Philip Morris has volunteered on many design committees in Birmingham and believes design should be an important part of the city's culture. He is personally funding the first three years of the Birmingham Architecture & Design Collection at the Birmingham Public Library to organize materials documenting the city's architectural past. The collection will provide a new way for the library to serve the public by making information about design easy to access.

1. 70 | Birmingham | jan 14 jan 14 | Birmingham | 71
GROUND
Philip Morris’ figurative fingerprints
cover Birmingham. As executive editor of
Southern Living from 1976 to 1991 and an
editor-at-large with Southern Progress
Corporation until 2000, Morris was able
to research and report on design issues
throughout the south. In his retirement, he’s
volunteered on the design committees of
such projects as Vulcan Park and Museum’s
renovation, Railroad Park, Red Mountain
Park, Operation New Birmingham, Mountain
Brook villages and more.
“Designneedstobepartofthecultureofthe
city,” he says, citing such urban revitalization
projects as Greenville, S.C. “It was very
clear that cities that didn’t just let things
happen, but helped shape them through good
planning, good design, civic action and public
landscaping, those are the places that became
very much better places to be.”
Now, Morris’ attention is devoted to
the Birmingham Architecture & Design
Collection of the Birmingham Public
Library’s archives, which he is personally
funding for its first three years. The archives
include wonderful items documenting the
city’s architectural past, Morris says, but
they’ve never been compiled into a collection.
His challenge is to fill in gaps from the past
four decades while organizing the material in
a way that makes it easy to access and use.
“It gives them (the Birmingham Public
Library) a new way to serve the public,”
Morris says. “Design just affects the city in so
many ways.”
Meet the people
and organizations
creating change
in our community.
By KATHERINE OWEN, RACHEL STANBACK and Carla Jean Whitley
Photos by CALEB CHANCEY
philip morris
[ education ]

2. 72 | Birmingham | jan 14 jan 14 | Birmingham | 73
Born and raised in Birmingham, Randall
Woodfin now serves as the new president of
the Birmingham Board of Education. He en-
ters the position as the board faces the rebuild-
ing of a school system that was micromanaged
into state takeover and a possible accreditation
evaluation in February.
Woodfin has left Alabama twice — once for
undergraduate studies at Morehouse College
and again for D.C., after graduating Samford
University’s Cumberland School of Law. He
came back ready to work.
“You go to these other cities and see what
they’re doing for their community, it only
makes sense to me to bring it back home. All
the skills I’ve learned, people I’ve worked with,
benchmarking opportunities I’ve had — I bring
it back here,” he says.
Woodfin says he’s committed to improving
the quality of life in Birmingham, and to do so,
Birmingham schools have to be enhanced for
the younger generation. He says the city has to
find a way to fight the brain drain and keep its
talent here. After all, Woodfin himself left for a
time. He says growing up in Birmingham, it was
his mother who influenced him to better the
lives of others.
“Watching her deal with her work full time
and her community and my family members,
I saw somebody that was always helping peo-
ple,” he says. “I got a lot of that just watching
how my house was taken care of. This whole
idea that taking care of others was impor-
tant — that was a major influence.”
Now, he plans to help Birmingham, and its
students, by shifting conversation away from
adults and back to students, by aiming to meet
accreditation benchmarks and focusing policy
on K-12 students.
“Birmingham schools need a laser focus on
academics, period,” Woodfin says. “The last two
or three years, the conversation has only been
about adults. As a board president, as a citizen, I
want us talking about here is where we are, here
is where we need to be in the city. And we move
toward that.”
birmingham board of education president
randall woodfin
[ education ]
As a woman working in construction,
L’Tryce Slade is accustomed to standing out
in the crowd. She established Slade, LLC, a
building construction general contractor, in
2006, and has since developed her reputation
in the business community one project at
a time. Slade specializes in environmental
consulting and public involvement and serves
clientsasdiverseaslocalandstategovernment,
engineering firms, schools, law firms,
nonprofitsandtransportationconsultingfirms.
Slade is vice president of the local chapter
of National Association of Women, and
she serves on the board of directors for
the Birmingham chapter of the National
Association of Women in Construction
Forum. “I’d like to see more women in the
room,” Slade says.
Her educational background is in regional
planning and law, so Slade has built her
construction knowledge, like her business, from
the ground up. “I’ve had to learn this through
apprenticeshipandfieldexperience,”shesays.
Slade sees her place in the business
communityasachancetomentorothersasshe
has been mentored. “I love being able to hire
people and empower them,” she says. “That’s
been the most rewarding part.” She has been
involved in a variety of apprenticeship groups
focused on teaching job training skills to
college-ageyoungadults.
