Looking back, reflecting on 2017, it’s tempting to dwell on the dark spots. But here’s the thing: It doesn’t have to be like that. Because if you look more closely—say, closer to home—you’ll see we’re surrounded by brightness, by people who dedicate themselves daily to lifting us up, not bringing us down. And these seven Arkansans? They’re proof that there’s light at the end of the tunnel

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN DAVID PITTMAN

You may not think of El Dorado as a hotbed for the performing arts. But you’d be wrong. This is largely due to the efforts of visionary Austin Barrow, a native son who returned home to help create what we now know as the Murphy Arts District, which opened to much fanfare this September. Acting on the premise that performing arts are salve to the community soul as well as a plank in the platform for economic growth, Austin works to celebrate Southern storytelling and musical talent in big-city-style venues that have brought blighted downtown buildings back to life.

ON BEING AN AGENT OF CHANGE: El Dorado went through a terrible economic downturn in the early 2000s, lost about 10,000 citizens and several big employers left. The city was left in a lurch. They had a few things going to stop the bleeding before I got here, but they hadn’t addressed quality of life. That’s what this effort is all about—changing the entertainment and cultural atmosphere in this area of the state. El Dorado, through the benefit of having some large companies still here, has always been a bit of an oasis. It made perfect sense for us to be the ones to invest in an arts and entertainment district.

ON CONFIDENCE AND ASSERTIVENESS: There’s probably not a problem that I can’t figure out. I might not have the answer, but I’ll go around and ask questions until I find it. Now, there have been many times that I’ve doubted my abilities, but what I lean back on is that I take a lot of time for myself, for thought and prayer, some time to let my head wrap around an idea. And the best advice I got when I first came here is that sometimes you’ve got to know that what you’re doing is right and just put down your head and go to work.

ON PERFORMING ARTS IN THE RURAL SOUTH: Every movie you see with a Southerner in it, most of the time we have a tough time talking, we’re barefoot and we’re missing our two front teeth. But the best musicians are Southern. The best storytellers are Southern. We just have a way with words and a way with storytelling that the world really likes, and it’s something that we don’t hold a light on.

ON WHAT ART BRINGS TO A COMMUNITY: I would say it brings a cultural sense of the outside, of the other. It broadens the horizons. It introduces the uncomfortable, and it can also introduce levity and humor. It can change a person. A great concert, an amazing play can put a bit of the magical in life experience. I think it improves the quality of life. It makes you a more well-rounded and happier person. It makes you a kinder, a brighter human being. —As told to Johnny Carrol Sain

After the Compact of Free Association with the U.S. was signed in 1986, many Marshallese settled in the Springdale area as transfers from Tyson Foods facilities in the Marshall Islands. Now with more than 4,300 members, Northwest Arkansas is home to one of the largest Marshallese communities in the U.S. Jessica Olson and her family left the Marshall Islands and arrived in Northwest Arkansas in 2001 when Jessica was in the second grade. Now she is the first teacher of Marshallese descent in the Springdale School District, the district she attended as a student. Though she did not set out to be a leader, Jessica understands and embraces her role-model position for minority students.

ON TEACHING MARSHALLESE STUDENTS AS A FORMER MARSHALLESE STUDENT: The Marshallese community is kind of separate from the rest of the community here, so I want to be that person that the Marshallese kids look up to. The main thing that I’m trying to do is show them that they don’t have to stop at the high school level—they can go to college. They don’t think they can afford it, but they don’t know about grants and loans and stuff like that. I want to show them that I did it, and they can, too.

ON ADAPTING TO A NEW CULTURE: Marshallese culture and American culture are completely different. The culture in the Marshall Islands is historically a male-dominated culture, though they recently elected a woman as president. Most women in the Marshall Islands stay home and do the cooking and cleaning, and the men get out and work. My mom is from the Marshall Islands, but my dad is from Wisconsin, so we were pretty Americanized when we moved here. I think they knew that we were going to move to the States so they were preparing us for that.

ON BEING A RELUCTANT TRAILBLAZER: My mom was a teacher in the Marshall Islands, and my dad retired from education, but I didn’t want to get into education. I wanted to do my own thing. And then I started working in an after-school program, actually, it was at the school I teach at now. The student population was mostly Hispanic and Marshallese, and I really enjoyed working with the kids. I didn’t set out to be the first Marshallese teacher; I didn’t even know that I was the first Marshallese teacher until they told me.

