Creative Strategists
Helen Johnson
Co-founder and Creative Strategist
Executive Director
UT Chattanooga, 1996
BFA in Painting and Drawing
Prior to co-founding CreateHere, Helen spent a dozen years in non-profit and arts administration, building the nationally-ranked 4 Bridges Arts Festival, coordinating innovative museum education programs, as well as designing and launching ArtsMove, which CreateHere now administers.
Helen is a founding member of Take Root, a non-profit that organizes urban tree plantings throughout Chattanooga to double the existing tree canopy. This effort fosters environmental health while inspiring residents to invest in the livelihood of their communities. Additionally, she serves on the board of the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga. Helen is married and is the mother of two gorgeous young children.
Josh McManus
Co-founder and Creative Strategist
Executive Director
Georgia Tech, 2003
BS in Management
Prior to co-founding CreateHere, Josh spent more than 10 years working in resource and organizational development, running a private consulting practice, and launching several for-profits. Josh is extremely active in Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater Chattanooga, and is a founding board member of Crabtree Farms, a non-profit organic urban farm in Chattanooga. He recently championed a public school renovation process called Bring it Together. Josh is a Marshall Memorial Fellowship recipient, and in May of 2009, he also participated in Next American City magazine’s Next American Vanguard Conference, where he had the opportunity to directly address issues facing cities today.
You’ll be able to spot him one of these days—undoubtedly wearing yellow—on the Appalachian Trail. He also hopes to follow the Tennessee River from his home to the Gulf of Mexico via the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Josh gives happily and regularly to CreateHere’s F-Bomb fund, which finds useful outlets—and potential rehabilitation—for Chattanooga’s foul-mouthed residents. He is passionate about domestic animal rescue and his fan section these days includes Bluto, an enormous, rescued Bullmastiff.
Senior Fellows
Jessica Martin
Senior Fellow, Arts
Website Development & Arts Programming
UT Chattanooga, 2007
Painting & Drawing
Jessica likes to spend time with her son, Henry, and is an avid cook, with a particular interest in the inner-workings of the local food economy. She is learning to play the mandolin.
Sheldon Grizzle
Senior Fellow, Economy
SpringBoard Director
Covenant College, 2003
Psychology
Sheldon is passionate about making Chattanooga the best place possible for entrepreneurial endeavors, whether an individual artist or a high-growth technology company. He’s a husband and father to a beautiful little girl. He’s also a co-founder and player on the Chattanooga Football Club.
Christopher Ealy
Senior Fellow, Platform
Payroll, Budgeting, & Forecasting
UT Chattanooga, 2007
Accounting & Finance
Rock climbing is one of Chris’s favorite pastimes. “I owe it all to Chattanooga,” he says.
Veronique Bergeron
Senior Fellow, Platform
Editorial Development
Macalester College, 2007
English & Creative Writing
Veronique is a francophile and would-be poet who has happily called Chattanooga home for over a year. She fiercely defends small pleasures, most notably raucous hollering, accordion music, and foods from far away.
Trey Meyer
Senior Fellow, Arts
MakeWork and ArtsMove Coordinator
UT Chattanooga, 2008
Business Management: Economics Concentration
Trey, a Chattanoogan by birth, lives audaciously outside of CreateHere. Whether it’s practicing Jui Jitsu with his best buds, dabbling in traditional jazz, getting tricky on his wakeboard or testing the entrepreneurial waters, Trey has long-forgotten the definition of boredom.
Katherine Nielsen
Senior Fellow, Culture
Internal Operations & Stand Organizer
The University of the South: Sewanee, 2005
Environmental Policy & Political Science
Katherine is a native of Birmingham, AL and has lived in Chattanooga since graduating from Sewanee in 2005. In her spare time, she tries to stay informed, enjoys exercising her inner pro-tennis player, and keeps from being called irreverent.
Fellows
Casey Yoshida
Platform Fellow
Design and Photography
UT Chattanooga , ETG: 2010
Graphic Design
Casey is an identical twin as well as the son of a racecar driver and a housewife, which makes him a fairly typical Chattanooga native. He loves finding outlets for his aesthetic tendencies, making photographs, and napping (when not awake on creativity and caffeine).
Alison Burke
Culture Fellow
Stand Media Relations
UT Chattanooga, 2009
English & Creative Writing
Alison is a founding member of Young Monster, a local design collective. She is a semi-native Chattanoogan who enjoys sunshine, horror movies, and her Moosewood cookbook.
Bijan Dhanani
Economy Fellow
Administration, Outreach, Stand
University of Colorado, 2009
International Affairs & Political Science
Bijan, a Chattanooga native, is a self-appointed guru of all things aural. He just recently graduated from a self-administered music judgement graduate program. After signing his original diploma with a fuchsia crayon, he is now qualified to decide what music is good and what is not.
Grant Withington
Culture Fellow
Stand Field Organizer
Covenant College, 2008
English
Grant is a musician and filmmaker. He has lived in Chattanooga for over a year, and is originally from Schenectady, NY. He likes all Ocean Spray products and is currently on a Ruby Pomegranate kick.