Jessica Lotz Executive Director

Jessica Lotz is a lifelong Memphian and comes to Innovate Memphis from Memphis-Shelby County Schools where she has been the Director of Research and Performance Management for six years. In eleven total years with the school district, Lotz has been responsible for scaling up data analytics resources for school and district leaders, program evaluation, continuous improvement coaching and strategic planning including co-developing the district's previous Destination 2025 plan. Lotz has also been a member of the Playhouse on the Square board of directors since 2014 and currently serves as Board President. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Anthropology from Rhodes College and a master’s degree in Public Policy from Duke University.

Courtney McNeal City Innovation Director

Courtney is a native Memphian who has experienced many of the barriers that impact the quality of life for her fellow citizens. Her work at Innovate Memphis enables her to focus on social equity while carrying out her personal mission of helping and loving the people of her amazing hometown. Courtney has a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Memphis, where she was also a graduate fellow in the Housing and Community Development Research Program. She is certified in Nonprofit Management and Leadership by the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance of Kansas City, and has a graduate certificate in Philanthropy Leadership at the University of Memphis. Courtney’s areas of focus include community outreach and development, education equity and special events.

Susan Dalton Strategic Initiatives Director

Susan is a lifelong Memphian, drawn to Innovate Memphis by the unique opportunity to make meaningful social impact. Since joining the team in 2017, she has performed research, design, and project management roles for multiple programs and priority areas. After years of supporting City Innovation projects, including Mobility Management and Neighborhood Condition, she continues a focus on public space and special projects as Director of Strategic Initiatives. In this role, she continues to provide leadership and project support for the local Reimagining the Civic Commons collaborative. Susan also supports organizational operations, technology integration, process improvements, innovation delivery, and design for Innovate Memphis. Her background is in interrelated fields of the environment, healthy communities, and social justice. Prior to joining Innovate Memphis, she worked for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center on research studies related to public health and previously lead digital strategy and database management for an agriculture technology startup. Susan graduated from the University of Memphis with a B.A in Communications and achieved a certificate in Social Impact Strategy from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice.

Altonio Smith Director of Data Capacity Development

Altonio Smith, MURP, MBA is an experienced and dedicated Urban Planning Professional who works with municipalities, corporations, and individuals to increase the health, safety, and welfare of those involved. He is dedicated to encouraging continued and increased equality throughout communities, and serving as a liaison between community groups, government agencies, and elected officials. Altonio joined the Innovate Memphis team in 2020 to serve as the Community Data Lead and is growing the local data intermediary as the Director of Data Capacity Development. Altonio holds Undergraduate and Master’s Degrees in Urban and Regional Planning, and Business Administration from Alabama A&M University; and his career focus is oriented towards solving social and technical related planning/economic issues with public and private groups.

Austin Harrison Senior Research Fellow

Austin Harrison is a Ph.D Candidate in the Urban Studies Institute at Georgia State University. His research interests include neighborhood change, community development, urban policy and shrinking cities. In addition to his Ph.D research, Austin is also an active practitioner in the housing and neighborhood arena. Through his independent consulting firm, he has worked with nonprofits, local governments, and developers across the country to implement programs and policies aimed at inclusively revitalizing neighborhoods, developing quality affordable housing, and stabilizing systemically disinvested communities. He also is a Research Fellow for Innovate Memphis, supporting the launch of a local open data intermediary in Memphis, Tennessee focused on applied data analysis and policy research to drive advocacy for neighborhood and housing concerns such as evictions, abandoned property, and local market dynamics.

Angelica Carey Food Systems Innovation Fellow

Angelica has been passionate about the environment, people’s health, community service, and social justice from a young age. Growing up in Lynn, a diverse and economically challenged city just outside of Boston, MA, she witnessed that people’s social and historical backgrounds, along with their zip codes, strongly influenced their lived experiences and access to opportunity.

