Meet Ben Reno-Weber: A Q&A with Louisville Metro Council's newest member
Ben Reno-Weber has been around the world, but Louisville is home.
And he's now serving his hometown as the newest Metro Council member after getting appointed Thursday to the vacant District 8 seat that represents neighborhoods and home rule cities southeast of downtown Louisville, such as the Highlands, Bonnycastle, Tyler Park, Seneca Gardens and Strathmoor Village.
In Reno-Weber's opinion, now is "a great moment to be focused on the local level."
The Courier Journal spoke with Reno-Weber, 42, about his background, family, career and priorities while on Metro Council. Some answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
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Could you talk about your family?
"I'm very happily married and have three kids who are 12, 12 and 9 years old. My wife, Theresa, (who previously led Metro United Way and worked in Metro Government) is now with a startup, GoodMaps, focused on disability access that spun out of the American Printing House for the Blind. We live in the Highlands area, right by Atherton High School, not far from my childhood home, and we've been there since 2010."
Are you related to Jack Harlow?
"He's my cousin's kid."
Where did you go to school and live during your career up until now?
"I went to school in Washington, D.C., at George Washington University and then moved overseas. I did some work for the World Bank around financial access. I lived in Bosnia, but I worked in Serbia, Albania and Kosovo. My father, who was a political science professor at the University of Louisville, became ill, so I came home for a year to take care of him. Then, I moved to Boston and studied business and public policy at Harvard. I followed my Yankee wife back to D.C., and then she followed me here actually (to Louisville) to run the Kentucky YMCA Youth Association."
How you would describe your current job as the deputy director of the Humana Health Equity Innovation Hub at the University of Louisville?
"We’re focused on creating scalable innovations that close health equity gaps. Mostly, that is looking like helping to grow and scale businesses with people who have a lived experience with health equity problems."
What made you want to serve on Louisville Metro Council?
"The thing that’s really exciting about this moment in our city is we got a brand new mayor, I will be the 10th new Metro Council person out of 26, and there’s a ton of things in flux about how business is going to work in our city, how people are going to work at all in our city, so it’s a great moment to be focused on the local level. And there’s a ton of nonprofit transitions, including the president of U of L. I think with Metro Council, part of what I’m excited about is the opportunity to really bring together nonprofits, philanthropy, business and government. This is the time.”
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What are your top priorities for the next few months?
"The thing I’m hearing about most is, of course, public safety, and all of that is influenced by the DOJ report. And then economic development. In my district, it’s the Bardstown Road corridor, but for the city, it’s about growing businesses. The third thing is infrastructure."
Will you run again for the District 8 seat in November and/or in 2024?
"I firmly intend to."
Reach Billy Kobin at bkobin@courierjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Q&A with Ben Reno-Weber, Louisville Metro Council's District 8 member