ON INSTILLING CONFIDENCE IN A KID: I coach seventh and eighth-grade basketball, and confidence is really something the Marshallese girls on my team lack. They don’t believe in themselves. Their expectations are low, and I don’t know where it really comes from. I know many of their parents work a lot, sometimes the kids don’t see their parents for more than an hour every day, so I try to be a positive in their lives. We’ve talked about the importance of confidence in basketball and in life, and I encourage them, I tell them they can do more. Coaching isn’t just about basketball. It’s important to help them become better people. —As told to Johnny Carrol Sain

When he speaks, there’s a passion in Jonathan Crossley’s voice that could move even the most complacent to action. It’s a passion that hasn’t gone unnoticed— it’s why he was named the 2014 Arkansas Teacher of the Year, the youngest educator to hold the honor, at the age of 26. It’s why, the following year, he was brought on as the “turnaround principal” for Baseline Academy, a reconstituted elementary school that was previously the lowest performing in Little Rock, where he hired and trained 40 new teachers in two months. It’s why the work he’s doing at Baseline was recently featured in the Netflix documentary Teach Us All about the fight against racial and socioeconomic segregation plaguing educational institutions across the nation. It’s why he recently announced his candidacy for a seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives. But if you ask Jonathan, he’s just getting started.

ON CORE VALUES: We coach, and we have discussions around our core values as a school. Our core values are pretty simple, and everybody knows them: family, leadership, empowerment, progress and student-centered education. If we make any decisions at this school, and they don’t align with those five core values, then we’re making the wrong decision. We know it. Adults know it. And kids know it. And that is what’s been the catalyst for the change that we’ve seen here.

ON BECOMING AN ADVOCATE: I was thinking about my father, who failed one grade level and then, when he was in high school, was pulled out of school to help his father pay the bills. My mother struggled academically in school, and I think about all the reasons why that was. Then I think about what made me successful and the support that I had there, but still how tough it was to navigate being the first in my family to go to college. Then I think about all the kids I taught in Palestine, Arkansas. They need an advocate. They need somebody to stand in the gap of hopelessness and bear witness to that, and have a backbone strong enough to advocate and fight for what’s right.

ON MEETING PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE: We do the work of teaching reading, teaching writing, teaching math, and that’s vital and changes the trajectory for students, because when they achieve at a higher level, they have access to different resources. That is certainly part of it. But for me—and this is my leadership philosophy—if you’re not willing to meet people where they are and provide them with transparent relationships and support, then you’re missing the mark on what it means to be human.

ON MOVING THE NEEDLE: I think if we just kick the can down the road, and we just let the status quo evolve over the next 10, 15, 20 years, it’s not going to look that much different than it does now. Well, I’ll be 30 next year. I’ve got a long time to help move the needle. It’s time for me to put my money where my mouth is and fight. Like. Hell. To make sure that all of us receive a high-quality education, that all of us have access to a better future and a better tomorrow, so that the American dream that I was able to experience can be accessible to more and more and more and more people. We act like the American dream is dead. It’s not. But we are killing it with our divisiveness, and it’s time to call a spade a spade and quit it.

ON WHAT’S CHANGED SINCE TEACH US ALL WAS RELEASED: There’s been a little bit more exposure, I would say—people emailing, people calling. But for me, what has changed has been … nothing. We come to work every single day to do the work that we said we were going to do. And if we were doing any of it dependent on a film crew being here, we’re not really doing the work. Is it hard? Yes. Is it worthwhile? Yes. So what’s the next step? Let’s figure it out together. —As told to Wyndham Wyeth

She’s a hugger. This is the defining characteristic of Annette Dove, and it says everything about her. Along with her late husband, Annette founded Targeting Our People’s Priorities with Service (TOPPS) as a nurturing place for disadvantaged children in the Pine Bluff area. Over 250 children and teenagers are now enrolled in the program and 23 college-graduated TOPPS students are still learning as mentors-intraining. Annette’s work has garnered attention across the nation—most notably a piece by The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof, and an interview by one Chelsea Clinton— but her focus remains on the life success of “her kids” here at home.

