For a midsized city, Richmond has an outsized share of native sons and daughters making waves in the world. You probably heard about Mekhi Becton, the Highland Springs High graduate who played on the winning Philadelphia Eagles squad during this year’s Super Bowl. And, judging by the speed at which her concerts are selling out, you’re definitely familiar with Grammy Award-winning musician Lucy Dacus, who’s from Mechanicsville. We could namedrop all day.
But one incredibly successful Richmonder has probably flown under your radar, despite winning awards and representing brands including General Motors, Amazon, American Express, Marriott and Disney. Now CEO of the online funding platform Kickstarter, Everette Taylor grew up in South Side Richmond, and he started and sold his first business here before heading to the West Coast to launch his meteoric career. He came back to Richmond this month to speak at Virginia Commonwealth University’s commencement on May 10 and will be an affiliate faculty member at VCU for the 2025-26 academic year. Check out his story on P. 70.
May is National Foster Care Month, and we’re taking the opportunity to explore the foster system in Richmond and the commonwealth. As we discovered, the bad news is that the number of children in foster care in Virginia has hovered around 5,000 for a decade. The good news, though, is that there are many caring families, agencies and programs striving to help those kids grow up healthy and happy despite difficult beginnings. Learn about a few of them starting on P. 64.
On a lighter note, when we kicked off our summer entertainment guide last year, we ran into a fun problem: There are so many great things to do in Richmond, it was hard to cram it all into one issue. This year, we’re spreading the coverage across two issues. We kick off with “Sounds of Summer,” a 10-page guide to the seasonal music scene, packed with recs from the ultimate insiders: Richmond musicians. Representing a range of genres, they share their favorite venues for watching and performing, can’t-miss festivals, and fellow performers they follow (P. 76). As a bonus, Harry Kollatz Jr. looks back at one of Richmond’s early music festivals in Flashback (P. 32). We’ll share more summer activity ideas next month.
Also in this issue, we talk about speed cameras and Southside Speedway, a cocktail competition and a song contest, train travel and road trips, two comedies, a comedian, and much more. Enjoy!
