Print products have been a staple of publishing since its beginnings. In the last decade, ebooks have also become ubiquitous. But what other options exist for our content? Speakers at this month’s luncheon will discuss the fascinating new platforms they’ve created to collect and share content, frequently from people not traditionally represented in the mainstream publishing industry. Listen to the inspiring stories of how three local platforms came into being, and learn about the challenges and opportunities that come from starting a new creative content venture.

Panelists

Roger Cummings is a founding principal of Juxtaposition Arts (JXTA), a community-based visual art and design social enterprise that centers mentor/apprenticeship and engages community members in inner-city Minneapolis, and a lead designer of Storymobile, a moveable space that invites people to share, display, and preserve the stories that matter to them. Roger explores new ways to create relationships between people and place through art, design, entrepreneurship, and collective self-determination. His work utilizes and pushes the direction of urban visual expression and places great value on creating works of art in public and private spaces that have personal and impersonal uses and provide meaningful interactions for people.

Mondo Davison, most notably known as “The Black Tech Guy,” is on a mission to inspire a generation of black males to pursue a life in tech. He believes branding The Black Tech Guy as a trailblazing figure in the tech space will lead to a more compelling “Plan A” than rapper, trapper, or athlete. An educator turned entrepreneur, Mondo is the co-founder of TEAM Ventures, a startup studio with a heavy focus on Ed Tech. One startup, Shortiez, is a digital library of original short stories written and illustrated by POC, increasing diversity and representation in K–8 classrooms. In 2016, Mondo was recognized as Most Likely to Succeed in 2017 by Minnesota Business Magazine and also recognized as one of the hardest-working entrepreneurs in a February issue of the same magazine.

Lizzie Ehrenhalt is an editor and public historian based in St. Paul. With Tilly Laskey, she is a co-editor of Precious and Adored: The Love Letters of Rose Cleveland and Evangeline Simpson Whipple, 1890–1918 (Minnesota Historical Society Press, April 2019). As the editor of MNopedia, a digital encyclopedia of Minnesota history, she has developed more than 500 articles since 2013. She has a master’s degree in archives and records management from the University of Michigan; a master’s certificate in museum studies from the University of Michigan; and a bachelor’s degree in gender studies and Latin from Oberlin College.