ON DEFINING SUCCESS: Success, for me, is when I see these young people that might not have had an opportunity to achieve. When you see these young people graduate college or working or their lives have changed, you can’t put a dollar amount on that. When a young person tells you “Mrs. Dove, I’d probably be in jail right now,” there’s no way to describe that feeling. I’m a servant. I’m supposed to help people. And I’ve been blessed. I appreciate people recognizing me, I get tickled when people say, Aren’t you the one that was on the da-da-da?, and I say, Yeah, but that’s not why I do what I do.

ON RESHAPING A COMMUNITY: If we’re not there to support those kids, if we don’t show those kids something different, then we can’t change our community. If we can say, Let me show you something different—it doesn’t have to be violence, it doesn’t have to be drugs —and guide them to other places and experiences, things can change. And you never know when one of these kids will lead the community to something different just because they were exposed to something different. We teach the kids to give back.

ON OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES: My faith is what I operate on. I wrote a little book called Birthing the Vision, and I can’t even stand to read it because I can’t believe some of the things that happened to me. But I know that with my faith I was able to overcome a lot of things.

ON THE POWER OF A HUG: I believe people know when you are for real, and what comes from your heart reaches their heart. When you embrace a person, you can determine what’s in their heart right then. When I embrace my children, I’m letting them know I’m connecting to their heart. We’re connecting. If I can’t educate you on everything, I at least can teach you to have compassion. It’s letting someone know you really care. I just get a thrill from connecting with people. —As told to Johnny Carrol Sain

Third-term Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan has proven to be a municipal maestro in managing one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. His forward-thinking philosophies on infrastructure, energy efficiency and inclusiveness within the community have Fayetteville positioned as an example for other cities today and decades from now. A Northwest Arkansas native, born in Fayetteville and raised in Madison County, Mayor Jordan worked for the University of Arkansas for 27 years on staff for the facilities management department and served two terms on the Fayetteville City Council, where he never missed a council meeting or vote.

ON BEING A SERVANT: Service is what I know. It’s who I am. I have a set of core beliefs that I’ve brought into this office and tried to establish it through the staff and into the citizenry: an open door, an open mind and an open heart. I believe in a partnership-based government where we’re all part owners no matter the color of our skin, or our religious belief or who we love. I believe everyone needs to participate, speak your mind, let your thoughts be known. I want to hear from people. Sometimes people agree with what you’re doing and sometimes they won’t, but that’s why you’re a public servant. Ultimately the people are your boss. You need to know what your boss is thinking.

ON MANAGING DYNAMIC GROWTH: It’s not whether you’re going to grow but how you grow. I break it down to strong infrastructure. First you have your physical infrastructure. For the city, that’s trails, sidewalks, roads, bridges and such. We also believe in a strong digital infrastructure, broadband and strong social media. And then the third is the social infrastructure, social justice, equality and inclusion. I come from a building background, so I’m asking how we’re going to build these infrastructures.

ON LEADERSHIP BEYOND HERE: We’re planning this city for 2050. Our Energy Action Plan lines up our buildings and our transportation with our goal to have the city off of fossil fuels by then. The plan lines up with the Paris Climate Agreement, and climate change is an important issue to me. So when the mayor of Chicago wanted to know if anyone wanted climate change information that he got before it was deleted from the EPA’s website, I said we wanted it. We’ve got it on the city’s website. I just did what I thought was right.

ON LEADERSHIP BEYOND NOW: Even if you don’t believe in climate change, solar and wind power is coming. We need to be prepared for that. We’re trying to establish something not just for us, but for our children and our children’s children. We need to lay the foundation for our future not only in our city, but in our nation and in the world. Right now, at this moment in time, we need to work on this. We need to do it for our children. —As told to Johnny Carrol Sain

Stand-up comedian, former kindergarten teacher, public speaker, author, social entrepreneur, education innovator—Alvin Irby wears a lot of hats. He wears them here in his native Little Rock, at home in New York City, at conferences, at elementary schools, pretty much all over the place. But his primary focus is to inspire a love of reading in children. With this purpose in mind, Alvin founded the awardwinning Barbershop Books, a literacy program aimed at black males aged 4 to 8 that creates child-friendly reading spaces at barbershops across the country.

