5TH ANNUAL

The Business of Joy

Canopy Good Business Summit

Join us on November 6th, 2025

Education, connection, and unique participation opportunities — Canopy's marquee event of the year. Members receive discounted tickets and sponsorship pricing.

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PRESENTED BY

ABOUT THE SUMMIT

Canopy's Good Business Summit is Kentucky's premier gathering for leaders and changemakers who believe in Business Beyond Profit. Each year, the Summit brings together business owners, community leaders, and innovators to explore how companies can thrive while also making a positive impact on people and the planet.

This year's theme, The Business of Joy, highlights how creating joy and well-being in the workplace and in our communities isn't just good for morale… it's good for business. Through inspiring featured speakers, interactive breakout sessions, and authentic networking opportunities, attendees will discover ways to embed joy into company culture and community impact while connecting with leaders who share a commitment to Business Beyond Profit.

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VENUE

Kentucky International Convention Center

221 S 4th St, Louisville, KY 40202

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Kentucky International Convention Center exterior

Kentucky International Convention Center (KICC)

221 S 4th St, Louisville, KY 40202

Commonwealth Garage

313 S 4th St — parking

Cowger Garage

329 W Market St — parking

THE SUMMIT

Why attend?

Business leaders connecting at the Canopy Good Business Summit

Community leaders in conversation at the Canopy Good Business Summit

Attendees during a session at the Canopy Good Business Summit

Students and mentors meeting at the Canopy Good Business Summit

ZERO WASTE

We are striving to make the Canopy Good Business Summit a zero-waste event with the goal of 90%+ waste diversion.

Here's how you can help:

Carry-in, carry-out

Bring your own reusable water bottle

Minimize the waste you bring

Single-use plastic water bottles, etc.

Recycle & compost at our zero-waste stations

Cover your waste

Add a $5 donation when you purchase a ticket.

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Featured speakers

9:00 – 9:40 AM

Dr. Tasha Golden

Singer/songwriter turned behavioral scientist, and an internationally recognized leader in the science of creativity and wellbeing.

Tasha Golden, PhD is a singer/songwriter turned behavioral scientist, and a leading expert in creativity-driven growth and innovation. She speaks and consults globally on creativity, leadership, wellbeing, and change. Dr. Golden was the first Director of Research for the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine…

11:35 AM – 12:15 PM

Robert Egger

Champion of food, community, and change, and a trailblazer behind the Community Kitchen movement.

Robert Egger is lifelong “power of food” champion, and the originator of the Community Kitchen movement. Currently, he is a member of the inaugural cohort of the U.S. State Department's Culinary Corp. In addition, he is the founder the DC Central Kitchen, the Campus Kitchen Project, and the L.A. Kitchen…

1:05 – 1:45 PM

Al Snow

WWE Superstar turned global wrestling innovator, and the pioneer behind the world's first accredited trade school for sports entertainment.

With an impressive career spanning 43 years across the global sports entertainment and professional wrestling landscapes, Al Snow is a highly respected athlete. He trained extensively to become a professional wrestler, competing and succeeding in NWA, WCW, ECW, WWF/WWE, and TNA…

FEATURED PANEL · 3:30 – 4:30 PM

Meaning, Momentum, Margin: Joy and Well-Being as a Business Advantage

At the 2025 Canopy Good Business Summit, “Meaning, Momentum, Margin: Joy and Well-Being as a Business Advantage” brings together founders who prove that purpose and profit can thrive together. This dynamic panel explores how joy fuels resilience, creativity, and long-term success in business. Speakers from Dan-O's, RxLightning, and Peak Mind share personal stories, culture practices, and product strategies that make well-being a competitive edge. Attendees will leave with practical tools to foster joy on their teams and a reframed understanding of happiness as a driver of performance, innovation, and community impact.

