Family is important to Bryson Stephens. As a young boy he remembers dinner conversations with his father, Elton B. Stephens, the founder of Birmingham’s EBSCO Industries, a company which oversees a collection of businesses ranging from information services to real estate. Today the younger Stephens has taken on his father’s previous role as chairman of EBSCO.

But it was Stephens’ daughter who inspired him to pursue his latest mission, founding a nonprofit to revitalize the Red Mountain Cut, a 210-foot-deep, 1,640-foot-long highway cut that was created through Red Mountain for the Red Mountain expressway- also known as the Elton B. Stephens Expressway.

On a hike he and his daughter took there together in 2015, Stephens was disappointed to see the overgrowth, garbage, and vandalism that had piled up over time and was inspired to improve the Cut for future generations, according to his recent guest column in David Sher’s Comeback Town.

In his Q&A with the Lede this week, Stephens discussed his goals for the Cut which include improving pedestrian access and adding new educational opportunities.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.