ON GETTING KIDS TO LOVE READING: Identity is key to improving reading outcomes for children. We have to inspire kids to read when it’s not required. They’re not reading at home, they not reading for fun, so what we need to do is create experiences that make kids fall in love with reading. Part of that has to do with relevant reading models, like with Barbershop Books we’re giving boys an opportunity to interact with men that look like them and who are encouraging them to engage with reading.

ON CULTIVATING YOUR LEADERSHIP ABILITIES: When I was at Hall High School in Little Rock, I created a reading incentive program called “It Takes Two.” Seeing an idea I had become real and inspire other people to get involved, I would say that that kind of early success paved the path to leadership for me. And I’ve always been a little different. I’ve been crocheting since I was seven—my crochet game is crazy. From an early age, I’ve been able to appreciate who I am and what I do well. People thought it was strange that I crocheted, but because I was good at it, people respected it and many wanted to do it. This was molding me to step out as leader later on. Experiences like that made me not afraid to start an organization from scratch.

ON SIMILARITIES BETWEEN STAND-UP AND TEACHING: Stand-up comedy requires a high level of cultural competency. As a comedian, you need to be able to translate what you want an audience to know into communication and an experience that people will find relevant and engaging. The same is true of the best teachers. They find interesting and creative ways to make learning fun. I think that has been one of the biggest gifts that comedy has given to me is a deeper understanding of how cultural competency informs teaching and learning.

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF LAUGHTER: A sense of humor has been essential for navigating life’s many challenges and successes. In the work that I do as a keynote speaker, I’ve definitely found humor to be a useful engagement tool. Discussing challenging topics and touchy issues is difficult but humor can help make people more receptive to difficult material. And after a stressful week, it’s always a big stress reliever for me when I can get on stage and make people laugh. —As told to Johnny Carrol Sain

At the drop-in center Lucie’s Place on Spring Street in Little Rock, the doors open at 9 a.m., and the doors close at 5 p.m. Beyond that, the days vary wildly, as founder Penelope Poppers says. Speaking from her cell phone on a Tuesday afternoon in late October, she explains her day has been devoted to designing holiday cards with a volunteer. In part. Also on her mind: the new home that will provide eight beds for homeless LGBT youth, and everything they need to do to prepare for the winter months, when they see a sharp rise in the number of youth seeking their help. (This year, they’re on track to help a little over 70.) For the past five years, she’s been the face of the organization, driving them to the DMV, helping them fill out job applications, providing them a support system when everything they’ve relied upon has fallen away. But she’s quick to point out there are other people at Lucie’s Place, too. They all provide a home.

ON WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE: When I first started Lucie’s Place in 2012, I sort of had this idea that, Oh, yeah, we’re going to know we’re successful in the work we’re doing because we would see X, Y and Z. But what we’ve realized over the past five or six years is that success looks very different for each person. For someone, success might be going back to college, but for another person, success might be getting their driver’s license.

ON THE RADICAL ACT OF ACCEPTANCE AND NORMALCY: Sitting down and playing Scrabble or Monopoly with someone is just as valid as sitting down and chatting with them about some traumatic experience that happened. Because what we’re doing here is developing relationships with people society has pretty much entirely forgotten about. So, what seems like a simple act of playing Scrabble or Monopoly is really this sort of this radical thing. Because we’re just sitting, hanging out with them.

ON ALLOWING KIDS TO BE THEMSELVES: For some people, they just want to come and hang out because they can be who they want to be here, and we don’t judge them and we don’t tell them they’re going to go to hell, or we don’t do the million other horrible other things that people do to them out in the regular world. This is the one place they can come and just be themselves. So, whatever that looks like for them, we believe that’s valid. And we support that.

ON STARTING THE CONVERSATION: I don’t pat myself on the back very much, but one of the things that I am willing to really say that I did a good job at is really forcing this community to have a conversation around homelessness: how homelessness disproportionately affects LGBT people—specifically, young people. Five years ago, that was not happening anywhere in the state. Before Lucie’s Place, that population existed, but no one knew about it, no one talked about it, but I just came in and I sort of forced every person to have that conversation.

ON THE NEED FOR LUCIE’S PLACE: I think this is the time for the organization to be an organization, and not just be a project of Penelope—which is what it was for the first couple years. And that’s what we’re here for: to offer whatever support we need to offer, so that our friends and members can one day not need Lucie’s Place—one day, not need any other organization. That’s our goal. —As told to Jordan P. Hickey