~ from the East Knoxville Business & Professional Association
Next meeting: March 21
Networking | 7:45 a.m.
Meeting | 8 a.m.
Join us at:
Phyllis Wheatley Center
124 S Cruze St
Knoxville, TN 37915
Program: Stephanie Burrage and Kathy Mack
Stephanie Burrage is the CEO of the YWCA Knoxville and the Tennessee Valley. She can trace her introduction to the nonprofit sector twenty-five years ago when she became a foster parent. Through that experience, she became a child advocate for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate), served on the County CASA Board of Directors, and eventually combined her accounting background and her passion for her community as the Chief Financial Officer for Family Services of Tulare County (non-profit victim services agency).
During her final year with Family Services, she also served as Interim CEO along with her CFO responsibilities. Stephanie is a strong leader within the sector, making her a dynamic advocate for the entire nonprofit industry. She graduated from Fresno State with a dual degree in Business Administration and History. Stephanie and her husband, Chris, are new residents of Knoxville after residing in Central California for most of their adult life. They have two grown sons, Matthew and Isaac, and their spoiled dog Stella. In her free time, you can find Stephanie exploring the East TN mountains with her camera or taking in one of the many sporting events she loves to watch (Go Vols!).
February Recap
Our February speaker was Tim Hester, the Parks and Greenway coordinator for the City of Knoxville Parks and Recreation. He let us know that in 2016, the focus turned to connecting the greenways, especially into downtown, from all parts of town. All paved greenways in and around Knoxville are ADA-compliant, which means no slope is steeper than 6%. This is expensive, and most greenways cost about $2 million per mile, with the biggest cost being the cost of property acquisition.
Greenways are made possible through many partnerships, including with KUB, AMC, and especially legacy parks, who work with landowners to get the land donated or sold, then turned over to the city for next steps. There are plans in the works to connect the stadium to the Old City and Caswell Park. There are also plans in the works for the East Knoxville corridor, which will link Harriet Tubman Park to Walter Hardy Park to Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum. People can see information on this project by going to the City of Knoxville website, and searching East Knox Greenway.
Thank you to Sharon Moore, executive director of Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum, for hosting us. The Dogwood Center where we met is a rental venue, and there are three rental venues on the KGB grounds. The carriage house was recently renovated and can be used at no cost to nonprofits, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.!
Thank you to Real Good Kitchen and sponsor Sharon Moore of the Knoxville Botanical Garden for providing breakfast!
Announcements
Jamea Beach of United Way of Greater Knoxville is seeking volunteers for a tutoring initiative. If interested or want to learn more, reach out directly to her at beachj@unitedwayknox.org!