“I feel like Birmingham has been a great
placetogrowmyskillset,”Sladesays.“I’vebeen
mentoredbyotherfirmsinBirmingham,which
has grown me personally and professionally,
andIwanttodo the same for others.”
l’tryce slade
[ business ]
72 | Birmingham | jan 14

3. 74 | Birmingham | jan 14 jan 14 | Birmingham | 75
When Rachel Lindley joined the WBHM
staff as the news director in September, she
says she could immediately sense the energy
and potential in Birmingham. After working
in west Texas for almost eight years, Lindley
decided to come down to Birmingham and
see what all the enthusiasm was about.
“I could feel the momentum in the air,
all this stuff that had been happening in
Birmingham,” she says. “It just seemed
like a really great thing to be a part of and a
really great time to be a part of it.”
Lindley says public radio holds immense
potential for a growing Birmingham
community. She says radio is a very
personal medium, which tells a story the
way no other platform can. In her mind,
that’s what Birmingham needs — a way to
talk about complex issues in a simple way.
Issues and Ales, a recurring event, brings
the community together to discuss those
issues. The station, which won seven Alabama
Associated Press awards in 2013, also dives in
deep as part of the Southern Education Desk,
a group of public media stations in five states.
Lindley says, “It’s nice to work in a field of
journalism where you can really break down
issues in a way that lets people know, not only
the big picture and why it matters, but the
impact and the way it affects people’slives.”
She says the station has plans to expand
its reach and impact in the future, such as
increasing its staff and beginning a series
that looks at the impact of government
policy on listeners’ lives. The station also
has plans to continue its “Issues and Ales”
series, a quarterly panel discussion with
the community, which in the future will be
paired with a quarterly week-long series on
the radio, all focused on a particular topic.
“I really believe strongly in public radio,”
Lindleysays.“WithWBHM,Iwanttomakeit
something that people view as an intentional
community service. Something that really
helps them learn about what’s going on in
their community, the type of things that help
them become more informed citizens. It’s
important to me.”
wbhm’s rachellindley
[ communication ]
When ARC Realty opened its doors in Janu-
ary 2013, it was home to four partners but no oth-
eragents.Butasthefirstyearended,itcounted86
agents among its numbers and is scheduled this
month to complete an office expansion.
Chairman Tommy Brigham credits its growth
to the partners’ history in the business as well as
the company’s focus on building relationships.
That starts with their agents. The office is de-
signed to give them a sense of place, with art from
Mountain Brook’s gallery 1930 hung throughout.
ARC offers agents training and technological
support, including social media training from
Marketing Manager Megan Sims.
After Brigham sold his interest in Realty-
South, he worked with banks in asset manage-
ment and strategic planning. That time outside
of the real-estate business offered him fresh
perspective on the business. Along with friends
Mechelle Wilder, Beau Bevis and Dale Mc-
Intyre, Brigham set out to create new approach
to residential real estate.
The group brought together more seasoned
agentsandmillennialswhoarenewtothebusiness,
believing that they can learn from one another. The
partners also have an eye on diversity and say that’s
appealing to the corporate clients to whom they
provide relocation services. “They’re looking for an
organization that really, truly is a representative of
thewholeofsociety,”Brighamsays.
As ARC enters its second year, Bevis says they
aimtogrowto125agentsandfocusontechnology
training. The group also supports the community
through charity work, aiming to “let the com-
munity know it’s not about real estate, it’s about
reaching out and helping others,” Wilder says.
arc realtytommy brigham
[ real estate ]
74 | Birmingham | jan 14

4. 76 | Birmingham | jan 14 jan 14 | Birmingham | 77
Audiostate 55 Recording Studios and Entertainment
Company, nestled on 55th Place South Woodlawn, has a lot go-
ing for it. It is home to two recording studios, a lab and a record
label distributed around the world by Warner Music Group.
But Audiostate 55 is doing something else groundbreak-
ing — teaching kids.
Henry Panion, who founded Audiostate 55 seven years ago,
saysthegoaloftheWoodlawnpartnershipistoprovidetheop-
portunity for local students to see the technical as well as per-
formance side of the music industry. Audiostate 55 works with
the Woodlawn Foundation, allowing students to come during
the summer as well as during the school year. He says between
last summer and fall, the program has worked with more than
450 students.
“Our goal is to just try to give them the things in front of
the mic, let them understand the myriad of careers behind the
mike, and all the kinds of things that they would do to be able
to make it in the business side of things: contracts and agents
and touring,” Panion says. “It really is a full exposure to every
aspect of it.”
Panion has worked with artists such as Stevie Wonder and
Aretha Franklin, but says those were merely opportunities
that came along. His goal has always been to be an educator.
From 1994 to 2000, Panion served as chair of the department
of music at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where
he remains a professor. Part of his decision to stay in Birming-
ham despite his international recognition was the opportunity to
educateyoungmindsandgivethemaplatform.
