The Greater Louisville Pride Foundation announced the Hometown Heroes Class of 2025 Wednesday.Hometown Heroes celebrates Louisville's most famous people by hanging giant banners of them on buildings across the city.맥스카지노�As with all of our hometown heroes, Class of 2025 honorees possess the grit, resilience, talent, determination and 맥스카지노�can do spirit맥스카지노� our city is known for,맥스카지노� said GLPF President Mike Sheehy. "In addition to their nationally recognized achievements, the Hometown Heroes 2.0 Class of 2025 has made a lasting positive impact on the Louisville community through generous donations of time, talent and treasure."Here are this year's honorees.Teddy Abrams Abrams has been the Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra since 2014, Musical America맥스카지노�s 2022 Conductor of the Year, and 2024 Grammy winner for "The American Project."Abrams is an internationally recognized American conductor, composer, pianist, and clarinetist. His work has been profiled by CBS Sunday Morning, the New Yorker, NPR, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and PBS Newshour. In 2019, Abrams brought national recognition to the Louisville Orchestra as he conducted their performance at the Kennedy Center Honors. Ken ClayClay is the founder of the Corner of Jazz, Louisville's first cultural cooperative; Legacies Unlimited, Inc. and the Renaissance Development Corporation in the 1960맥스카지노�s and 1970맥스카지노�s. "Clay is a formidable arts pioneer, business entrepreneur and cultural arts activist who has spearheaded relevant arts-related programming to support and create opportunities for African American artists and beyond," said GLPF. "Ken has provided leadership in the arts that has impacted Louisville neighborhoods from every direction, particularly for youth living in underserved communities." Dr. Kevin Cosby Dr. Cosby was born and raised in west Louisville where he has lived his entire 65 years. He has been pastor of St. Stephen Church for 45 years and President of Simmons College of Kentucky which will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2025. "His work at Simmons College - the only private HBCU in Louisville founded in 1878 - has been monumental in creating economic growth in Louisville. Simmons College attracts students from 28 states and is a significant part of the fabric of the Louisville community," said GLPF.Jimmy Ellis (1940 맥스카지노� 2014) Ellis, a late Louisville native and graduate of Central High School, was a middleweight amateur boxer who became a successful professional heavyweight boxer. He won 59 of 66 amateur bouts and was a Golden Gloves champion. He boxed Muhammad Ali twice as an amateur, with Ali winning the first bout and Ellis winning the second. Jimmy went on to achieve a remarkable record of 40-12-1, which included 24 wins via knockout. Celebrated as one of the lightest heavyweight champions in history, he was inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989 and inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004. Oksana Masters Masters is a Paralympic medalist in rowing and many other sports. She was adopted from a Ukraine orphanage at a young age after being discarded by her birth parents for being born with serious birth defects after her mother was exposed to Chernobyl nuclear meltdown radiation. She has lived in Louisville with her single adoptive mother and has thrived after both legs were amputated. Internationally recognized for her inspiring and competitive spirit, she competes in a number of sports and has won medals in many. In 2024, Masters won her 9th Paralympic gold medal and 19th Paralympic medal across different sports.Nicole Scherzinger Scherzinger is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality.She was raised in Louisville and is a 1996 graduate of the Youth Performing Arts School (YPAS) at duPont Manual High School. In 2007, she was inducted into duPont Manual Alumni's Hall of Fame as one of the youngest inductees.She was a member of the R&B pop group and dance ensemble, the Pussycat Dolls, from 2003 to 2010. Since 2019, she has been a panelist on the popular show, Masked Singer. Will Smith Smith is a two-time MLB World Series Champion catcher with the LA Dodgers. He is a graduate of Kentucky Country Day School and of the University of Louisville. He is also the founder of the Catching Hope Foundation, a family foundation focused on providing better opportunities for kids in the Los Angeles and Louisville communities. In addition, he was recently a member of Team USA.