Meet the Team
Zelma Redding
President & Founder
“Otis was providing young people with scholarships in 1963 with the emergence of his success,” says Otis Redding’s widow, Zelma Redding. “And through the Otis Redding Foundation, we continue his dream to empower all young people with an education.” As head of the estate of Otis Redding, Mrs. Redding works each day to promote the image, likeness and catalog of music her husband left. And she also works each day to continue his philanthropic efforts as president of the Otis Redding Foundation.
Karla Redding-Andrews
Vice-President & Executive Director
Karla Redding-Andrews, a native of Jones County, Georgia, has a passion for education paired with music and the arts. She graduated from Georgia Southern University in 1985 with a BS in Public Relations and remains an active alum, serving on the Public Relations Advisory Board. In addition to her role with the Foundation, Redding-Andrews, oversees the day to day operations of the Foundation whose motto is ‘Progress through Education-Enlighten through Music & the Arts`. In addition, and with her mother Zelma, they oversee the massive catalog of works for Otis Redding along with requests for use of his name, image and likeness.
Karla currently serves as the vice-chair of the Georgia Music Foundation and is a member of the Leadership Macon Class of 2015 and a member of the Macon Rotary Club. She serves on the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings Board of Visitors at Mercer University and the boards of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, Central Georgia Technical College, the Georgia Intellectual Property Association and the International Cherry Blossom Festival. She most recently was appointed to Macon, Ga’s Bicentennial Commission appointed by Mayor Lester Miller.
Karla received the Macon Arts Alliance Cultural Award in 2016. In 2018, she received The Women’s International Music Network’s “She Rocks Award.” Her alma mater, Georgia Southern University, awarded her with the inaugural “Shine, Black Girl, Shine” Black Women Empowerment Award from the Office of Multicultural Affairs as the Coordinator of Diversity Education and Program Outreach in 2019.
Redding-Andrews and husband Timothy have two sons, Justin and Jarred.
Justin Andrews
Director of Special Projects and Outreach
Justin Andrews, grandson of the legendary Otis Redding, is Director of Special Projects and Outreach at the Otis Redding Foundation. Within the Foundation, he specializes in event planning, leads student activities and camps, and is the creative force behind Otis Redding branded merchandise, where proceeds support the organization’s educational programs and outreach efforts. He is active and involved in the Middle Georgia community, where he serves as the President of the Macon Film Festival’s Board of Directors and is a board member of the Macon Arts Alliance, the Boys and Girls Club, and Visit Macon. He is a graduate of Macon’s Mt. de Sales Academy and participated in the 2017 class of Leadership Macon.
Kimberly Kelsey Epps
Center Director
Kimberly Kelsey Epps has been singing and performing for over three decades. She has starred in numerous musical theater productions and landed the lead role in Freedom Theatre’s production of Sparkle. Epps is a Grammy Urban Music Award Recipient and was awarded A Key to the City in both Macon, Georgia and her hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. She has been featured in Teen People Magazine, Creative Loafing, Jezebel and countless others. Having written and recorded with the likes of Randy Jackson, Tim and Bob, Daryll Simmons, High Rock Entertainment group, Kevin DeClue and Danish producer, Troels Neilson, she continues to hone her craft as she helps to bring arts education to the children of this community.
Reese Kitchens
Chief Audio Visual Engineer
Reese received his formal musical training at Marshall University in West Virginia under the classification Music performance and jazz studies. Since then he has worked and shared the stage with many chart topping artists such as The Isley Brothers, Van Hunt, Desiigner, Alex Isley, and Kevin Ross, just to name a few. He was also a performer in the 2016 BET hip hop awards. Reese is a recording artist that goes by the alias Reese Soul.