Young Professionals of Knoxville has honored local organizations and individuals who are making an impact on local young professionals at work or in the community. The annual Impact Awards provides an opportunity to recognize leaders in the Knoxville community, to network with other professionals, and to celebrate all things Knoxville.
This year, we’re thrilled to host the 10th Annual YPK Impact Awards at the Press Room on Friday, October 28. Members of YPK have submitted the nominations, as well as voted on the finalists ahead of this year’s event. Below you’ll find a description of each of our nominees:
The Connect Award
The Connect Award is given to an individual or organization that works to welcome and unite the Knoxville community through an event, action, or space. This award is focused on the opportunity for personal connection and growth that comes with human interaction.
The Connect Award - Individual Finalists
Javon Crane - Northwestern Mutual
Javon Crane dove headfirst into the community of Knoxville and Blount County. He is involved in multiple organizations including: Young Professionals of Knoxville, Blount Partnership, and the United Way of Blount County. Since he started at Northwestern Mutual as an intern last year, he has demonstrated his commitment and passion for connecting and serving people across the region. Javon is diligent with building his business and connecting with Maryville College Students and alumni. He is disciplined, driven, and passionate about everything he puts his mind to, and a valued member of the Northwestern Mutual team.
Kirby Deal - The Women’s Fund of East Tennessee
Kirby Deal excels in building meaningful connections every day. She values the connections as an experienced nonprofit executive, and uses them in unique ways that focuses on the betterment of others and the nonprofit community as a whole. She uses her connections within the community to better individuals lives while also using her knowledge of the community and its needs to connect individuals with services and volunteer opportunities that help them give back. Our community needs more connectors like Kirby, and she is a premiere example of a young professional in our community.
Mike Stephens - Young-Williams Animal Center
Mike has spent more than three years across a variety of departments at Young-Williams Animal Center, and each department is better for having had him because of his warmth, kindness, and talent for connection. He goes above and beyond to make each visitor's experience at Young-Williams Animal Center the best it can be, paying special attention to connecting a potential adopter with a compatible pet in need. He creates meaningful connection with every interaction he has, whether it is a team member he's cleaning a kennel with, a donor he's working with, or an adopter taking home their rescue pet.
The Connect Award - Organization Finalists
Knoxville Chamber
In response to data indicating a lack of young talent entering the local workforce, the Knoxville Chamber developed a five-year strategic vision, Path to Prosperity. The Chamber is working with corporate partners to attract, develop, and retain young professionals through advocating for and providing the things young professionals need to thrive. The Chamber’s Endeavor Young Professional Summit motivates the area’s emerging leaders to engage in their community and take ownership of their professional growth.
New2Knox
Though Knoxville is charming, with a small-town feel, it can still be a daunting place to meet new people and get connected. That’s exactly why New2Knox was founded. This organization has made it their mission to be “a one-stop resource for you to find the people, places, and events making Knoxville awesome.” The result? Connecting newcomers to Knoxville to cool people, places, and concepts in our beautiful city, ultimately making it an even more attractive place to live and work.
Axle Logistics
Axle Logistics has been on the forefront of creating jobs for young professionals in Knoxville, but it does more than provide jobs. It takes pride in connecting its employees with the community. Whether through taking its staff for a company outing at an exciting venue, opening its doors to the public for a networking event, or committing its employees to working as volunteers for a community service project, Axle consistently promotes community engagement.
The Develop Award
The Develop Award is given to an individual or organization that has championed community educational and/or professional development content or opportunities in the Knoxville area. This award is focused on tangible opportunities in which the Knoxville community can participate.
The Develop Award - Individual Finalists
Catherine Porth - Knoxville Entrepreneur Center
Catherine Porth is a champion of women in entrepreneurship at the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center. She developed Let Her Speak, a yearly summit for women of the Knoxville business community to connect, tell their stories, and share experiences of being entrepreneurs and makers in Knoxville - all in service of building more connection and support for these women. In addition to Let Her Speak, Catherine also heads the Women in Entrepreneurship group at the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center. She is an accessible, attentive, and authentic emissary for young professionals in Knoxville.
