Our Leadership

RUX is a values-based organization that uses a distributed leadership approach to movement building.

Staff

Savannah Barrett

Co-Founder, Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange (RUX)

Exchange Director, Art of the Rural

Savannah Barrett co-founder of the Kentucky Rural-Urban Exchange. She is the Exchange Director of Art of the Rural, and she serves the board of the Center for Performance and Civic Practice, the Art of Community: Rural SC, and the Robert E. Gard Foundation. She has widely published essays and interviews. She holds a Masters of Arts Management from the University of Oregon, and is an alumnus of the Muhammad Ali Scholars for Peace and Justice at the University of Louisville and from the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts. She previously guided programs for the Center for Community Arts and Cultural Policy, the Louisville Visual Art Association, the Oregon Folklife Network, and Paul Paletti Gallery. Savannah is a twelfth-generation Kentuckian and was raised in Grayson Springs, where she co-founded a local arts agency in high school. She is a proud steward of six acres of her homeplace and currently lives in Louisville.

Maggie Goodman

Network Manager

Maggie Goodman is an educator, writer, and, when she's hydrated and rested, a decent hype woman. Born and raised in Fulton County, KY, Maggie is proud to be the daughter of a teacher and a farmer. She is a graduate of Rhodes College and her professional career has included work with the Museum of Science and Industry-Chicago, Kaplan, the University of Tennessee, UCBNY, and the Second City.

Grace Rogers

Communications & Development Coordinator

Grace Rogers is a musician and writer from Bath County, KY. She was reared in the eastern Kentucky traditional music community and has been writing songs and playing music since childhood. Her practice is rooted in the belief that artistic expression and engagement with tradition fortify personal and civic health. Grace was the 2022-2023 Charlie Whitaker Memorial Apprentice under east Kentucky banjo player John Haywood and a 2023-2024 archival fellow at the Berea College studying the traditional music of Magoffin County, KY. She has served as a music and poetry educator at various organizations including the Louisville Folk School, Cowan Creek Mountain Music School, and the Louisville Free Public Library and she currently serves as the Cultural Arts Coordinator for the Cowan Community Center, and newly, the Communications & Development Coordinator for KY RUX. She currently resides in Louisville, KY.