Meaning, Momentum, Margin featured panel

FEATURED PERFORMANCES

Featured performances

8:00 AM

Aaron Bibelhauser

Aaron Bibelhauser is a staple of Louisville's music scene, known for his genre-blending roots-rock and bluegrass sound. A songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist with two decades of experience, he performs with his twin in the Bibelhauser Brothers and collaborates widely as a session musician and composer. His work (spanning from albums to Kentucky Shakespeare) reflects a drive to create art that moves and challenges audiences.

12:15 PM

Cait Justice

Cait Justice is a Folk and Americana singer-songwriter from Pikeville, Kentucky, whose “landlocked siren voice” and storytelling reflect the soul of Appalachia. A self-taught musician signed with sonaBLAST! Records, she channels her roots and raw emotion into songs about hard times and hope. Her debut album, Angel Teeth, recorded at Louisville's LaLaLand Studios, is set for release in early 2025.

4:35 PM

JonAnthony Floyed-Jackson

JonAnthony Floyed-Jackson is a Louisville-based saxophonist and bandleader known for building community through music. Leading the JonAnthony Jazz Quintet, Subtle Changes, and Afrophysicist, he blends collaboration and creativity to reimagine jazz and fusion sounds. Beyond the stage, he hosts the Community Jazz Jam & Potluck at The Monarch, using music as a form of connection and therapy.

AGENDA

November 6th, 2025

Time

Session

All Day

Mission Marketplace

8:30 AM

Summit Kickoff & Opening Remarks

9:00 AM

Morning Speaker – Dr. Tasha Golden

10:15 AM

Morning Breakout Sessions

11:05 AM

Lunch

11:35 AM

Afternoon Speaker – Robert Egger

1:05 PM

Afternoon Speaker – Al Snow

2:25 PM

Afternoon Breakout Sessions (In Partnership with Federal Reserve)

3:30 PM

Featured Panel with Dan Oliver, Julia Regan, & Alicia Mckoy

4:30 PM

Closing Remarks

4:35 PM

Happy Hour & Networking

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

Choose your room.

START-UPS

Joy as a Start-Up Strategy: Founders Who Feel It and Fuel It

Ben Reno-Weber, Golden Mashindi, & Mac Wilkinson

DATA OF JOY

Numbers Don't Lie: The Data Behind Creating Joy at Work

Leslie Minchin

WITHIN COMPANY JOY

Where Joy Works: Stories of Purpose, People, and Business That Lasts

Ruth Gao, Mo McKnight Howe, Paula Henson, & Rita Ernst

DESIGNING JOY

Designing Joy: Fashion As A Force For Good

Web Richards, Colleen Clines, & JK McKnight

JOY OF FOOD

Rise & Nourish: How the Business of Food Builds Wellbeing into People & Places

Robert Egger, Toa Green, Ouita Michel, & Rhona Kamar

STUDENT PANEL

The Promise in Our Youth: Business Beyond Profit at Shawnee High

Shawnee High School Student Panel

TECH

Mapping Joy: How Technology Connects People, Places, and Possibility

Theresa Reno-Weber, Tom Ferree, & Grant Warfield

SECOND CHANCES

Turning Barriers Into Breakthroughs: Joyful Stories of Second-Chance Employment

Kenya Freeman, Christian Countzler, Jennifer Hancock, & Laurel Sims-Stewart

NETWORKING

Joyful Networking: Purpose, Authenticity, and Community

Zach Wardlaw, Delene Taylor, Jordan Clemons, & Jaye Johnson

OUTDOORS

Rooted in Joy: How Nature Cultivates Thriving Communities

Mark Wourms, Christine Brinkmann, & Brooke Pardue

BURNOUT

Moving Burnout Towards Joy

Amanda Villaveces & Shelly Sowell

DOWNTOWN JOY

Where It's At: A Joyful Downtown is Everybody's Business

Rebecca Fleischaker, Telia Butler, Allen McDaniel, & Patty Payette

ALL DAY

Mission Marketplace

The Mission Marketplace is a gathering of businesses and organizations committed to making community impact through their efforts.