“The only thing I’ve really sought to do was to be a college
professor. The opportunities that I’ve had to work in the in-
dustry with the artists I’ve gotten to work with really has been
because, in many ways, they found me.”
From hip-hop to Southern gothic to indie
rock, Jeffrey Cain brings new sounds to Birming-
ham through his record label, Communicating
Vessels. The label, which calls Woodlawn’s 55th
Place home, now has 12 artists on its roster and
three years under its belt. In August, Cain opened
The Shop at Comm_Vess, which features releases
by the labels’ musicians in various formats.
"This is a creative home. It's a great canvas
with lots of potential,” Cain said in an inter-
view with Birmingham Box Set, Birmingham
magazine’s music blog. “Being in Woodlawn
has allowed us to grow, and I have no intention
of ever going anywhere else.”
Cain has worked as a solo artist and guitarist
for band Remy Zero, and so he wanted to create
a place for artists’ work to grow. He says the la-
bel was something he always wanted to do — but
he waited for the right time. “I knew that unless
I had some help with the business side of it, be-
cause I’m an artist myself, I wasn’t going to do it
because I wanted to do it right,” he explained to
Birmingham magazine in February 2012.
The label now works with artists such as The
Great Book of John, Shaheed and DJ Supreme,
The Green Seed and Preston Lovinggood. The
label’s name represents the relationship the
bands share. Scientifically speaking, communi-
cating vessels refers to a set of connected con-
tainers all holding the same liquid.
“Nothing can change in one without affecting
the other, so they all kind of even out,” Cain said.
“I knew that the attention that one artist would
bring in, or their music, would shine light on (oth-
er) artists. They would inspire each other, and it
would also be healthy competition.”
henry panion
[ arts ]
jeffrey cain
[ arts ]
jan 14 | Birmingham | 77

5. 78 | Birmingham | jan 14 jan 14 | Birmingham | 79
Did you know that 63 percent of
the metropolitan-area households in
poverty are headed by women? The
Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham
did, and through their newly launched
Collaboration Institute, the organization
is working with other area agencies to
move these families out of poverty.
Thirty percent of women who do not
have a high school degree are in poverty,
and that number drops to 14.78 percent
for those with a high-school degree. As
education level increases, poverty level
continues to decrease: 11 percent of
women with associate’s degrees live in
poverty,butonly3.8percentofthosewho
hold a bachelor’s degree are in poverty.
The numbers aren’t as high for men, in
part because they are more likely to be
suited for manual labor jobs.
“The other thing that we’ve noticed
is that there are a lot of organizations
that do really good work with women in
our community, so we wanted to know
how we could support them in a holistic
approach, rather than us raising money
and giving it to an organization,” CEO
Jeanne Jackson explains.
Eight teams applied to the inaugural
year of the Collaboration Institute, and
the program accepted five in August.
Those groups include nonprofits,
churches and educational institutions
working together to create specific
educational opportunities for single
mothers while working to eliminate
barriers to quality childcare. The five
teams are now meeting with local
strategic planning experts to develop
their proposals, which they will present
to the Women’s Fund board on Feb. 28.
The board and corporate supporters
will award two teams with $25,000 seed
money to launch their programs, and
Jackson says she hopes the other teams
will be able to use their proposals to find
other grant opportunities.
The Collaboration Institute brings
together teams of agencies who work to
address issues that affect these women,
but Jackson notes that education isn’t
the only issue: Families also need a
stable home — “If you’re couch surfing,
it’s really difficult to finish a degree if
you don’t know where you’re going to
be that night,” she says. The children’s
opportunities increase and mom’s
worries decrease with quality, steady
daycare.
Jackson says, “It’s a big shift for us but
I think it’s where we need to be, and what
we’re hearing from the community we
need to be supporting.”
Dr. David Smolin feels strongly
about his academic interests, but the
outpouring of those passions is more
than professional — it’s personal.
The Cumberland School of Law pro-
fessor has long been interested in
bioethics and biotechnology, inter-
national human rights, children’s
issues, and family and juvenile law.
His work on the theology of adop-
tion, which is motivated in part by
his own love of family and his faith,
is nationally renowned.
And since its December 2012 found-
ing, Smolin has applied his interests in
new ways as director of Cumberland’s
Center for Children, Law and Ethics.
The center works in child advocacy,
policy propositions, and consultation
for the media and law professionals
on a variety of issues. Smolin directs a
staff of 10 to 30 law students, and also
works alongside local, national and
international advisors.
The center’s work has received na-
tional attention, with reporters from
the New York Times, Wall Street
Journal, Associated Press and The
Tennessean turning to Smolin as an
expert in his field. He also spoke at
the Hague Conference on Private In-
ternational Law, where 88 countries
and 15 non-governmental organiza-
tions were represented.