Kara Finger - Wesley House Community Center
Kara Finger develops students each day through Welsey House Community Center, a nonprofit organization that works to empower and serve the Mechanicsville, Lonsdale and Beaumont communities by providing high-quality, affordable, and accessible childcare; social connections and basic household goods to senior citizens experiencing isolations; and meeting other emergent needs in the community - most recently a food pantry open to anyone in need. On top of this, she has volunteered much of her time to young people and young professionals as a mentor through Big Brothers Big Sisters of East TN. Kara's spirit for service truly has no bounds as she has even become the foster parent of the daughter of her former Little Sister through Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Sam Kimbro - United Way of Greater Knoxville
Sam Kimbro manages the educational training and cohort programs at Alliance for Better Nonprofits, a program of United Way of Greater Knoxville, working with nonprofit professionals and subject-matter experts to enrich our community. She dedicates a great deal of time and energy to finding trainers and educators, hosting classes/programs, and providing resources to the Knoxville community. Sam also provides programming for young professionals looking to get involved and give back. She coordinates ABN’s OnBoard Program, a program that prepares high-potential young professionals for service on nonprofit boards and introduces them to organizations that would benefit from their involvement.
The Develop Award - Organization Finalists
Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont
Great Smoky Mountain Institute at Tremont delivers experiential learning opportunities for youth, educators, and adults through programs that promote self-discovery, critical thinking, and effective teaching and leadership. From their campus inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tremont offers research and residential programs which investigate ecological diversity, develop a sense of place, and cultivate a stewardship ethic that will influence lifelong decision-making. Programs offered for young professionals include their Southern Appalachian Naturalist Certification Program (a partnership with the University of Tennessee), wilderness emergency medical response training, and photography-skills workshops. One of their hallmark initiatives is geared toward training educators to bring curiosity and exploration to their schoolyards; through their Teacher Escape Weekends in the Smokies, their nationwide virtual Schoolyard Network, and various in-person and virtual professional development workshops, Tremont has trained and provided resources to hundreds of educators in the last year, including over 130 individuals from Knox County schools.
Northwestern Mutual
Northwestern Mutual focuses on development internally through various coaching and mentoring sessions focused on their personal, spiritual, and professional growth of advisors’ businesses. Every month, staff gathers with external NM Offices to learn from top leaders that teach several business topics, all while networking with advisors from across the state. Advisors are involved externally in the community by offering educational sessions focused on financial literacy education across all ages.
Navitat
Since opening at Ijams Nature Center in 2015, Navitat has turned it’s tree-based adventure park into a unique way for teams, individuals, and parties to develop important, often hard to teach skills. Navitat's vision is "We believe that experiencing trees in unique and engaging ways can ultimately thrill, educate and inspire our guests." Education and development is a core tenant of the organization. Beyond the standard tour, Navitat offers specialized group events for corporate team building. This experience is specifically geared to educate attendees about the environment and develop the skill required to overcome adversity in a challenging environment - beneficial to all young professionals.
The Serve Award
The Serve Award is given to an individual or organization that has displayed meaningful participation in outreach projects and/or provided opportunities for community members to give back while helping make Knoxville the most desirable city for young professionals to live, work and play.
The Serve Award - Individual Finalists
Patrick Goswitz - The Goswitz Team | eXp Realty
Patrick has worked real estate for nearly 7 years and has been with his family's brokerage, eXp Realty since graduating from the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee in 2017. Patrick was nominated for the serve award based on his volunteer involvement at Young-Williams Animal Center. When Patrick graduated from Introduction Knoxville in Spring 2021, one of his big takeaways was how important it is to be involved in the community and he followed his passion for pets to Young-Williams. Patrick understands the value volunteer hours bring to nonprofit organizations, but doesn't stop there. In addition to his service, he has involved the Goswitz Team to sponsor the care of a hard-to-place pet each month. Patrick is truly dedicated to serving vulnerable animals.
Conner Sims - American Home Improvements
Conner has been a dedicated and reliable member of YPK’s Community Outreach committee for two years. Much like many other young professionals, he finds a way to balance his commitment to his work with his commitment to our community. He differs from many others in a very distinct way, however. Whenever Conner shows up, he truly shows up with the heart of a servant. He assists with numerous community service projects, often taking on the least desirable tasks, and always with a genuine smile and encouraging word for everyone involved.
Avery Howard - University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Avery has served at University of Tennessee since 2009 when he was in the midst of earning his Bachelor of Science. He has worked in development and stewardship for nearly a decade. During that time, he’s grown through four different roles to his current position as Director of Stewardship. Avery possess high levels of pride in helping to develop the city of Knoxville. He does not hesitate to show up, donate, and volunteer for a variety of causes including Knox Pride and co-chair of the Community Impact Committee at Positively Living & Choice Health Network. He has also won several awards, including the Chancellor's Citation for Extraordinary Campus Leadership & Services at UTK in 2012.
