20

Annual “20 under 30″ issue highlighting 20-somethings making great strides in the city for The Memphis Flyer

Jan. 23, 2014

Memphis Flyer

They came together at the nascent Beale Street Landing. It was a cold, miserable, rainy day, yet you could almost hear the hopeful strains of Al Green’s “Take Me To The River” coming from the mist over the Mississippi. Despite the gray, the 2014 class of the Flyer’s 20<30 were chatty and eager and, it turned out, familiar with each other. Many of them knew each other already, whether through business, social connections, school, or any of the other networks that spread throughout this city like kudzu. Those who weren’t already friendly, soon became acquainted and, before long, as the flash of Justin Fox Burks’s camera lit up the building, they were inviting each other to events and friending each other on their phones.

Memphis is a big small city. Or a small big city. Either way, those who get things done, who continue to move this town forward, are accessible. A mere click or call, and a new resource is claimed, a new ally met. These young people get that. They have come of age digitally and understand the best use of those tools.

They’re using their strong alliances for good. Words such as “renaissance,” “growth,” and “opportunity” were thrown around.

They are involved with mentoring, teaching, and outreach, whether their jobs require it or not, because they require it of themselves. They are young, the next generation of leaders, yet they speak first and foremost of the generation coming behind them and how they might help them along the way . . . (read more)