This is more than a research facil-
ity, Smolin says. “The center is de-
signed to give students the opportuni-
ty to understand that children’s issues
are difficult and divisive, and not just
sentimental,” he says. “Things like
adoption and child abuse are much
more complicated than expected.”
david smolin
[ education ]
collaboration institute,
women’s fund of birmingham
[ philanthropy ]
Program Director Mary Page Wilson-Lyons, New Rising Star
Missionary Baptist Church Community Support Corporation
Executive Director Cheryl Lee, Nursery Teacher Ranada Heidelberg
with Camille Guyton, CEO Jeanne Jackson and Development
Associate Wright Rouse

6. 80 | Birmingham | jan 1480 | Birmingham | jan 14
Dr. Edward E. Partridge has led UAB’s
Comprehensive Cancer Center to national
prominence as a research institution. The cen-
ter is the only facility in a six-state area to meet
the stringent criteria for the National Cancer
Institute’s comprehensive designation, which
provides funding to conduct research, clinical
trials and innovative treatments.
The Wallace Tumor Institute, a 155,500 square
foot facility, recently underwent a $30-million
renovation. The building, which held its grand
opening in August, is an environment where more
than330multidisciplinaryprofessionalscanwork
together. The facility's centerpiece is a 61,000-lb.
cyclotron, a particle accelerator that assists in
medical imaging. The cyclotron is the most pow-
erfulmachineofitskindinanyacademicresearch
center in the United States.
Beena Thannickal, a UAB media specialist,
notes that Partridge’s initiative to build the
new facility is pioneering. “To have the fore-
thought to create a building like this is incred-
ible,” says Thannickal.
Partridge is also passionate about elimi-
nating disparities in prevention and survival
rates between ethnic groups. He has led the
Alabama Black Belt Cancer Linkage Initia-
tive and is principal investigator for the Deep
South Network for Cancer Control.
He initiated an effort to hire and train non-
professionals, who are much more accessible
to patients than doctors or nurses, as “navi-
gators” in communities. These navigators are
able to make frequent contact with patients
after acute events. Partridge says this has al-
ready had a significant impact and anticipates
this will cause fewer emergency room visits,
unnecessary hospitalizations and, ultimately,
healthier patients and millions of dollars of
savings in Medicare costs.
In 2013, he was recognized by the Ameri-
can Cancer Society for his work to reduce
ethnic and racial health disparities. “My work
with minority populations has been espe-
cially fulfilling — to begin to get everyone en-
gaged and in better health, so we can eventu-
ally eliminate these differences in outcomes,”
Partridge says. “That’s going to be huge.”
dr.edward partridge
[ education ]
First conceptualized at a design summit
in 2011, the Cahaba Blueway has been growing
since. A result of the collaboration of The
University of Alabama and Auburn University,
Alabama Innovation Engine has partnered
with the Cahaba River Society and the Nature
Conservancy to create the Blueway, which links
communities, economic development and the
environmentthroughAlabama’sCahabaRiver.
Matt Leavell, project director for Alabama
Innovation Engine, explains that when the
Enginefirststartedtolookatthewatershed,they
wantedtoaddressthehowtothinkaboutriversas
aresourcetoAlabama.“What’sadifferentwayto
think about those rivers as an asset? Not just as a
blue line, but something that can be incorporated
intoacommunity,beincorporatedintoeconomic
development,”hesays.
The project started with the branding of the
watershedthroughapartnershipwiththeUAB
graphic design department, Cayenne Creative
and the Cahaba River Society. Through that
process, Leavell says, the partners learned of
the rich stories behind the river. After that,
the Nature Conservancy was pulled in as a
collaborator and the canoe trail idea was born.
“There’s a story of the river that really needs
to be told, and there’s a couple of different ways
of doing that. The easiest way to do that is you
just introduce people to the river. Get them on
the river and let them experience it. Just trust
that when they get on that river, they’re going
to fall in love with it. They’re going to want
to preserve and protect this thing and take
ownership of it, so creating an access trail, a
blueway, that’s where that came from,” he says.
The Blueway is being developed in multiple
ways at once, Leavell says. On the storytelling
front, the project has already produced a book
and film. Economically, Leavell says the project
isaboutprovidingopportunityforbusinessand
people along the river to help themselves.
“The Blueway is about developing the tools
that help the local organizations up and down
the river, to be part of this river by developing
their own access points,” Leavell says. “We
don’t expect we are going to build these access
points. We hope that what were doing is
creating tools that will help communities build
their own, but we’re providing the framework
so they can plug in and realize long-term
benefits.”
cahaba blueway
matt leavel
[ environment ]