HOPEx

Thank you for joining us for HOPEx23!

We were honored to celebrate our 2nd annual live speaker event on March 3 at the Historic Academy Theater. It was an extraordinary night of storytelling and inspiration.

Thank you to Krissy DeAlejandro, Rev. John Jones, Dr. Gus Petticolas, Leland Melvin, Rosye Cloud, Amy Carrier, Tab Culbertson, Alexis Johnson, Philip Bowles, D’Arrin Calloway, Sabina Sabat, McKayla Warwick, and emcee Mark Spain for being a part of the evening. Thank you to our incredible event co-chairs Heather Zippel and Angie Campbell. Thank you to the incredible sponsors who made this event possible: Centra Health, Framatome, Innovative Wireless Technologies, College Promise, UKG, Foster Fuels, Dodson Pest Control, ABC 13 WSET, and News & Advance. Thank you to the Lynchburg community for their generous support of Lynchburg Beacon of Hope and HOPEx.

Save the Date

HOPEx 2024

March 22, 2024 | Historic Academy Theatre

The Speaker Slate

Krissy DeAlejandro

Krissy DeAlejandro is the Executive Director of tnAchieves, a Knoxville-based nonprofit dedicated to increasing higher education opportunities for high school students in Tennessee by providing last-dollar scholarships and mentoring services.

Rev. John C. Jones

Rev. John C. Jones is the President and CEO of HOPE Toledo, a Toledo-based nonprofit designed to support and ensure high-quality education—from preschool to postsecondary and trade school—for every young person in the city of Toledo.

Leland Melvin

Leland Melvin is the only person drafted into the National Football League to have flown in space. The Pro Football Hall of Fame honored his athletic and academic accomplishments by placing his Detroit Lions jersey under glass in Canton, Ohio. Through these professional experiences working on high stakes teams he developed a deep and nuanced understanding of effective team dynamics.

Dr. Gus Petticolas

Dr. Gus Petticolas is a dentist, a founding member of The Free Clinic of Lynchburg, and a community activist.

Phillip Bowles

Phillip Bowles is a 2017 graduate of Heritage High School and Lynchburg Beacon of Hope Commonwealth Scholar.

D'Arrin Calloway

D'Arrin Calloway (HHS 2019) is a current senior at Virginia Tech studying Business Information Technology with a concentration in Cyber Security.

Alexis Johnson

Alexis Johnson (HHS 2014, VT 2017, LU 2022) graduated with her Juris Doctor in May 2022 and is a licensed attorney in Virginia. She is the founder of Inspire Esquire, LLC. and a signed model with New York Model Management.

McKayla Warwick

McKayla Warwick (ECG 2016) is the founder and Executive Director of Collective Climb based in Philadelphia.

Sabina Sabat

Sabina Sabat (she/they) (ECG 2017) is a Lynchburg native who graduated from Randolph College with degrees in Classics and Theatre. Her hope is to go into higher education so that she can inspire and motivate students to explore what brings them joy and be unapologetic in the pursuit of finding their place.

Amy Carrier

Amy Carrier is the CEO of Centra Health.

Rosye Cloud

Rosye Cloud is a leader of the College Promise movement.

Mark Spain

Mark Spain will once again serve as the emcee for the evening.