She pursued a dual degree in Anthropology and a self-designed major Civic Environmentalism at University of Massachusetts Amherst. After her undergraduate, she taught K-8 Music with Teach for America in Arkansas before moving back to Western Mass to pursue her dual graduate degree at UMass Amherst in Regional Planning and Sustainability Sciences. During these years, she pursued studies in people’s lived experiences with food insecurity and climate issues. She worked for the City of Memphis in the Division of Planning and Development to lead community engagement and project management for the Memphis 3.0 comprehensive planning process from 2017 - 2022.

At the start of 2020, she became heavily involved in a newly ignited Food Accessibility and Insecurity Collaborative that was initiated through Church Health. She immersed herself in understanding food issues in Memphis and was determined to work towards solutions that combined data, mapping, policy, and programming. This led her to co-author a food policy proposal advocating for a paid position in government to manage food security issues. Angelica is proud to serve as the No Kid Hungry fellow and hopes to lead valuable change that is grounded in community work and data. She has three cats and resides in Cooper Young with her talented partner Elliot. She has been training in Krav Maga self-defense and loves yoga, gardening, and singing.

Jafrin Mouli Housing and Community Development Fellow

Jafrin Mouli joined Innovate Memphis in 2021 as a Housing and Community Development (HCD) Fellow from the University of Memphis. She is currently completing her master’s in City and Regional Planning. Her research and work interests are primarily on community development planning with the application of Geographic Information Science (GIS). At Innovate Memphis, she is supporting the data team to capture substantive pictures of communities and drawing effective solutions for community problems. Jafrin received her Bachelor’s in Urban and Regional Planning from Bangladesh in 2018. Her personal and professional experiences in Bangladesh made her closely witness community-level development practices and their associated challenges. She worked with socially marginalized group of people stricken with disaster vulnerability and climate change-induced risks and learned their adaptation practices in the local context, which made her realize that proper nurturing and capacity building is a must for bringing about community innovations. Throughout her placement in Innovate Memphis, she wants to contribute her skills for the development of the organization and the concerning communities, as well as enrich her experience and knowledge.

Kathy Lofton Lead for America Fellow: Broadband

Kathy Lofton is a 2022-2023 fellow with Lead for America. Under the purview of Innovate Memphis' City Innovation Director, she will provide tactical support, training, and implementation of a new digital literacy pilot program for seniors. Additionally, she will collaborate with community partners and the City of Memphis on broadband adoption, equity, and access initiatives.

A passionate, community-driven native of Memphis, Kathy is a graduate of the U of M Fogelman College of Business (BBA), Union University McAfee School of Business (Executive MBA), and the Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College (MPA). She is also an active member of the Memphis arts scene. Kathy is a prior National Urban Fellow and graduate of Leadership Memphis and Nexus Leadership.

Jennie Doss Graduate Research Assistant

Jennie Doss joined the Innovate Memphis team as a Graduate Research Assistant from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Memphis where she is studying to receive her master’s degree in Applied Anthropology. Her research interests include environmental justice, community building, and city innovation. Prior to moving to Memphis, Jennie collaborated with interdisciplinary teams at the University of Arizona where she worked as a researcher with local community partners in Tucson to provide them with qualitative and quantitative data. Her goal in continuing her education and service with Innovate Memphis is to contribute to community-based solutions in effective, long-lasting, and meaningful ways.

Steven Willoughby Community Fiber Infrastructure Lead

Justin Entzminger Former Executive Director

Justin brings a decade of experience as a strategy and growth consultant for nonprofits, start-ups and for-profit businesses to his role as Director of Innovate Memphis. He joined the team in 2014, and leads its blight priority efforts, developing tools to measure blight and the impact of mitigation strategies. Previously, Justin served as the Director of Business Insights for Hyphen Market Solutions, Strategic Planning Consultant for media start-up DittyTV and Manager of Strategy Development for Southern Growth Studio. Justin received a Master of Entrepreneurship degree from the Massey School of Business at Belmont University and holds a B.A. in English from Georgetown University.