GIS Day 2022

Andrew McKinney is the Data Officer and Senior IT Manager for the Office of Civic Innovation and Technology (CIT) at Louisville Metro Government (LMG). As Data Officer, he manages the city’s efforts on Data Governance and their Open Data Portal. As Senior IT Manager, he leads the Enterprise Data Engineering and Analytics team which focuses on data, analytics, and GIS. Prior to this role he spent his career working in various disciplines of GIS, most recently as the GIS Coordinator at LMG. Andrew holds a B.S. in Applied Geography with a concentration in GIS from the University of Louisville and an Associates of Travel and Tourism from Sullivan University. He has been a Kentucky Association of Mapping Professional’s (KAMP) Member since 2011. He has served on the KAMP Executive Board as a Director, President, and Program Committee Chair for the Annual KAMP Conference for many years.

Ashley Hitt, GISP

Vice President, GeoAnalytics

Connected Nation, Inc.

Ashley Hitt is the Vice President of GeoAnalytics at Connected Nation, a national leader in broadband expansion programs. She oversees operations, project execution, and strategic planning for the GeoAnalytics team and is responsible for developing strategies using GIS to provide data visualization solutions that impact policy, economic development, and the Digital Divide. She is a certified GISP and holds a bachelor of science in geography and a master of science in geoscience from Western Kentucky University. She is URISA President for 2022-23.

Ashley Patterson

Senior Geospatial Technician

Connected Nation, Inc.

Ashley Patterson is a Senior Geospatial Technician at Connected Nation. She is responsible for processing and analyzing a wide variety of spatial data related to broadband service areas and demographic information and assists in preparing data for further analysis by the GeoAnalytics team and data to be used for field validation activities. She holds a bachelor of science in GIS from the University of Louisville. She was recently elected President-Elect for the Kentucky Association of Mapping Professionals to begin her term as KAMP President in January 2024.

Shannon P. Bartlett

Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, The National Geographic Society

As chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer at the National Geographic Society, Shannon P. Bartlett oversees the organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts and helps cultivate an environment where people of every race, identity, experience, and ability have a role in its mission-driven work.

She works in partnership with the Society’s staff-led DEI Council and Steering Committee, and serves as an adviser to teams across the organization to ensure our DEI principles are embedded in all aspects of our work.

Bartlett joined the Society from the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law where she served as associate dean of inclusion & engagement and was an instructor. In this role, she led and managed the school’s inclusion and engagement activities as well as advanced diversity and inclusion in support of the school’s values and priorities.

Bartlett previously served in a number of roles at higher education institutions, including as dean of students at the University of Chicago Law School. Prior to entering academic administration, Bartlett practiced complex civil litigation at Jenner & Block and Valorem Law Group, and served as a legal fellow at the ACLU.

Bartlett’s primary areas of interest center on the unconscious ways diversity and culture impact our everyday decision-making and interactions, as well as how to effectively balance the goal of inclusion with the development of an intellectually diverse community.

Bartlett received her J.D. from the DePaul University School of Law, her M.A. degree in jurisprudence and social policy from the University of California at Berkeley, and her B.A degree in psychology from Washington University in St. Louis.

Whitney Aragaki (she/her) supports students to learn through a lens of abundance that honors place, people, and cultures. Her teaching focuses on conversations, practices, and systems that sustain the intimate interrelationship of public education, community, and environment. Returning to serve her high school alma mater, Aragaki teaches biology and environmental science at Waiākea High School in Hilo, Hawai‘i. Aragaki is the 2022 Hawaiʻi State Teacher of the Year and National Teacher of the Year Finalist. As a 2892 storyteller, Aragaki enters the conversation as a K-12 classroom teacher and a biologist who explores the tensions that arise when science research aims to correct rather than appreciate.

Melodie Graves earned her Associate’s Degree from Amarillo College and her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from West Texas A&M University, both in Communication. Melodie has worked in higher education for more than 13 years because she truly feels that the only way to grow is to be educated. Melodie stays extremely busy serving on 9 different boards. She is the 2nd Vice President of the Amarillo Branch NAACP, the President of North Heights Advisory Association, and was selected to the Board of Directors for Opportunity School. Melodie also serves on the Board for the Leaders Readers Network and a board member for the Friends of the Library. Melodie is the President of the Amarillo United Citizens Forum Board, serves on the Rezoning Committee for the North Heights Neighborhood Plan, and is a member of Junior League Amarillo/Canyon. Melodie is part of the 2021/2022 Leadership Amarillo/Canyon and serves on the United Way Amarillo/Canyon Diversity Committee. Recently, Melodie traveled to Texas State University where she gave her first  TedX Talk  on the Power of the Amplified Voice. Lastly, Melodie was awarded the 2021 Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of the Texas Panhandle.

Lance G. Newman II, director of SpreadLovEnterprise (c)2013, is a multidisciplinary artist. He teaches creative writing and public speaking in various educational contexts; hosts poetry slams, open mics and showcases; creates visual art pieces using recycled materials; and he has written various poetry operas and plays. He uses these disciplines to uplift and inspire his community. Lance has a very “Google-able” resume. The first two pages are glowing with exploits he has accomplished over 16 years of creating out of Louisville, KY. Lance has lived and worked in Louisville’s West End for years and seldom sees this self-titled “Compassionate City.”  Lance considers the contradictions of this phrase that play out in his daily experiences and takes us along his daily route, illuminating the history and complexity of the land, the people, and the injustices therein. Join Lance’s effort to “Spread Love” by following his ongoing work  here .

Kristi Orisabiyi Williams is a 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre descendant and Creek Freedmen descendant. Kristi has served the Greenwood and North Tulsa communities for over 10 years through concrete roots organizing to grassroots connections. Kristi is an author, program manager for Fitting Back In, consultant for Standpipe Hill Strategies, and one of six Tulsans serving as a Wayfinder on National Geographic’s 2892 Miles to Go Geographic Walk for Justice. She currently serves as chair of the city of Tulsa’s Greater Tulsa African American Affairs Commission, committee member of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Mass Graves Oversight Committee, founding board member of the Black Wall Street Chamber of Commerce, and campaign manager for Tulsa City Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper. She has also participated in movies and documentaries such as Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America, LeBron James’ Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street, PBS’s Tulsa: The Fire and the Forgotten, and other films sharing the history of Greenwood, Black Wall Street, and Creek Freedmen. Kristi’s motto is, “Don’t worry about changing people. Just use the power of your story and the power in your hands and feet to build your community better than you found it—that’s how you make change!”