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Knoxville Black Maternal Health seeks $60,000 sponsorship for April 13 conference
Summary
Varmika Ellis of Knoxville Black Maternal Health presented a proposal for an April 13 conference focused on Black families and maternal health, described prior attendance growth and programming, and requested approximately $60,000 in funding to cover speaker compensation and event costs.
Varmika Ellis, representing Knoxville Black Maternal Health, presented the task force with a proposal for a one-day conference on April 13 focused on Black families, innovation, strategy and collaboration. Ellis said the group is requesting about $60,000 to cover speaker compensation and event costs, and outlined ticket tiers, program tracks and community activities that organizers plan to provide.
Ellis described the conference as having multiple tracks (including policy, business, mental health and a fathers track) and said last year27s event expanded from one to two days and drew larger attendance. She said the conference includes a diaper distribution and other community supports, features out-of-town speakers to increase expertise, and partners with Community Shares to maintain conference integrity. "We need to fund $60,000," Ellis said, noting organizers have previously covered costs out of pocket.
Conference logistics and sponsorship tiers discussed at the meeting included a community ticket level, a professional level, a student level, and sponsor tiers described in the proposal. Ellis gave examples of sponsorship tiers (access tier: $5,000; other tiers listed at smaller amounts) and said each ticket includes a t-shirt and a meal. She said organizers have applied a tiered registration model so the event remains accessible while offsetting costs.
Ellis said the conference27s programming aims to be holistic: wellness pods, mental-health workshops, panels, an arts gallery, fatherhood programming and policy tracks. She said the organizers also engaged in advocacy: they "pushed a bill last year" on maternal health that passed, and they have included policyholders and a state-level policy analyst in prior conferences.
Task force members asked clarifying questions on the event length and funding. Organizers said they reduced the program to one day this year to avoid conflicting community events and to deepen individual tracks rather than spread content across two days. No formal task force funding decision was recorded at the meeting; the presentation was a request for sponsorship and partnership.
