences, meetings, and legislative events.
Wallace also serves as Co-Leader for the Austin Chapter of Pink Boots Society, a non-profit association which aims to assist, inspire, and encourage women beer professionals through education. Prior to her work for the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, Wallace's background involved writing about beer nearly as often as drinking it. She helped found the all women-run craft beer website www.bitchbeer.org in 2012 before going on to co-author both Austin Beer: Capitol City History on Tap (2013) and the new book, Trappist Beer Travels: Inside the Breweries of the Monasteries, which hits bookstore shelves this month.
General Assembly (GA) is a global educational company. Focusing on the most relevant and in demand skills across data, design, business and technology, General Assembly is empowering a global community to pursue work they love through best-in-class instruction and access to opportunities. GA works with students online and in person across 15 campuses around the world and thousands of companies as partners in course development and graduate placement as well as through GA’s corporate training and development business. Additionally, GA’s focus on affordable and accessible education combined with our education-to-employment approach is helping to create a diverse talent pipeline.