Attendees will find businesses that they can feel good about supporting and/or working with and community organizations that are able to help them make a difference.

Tables are available to reserve and are first come, first serve.

events@canopyky.org

IMPACT AWARDS

Impact Awards

Canopy will honor four recipients for their commitment to positively impacting Kentucky's communities and landscapes. Want to nominate a Kentucky leader or company to be considered for this year's Awards? Complete the appropriate nomination form by October 10, 2025.

The Bluegrass Steward Award

This honor recognizes a Kentucky-based company whose work extends beyond the balance sheet to the heartbeat of its home. Recipients demonstrate a deep commitment to the vitality and resilience of Kentucky's neighborhoods, communities, and cities — nurturing not only people, but also the places they call home.

Special consideration is given to organizations that show foresight in preserving the health of Kentucky's shared resources — its air, land, and water — through thoughtful, sustainable practices that strengthen community well-being.

Submit your nominations

The Bluegrass Caretaker Award

Awarded to an established individual leader working within or along-side businesses who embodies care in action—tending to economic prosperity, people, culture, and community with intention and integrity. This leader understands that the true measure of success is the health of the ecosystem around them: businesses that thrive, employees who flourish, neighborhoods that grow stronger, and progress that leaves no one behind.

The recipient’s leadership protects what’s lasting—ensuring that prosperity uplifts rather than exhausts the Commonwealth’s shared foundation. Eligible leaders include executives of for-profit enterprises and civic or nonprofit partners who measurably advance Kentucky’s business vitality.

Submit your nominations

The Canopy Rising Award

Celebrating Kentucky’s next generation of changemakers—businesses or leaders just beginning to cast long shadows. These recipients embody the promise of a new business ethos: one rooted in equity, empathy, and renewal. Their work already shows the quiet beginnings of something transformative—growth that gives back.

Submit your nominations

Previous Award Recipients

Logan Aluminum

Top Impact Company

Condrad Daniels

Top Impact Leader

NASCEND, PBC

Social Impact

Black Soil KY

Social Impact

Maker’s Mark

Environmental Impact

KFI Studios

Environmental Impact

SPONSORS & PARTNERS

Presenting

Awards

Featured Speaker

Breakout Session

Table

Happy Hour

Zero Waste

Mission Marketplace

Media

High School Student

Contributing

Entertainment

SPONSORSHIP LEVELS

Interested in promoting your business at CGBS?

Your support helps us bring our events to life and expand our impact in the community. We offer sponsorship opportunities with recognition benefits for partners at every level. Interested? We'd love to talk.

events@canopyky.org

Level

What's included

Presenting

$30,000

2 AVAILABLE

• Topline recognition as “Canopy's 5th Annual Good Business Summit” presented by…
• Participation in event press conference and other media
• Company logo on event website and signage
• Event welcoming speaking moment
• Company logo display on invitation, signage, and A/V
• Company logo on website and online promotions
• Exhibitor table at Good Business Marketplace
• 1 primary placement guest table (8 complimentary tickets)

Awards

$10,000

2 AVAILABLE

• Recognition as “Good Business Awards Sponsor”
• Company name and sponsorship level included in event press release and all media
• Event speaking opportunity
• Company logo display on invitation, signage, and A/V
• Company logo on website and online promotions
• Exhibitor table at Good Business Marketplace
• 1 primary placement guest table (8 complimentary tickets)

Speaker

$5,000 – $15,000

• Featured Speaker Sponsor — 2 available
• Breakout Session Sponsor — 6 available

Table

$4,000

• Recognition as “Table Sponsor”
• Company logo on website and online promotions
• Company logo featured on table display
• 1 guest table (8 complimentary tickets)
• Preferred table placement

Community

$1,000 – $2,500

• Happy Hour Networking Sponsor
• Zero Waste Sponsor
• Mission Marketplace Sponsor
• High School Student Sponsor
• Contributing Sponsor

HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAST YEAR