Shot on-site at the Pennsylvania Playhouse, our first annual Influential Men of the Year celebrates five individuals who are shaping and moving our community forward through their work, their passions and their side hustles. They're producing expressive video series, starting conversations in one-man shows, hosting inclusive pop-up events, facilitating safe after-school programs and creating diverse work environments. And if you talk to them, you'll realize that they've only just begun.
Darin Barron, Jr.
Photographer, Dancer, Artist
Photography has loomed large in the life of Darin Barron, Jr., for as long as he can remember. He recalls his father documenting their vacations together over the years. “We traveled the world,” Barron says. Dance has also been a mainstay in Barron's day-to-day since childhood. “I used to watch Michael Jackson, Usher, Prince, and just try to mimic their moves,” he says. And now Barron, a native of northern New Jersey who relocated to the Lehigh Valley in 2006, has found a way to marry the two, while also pursuing another passion: sharing the stories of the community he calls home. “I've always been a people person,” he says.
"It's about giving people the opportunity to tell their stories from all backgrounds, all walks of life."
Barron and a friend and fellow photographer, Anthony Marcano, came up with the idea for the “What's Your Story” project while they were working together at Stitch Fix in Bethlehem. They saw it as a way to raise morale and give the staff an opportunity to get to know one another on a deeper level. Barron says the company was supportive of the idea, but COVID-19 derailed their initial plans. Nevertheless, they persisted, and began shooting the series on their own last year. Each installment is like a mini biography or documentary; a life story told in words, pictures and video. The series has featured Winston Alozie, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Bethlehem, as well as local artists and entrepreneurs, like friend and fellow Influential Man of the Year featured here, Andy Po. “I just get so inspired by him,” Barron says.
But there were more stories to tell, the stories of the men and women for whom movement is a powerful means of expression and communication, and so the “My City” video series was born. It's a platform for dancers to showcase their signature moves within the community that has shaped them. Barron himself is the subject of the very first episode.
In the future, Barron, who now works with the Haydenfilms Institute in Breinigsville, hopes to expand both projects beyond the Lehigh Valley. “It's about giving people the opportunity to tell their stories from all backgrounds, all walks of life,” he says.
Eric Leadbetter
LGBTQ+ Community Advocate, Real Estate Professional
One of the hottest party spots in the Lehigh Valley doesn't have a permanent address; it's whatever place Out in the Valley has picked for its next pop-up event. The group formed last year to fill a void left by the closing of notable LGBTQ-friendly spots like the Stonewall and Candida's, both in Allentown. “There was such a need for this,” says Eric Leadbetter, one of Out in the Valley's founders.
Leadbetter was born and raised in Allentown. He worked in social services for 15 years before he realized he needed to make a change. “My head and my heart were like, this is not where you're supposed to be,” he says. He got his real estate license and hasn't looked back. Leadbetter now leads a team of 12 realtors at Iron Valley Real Estate, based in Bethlehem.
"Trying to be as inclusive as possible is so important to us."
Besides his career, Leadbetter is also passionate about having a good time, and making sure those around him are having one too. “Trying to be as inclusive as possible is so important to us,” he says of Out in the Valley. The group staged its first event last summer at the Downtown Allentown Market. They were expecting a couple dozen people to turn out for the dance party, which also featured food, cocktails and drag performers. “That night, there were 130 people who showed up,” Leadbetter says. They followed that up with Jack-Toberfest at Weyerbacher Brewing Company in Easton in October—another success. “It just kind of took off,” Leadbetter says.
As soon as one event is in the books, the organizers behind Out in the Valley are meeting to plan the next one, which is welcome news for members of the local LGBTQ+ community who feel that they have to travel to New York City or Philadelphia to be seen and heard. “A lot of the bars are so accepting these days,” Leadbetter says. “But sometimes you want to go to a place where you know all the people there identify with you.” That's not to say those who don't identify as LGBTQ+ will feel out of place; Leadbetter says everyone is welcome. The end goal is simply creating a safe space for anyone who wants to have a good time. “We're so proud of it,” Leadbetter says.
Andy Po
Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Skateboard Enthusiast
Andy Po is very into skateboarding, which is exactly what you'd probably expect from a California transplant who's owned a skateboarding shop on Bethlehem's Southside for 20 years. But his love for the sport isn't necessarily about his athletic aptitude, past or present (“I was never on track to go to the Olympics,” he says), or about making a buck at that skateboarding shop, Homebase, which was established in 2002, or at 2nd Base Vintage, a second location Po opened in Easton in 2015. For Po, the true payoff comes from the investment he's making in the community around him.
Po moved with his family from San Diego to Bethlehem in the 1990s, when he was in high school. Among the changes to which he had to acclimate was the lack of a local skateboarding scene, and the feeling of belonging that went along with it. That was one of the reasons he launched “Push Ahead” several years ago. It's an after-school program in which Po and his staff bring their equipment and know-how to local elementary students in underserved districts.
