In March, we meet at the home of the Julietta Market to hear from Ashley Smith of Black Soil.
A native of Lexington, KY, Ashley C. Smith graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. She is the Co-founder and COO of Black Soil: Our Better Nature, a statewide agritourism company with a mission of reconnecting Black Kentuckians to their legacy and heritage in agriculture.
Smith has worked for such brands as KentuckyOne Health, Bluegrass Hospitality Group, Community Ventures, NetGain Technologies, Smiley Pete Publishing, The Lyric Theatre & Cultural Arts Center, and Fayette Alliance.
Smith’s other professional involvement, leadership, and accolades include Ethical Redevelopment Salon member under the leadership of Theaster Gates, Secretary for Kentucky State University’s Extension and Research Advisory Council, and 2016 Scholarship Chair for the Bluegrass Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
In addition, her leadership also includes serving on the Management Team for the crave food + music festival and Steering Committee member for the Kentucky Rural Urban Exchange. Her professional portfolio also includes voice-over and Mistress of Ceremonies duties for City of Lexington 2017, 2018, and 2020 Martin Luther King Holiday Celebration, Stage Emcee for 2017 and 2018 crave Lexington food + music festival. She earned an Emmy nomination for KET’s Kentucky Life episode, A Kentucky Christmas, voicing the work of Kentucky native, writer, and poet, Effie Waller Smith. Smith gave a top-rated CreativeMornings Lexington talk, 'Insecure' in June 2020.
Smith and Trevor Claiborn are the proud parents of Caroline and Trevor, Jr.
Julietta Market is a nonprofit public market built to foster opportunity, growth, and connection. It is a place for, by, and about our neighbors.
This 23,000 square foot public market is set in the heart of the historic Southeast Greyhound Building in Lexington, Kentucky. Year-round, the Julietta Market features 60 small business kiosks, 20 pop-up spaces, 7 food stalls, a community art gallery, a shared kitchen, and an event space for cultural and community events.
The purpose of the Julietta Market is to enhance the quality of life within our community and promote continuing and equitable development. We offer an innovative platform for neighborhood entrepreneurs to grow their dreams, for neighbors to come together, and for everyone to be able to see themselves in the changing landscape of this neighborhood. We enable small businesses to grow while minimizing risk by providing affordable rents and opportunities for incremental growth.
The Julietta Market speaks to the issues of our time, as a transformative avenue for social entrepreneurship, a change agent for capacity building services, a mentor in programming and access to networks and connections, and as a continuation of the community conversation on how equitable access to opportunity informs personal prosperity and social growth.
Choose this option if you paid for all your luncheons at the beginning of the year.