"Do what big businesses and dot-coms can't do... make an impact in the community."
“These are kids that might not have access to skateboards and skateboarding,” Po explains. He's not trying to find the next big thing in skating; he's trying to empower young people in ways that will grow with them, regardless of whether they keep up with the sport after the program is over. The Push Ahead mantra is “Be Safe, Be Cool and Be Yourself.”
“Every time they fall and get back up, they're building self-confidence,” Po says.
Those who do stick with skateboarding—and with Po—discover there's a lot more to it than kickflips and ollies. Po hopes to expand Push Ahead to reach middle and high school students who are interested in some of the more peripheral opportunities the sport affords, such as photography, videography, design and entrepreneurship.
As a small-business owner for two decades, Po knows he's beaten the odds, weathering an economic recession in 2008, an ongoing pandemic and the continuing encroachment of online retailers and big-box stores. “All we can do is dig into the community and do what big businesses and dot-coms can't do, and that's make an impact in the community,” says Po.
Javier Ávila
Professor, Author, Performer
Javier Ávila didn't expect to see adulthood. “I always thought I was going to die young,” he says. He underwent open-heart surgery as a child while still living in his native Puerto Rico. But, nearly four decades later, Ávila is most definitely still around. And the many people who have been impacted by his writing, teaching and performing would probably agree it's a good thing he is.
Ávila says that, because of his heart condition, his parents spoiled him and acquiesced when he wanted to watch HBO in the 1980s. That's when he discovered stand-up comedians like George Carlin. “I thought, what a great teacher,” Ávila says. “What a wonderful way to teach, through humor.”
"In Puerto Rico, I was in the majority. I didn't know what it was like to be a minority."
Ávila moved to the Lehigh Valley when he was 31. He began teaching English and creative writing classes at Northampton Community College. He's the author of several lauded books of poetry and novels, and in 2015, he was named Pennsylvania's Professor of the Year. More recently, he's been making a name for himself as a performer. He launched his first one-man show, The Trouble with My Name, in 2016, and followed that up with The Perfect Latino in 2020. The shows, while different in their humor and approach, were both born out of Ávila's challenges in trying to assimilate to his new life in the U.S. while also preserving his cultural heritage. “In Puerto Rico, I was in the majority. I didn't know what it was like to be a minority,” he says. Both shows capitalize on Ávila's strengths as a poet and professor to spark a frank conversation about race and diversity. The seed for The Trouble with My Name was planted by the frequent mispronunciations of his name that he encountered after moving to Pennsylvania; The Perfect Latino details what he's dubbed his “white-tino” lifestyle, as a Latino man with a white wife and a white son.
By the end of 2021, Ávila had staged nearly 300 performances of the shows at venues in several states. His audiences have been people of all ages and backgrounds—even middle school students. “The one thing they all have in common is that they all love it,” Ávila says. He sees positive growth in the current state of race relations in the nation, although he hopes the fear of being targeted by a pervasive cancel culture doesn't prevent people from asking questions about diversity and inclusion. “That's the way we don't move forward,” says Ávila.
William Brown
CEO & Founder, Mentor, DEI Advocate
William Brown is a man of many titles: CEO, founder, mentor, business owner and author are among them. Even touting just one of those titles would be sufficient for most, but the fact that Brown can claim so many of them seems especially exceptional, considering how his journey began many years ago in the Bronx. “I came up on the street life,” Brown says. “Dropped out of high school and did the street thing for a while. Figured out quickly I didn't want to do that.”
"I love finding people who have talent and energy and investing in them."
He later got his GED and a business degree, and his aspirations quickly picked up steam. Brown taught himself the ins and outs of how computers work, which later led to the creation of his own tech company. He also got involved in the real estate game—buying homes, fixing them up and reselling them. The first property he purchased was in Allentown. In 2012, Brown founded his own staffing company, FIA NYC, based in Allentown, which is 100-percent minority owned. In addition to his role as CEO, Brown also serves as the director of equity, diversity and inclusion. He says FIA NYC takes a different approach to making sure potential employees and workplaces are a good fit, and to helping companies create a diverse and inclusive place of business. “We look at the company's ecosystem. It's about changing the environment,” Brown says. He likens it to a tropical fish trying to survive in a cold climate. It's not going to happen. In the same vein, expecting an employee to thrive in an inhospitable workplace probably won't be successful, either.
Brown, who splits his time between Miami, Florida, and the Lehigh Valley, is also the founder of 11Thirty Entertainment, which represents Broadway performers, actors and models; he's also a co-founder of Livv Younique, a full-service salon based in New York City.
In addition, Brown is the author of Harvest Time: What's That All About?, outlining the nine major principles that led him to success, and he serves on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee for United Way of Greater Lehigh Valley.
While his interests and business pursuits may seem disparate, there is a common theme: “I love finding people who have talent and energy and investing in them,” Brown says.
Published as "Lehigh Valley Style's Influential Men of the Year" in the February 2022 edition of Lehigh Valley Style magazine.