The Serve Award - Organization Finalists
Mortgage Investors Group (MIG)
Mortgage Investors Group is heavily involved in our local community and embodies the Serve Award. By devoting their time, resources, and unique talents to many deserving organizations they contribute to the communities where their employees live and work. They're not just in the business of helping people create homes for their families, they also believe in the importance of strong communities.
Centro Hispano de East Tennessee
Centro Hispano was established in 2005 and serves East Tennessee's Latino community by promoting empowerment and civic participation through education, workforce development, youth and family engagement, and community-strengthening initiatives. Centro Hispano has grown exponentially for nearly two decades and is incredibly active and adept at serving our community. Their incredible staff regularly earns substantial grants from around the country, enabling their exceptional variety of programming. From hosting classes at Pellissippi State Community College to running vaccine clinics to get more POC inoculated against COVID-19, Centro Hispano serves minorities in Knoxville with jobs, education, and resources they may not otherwise have access to if the organization did not exist.
Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB)
Knoxville Utilities Board actively serves the community through partnerships, outreach events, volunteer efforts, and service projects. KUB has provided more students than ever with real-world experience in the work force by expanding its TeenWork program last year, bringing the total number of students completing the program to over 400 since it began in 1995. KUB also introduced a COVID Utility Relief Effort to provide $6.2 million in bill payment assistance to more than 9,000 customers. KUB Cares coordinates employee volunteer service opportunities throughout the year where KUB employees can participate in volunteer events through Vol Time. Last year, KUB’s retired and current employees raised over $194,000 in individual contributions during their annual campaign to support the United Way of Greater Knoxville.
Outstanding Young Professional Award
The Outstanding Young Professional Award is given to someone who lives the values of YPK: Connect, Develop, Serve. This individual also contributes to their respective professional field through their passion and dedication. This person can be seen as the standard bearer for the traits and values we believe organizations and our community at large attribute to consummate professionalism.
The First Horizon Bank Impact Award
The First Horizon Bank Impact Award is given to one experienced leader whose daily influence challenges young professionals and casts a vision for our community. This individual is a trailblazer that fosters growth for future leaders and has been a decisive contributor to the growth, opportunity, and engagement for young professionals in the region.
Chris McAdoo - Director of Strategy and Engagement, Knoxville Entrepreneur Center
Chris McAdoo uses his decades of experience as an artist and creative to helm the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center's strategic efforts. He introduced KEC's "Made for Knoxville" campaign, which highlights local business leaders and innovators in the Knoxville community. Even beyond campaigns like this, Chris has provided important opportunities for local business owners to connect with each other, develop their ideas and skills, and share their stories. His creativity, dedication to our community, and leadership experience continue to cultivate the entrepreneurial spirit that our town is known for, making it an even better place to work, live, and play. Chris has over two decades of experience as a professional artist and has served in various Creative Director roles for organizations in the East Tennessee community since 2005.
Phyllis Nichols - President & CEO, Knoxville Area Urban League
Phyllis has served as the leader of the Knoxville Area Urban League since 2000. Under her leadership, the organization’s impact has expanded to serve over 10,000 individuals and families each year. Many of these programs directly impact and support the young professionals in our community by providing a skilled and diverse workforce, increasing homeownership, and supporting small business development - to list just a few. Ms. Nichols’s leadership has been recognized locally with many awards, including YWCA of Knoxville's Tribute to Women where she was named one of the community's 30 most impactful women of the last 30 years. The Tennessee Human Rights Commission has also recognized Ms. Nichols for her advocacy for civil rights and social justice. Her advocacy for these initiatives has also gained national recognition - she is recognized as a senior fellow by the National Urban League and has received the Distinguished Service Award from the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Commission and the Women in Power award from the National Urban League. Her passion for education, equity, social justice, and economic development extend beyond her day-job. Phyllis Nichols has given her time and talents generously to our community over the last three decades. Knoxville is a better place for young professionals because of Ms. Nichols’s passion and leadership.
Matt Ryerson - President & CEO, United Way of Greater Knoxville
Matt has dedicated himself tirelessly to serving Knoxville’s community since moving here in 2019. In early 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Matt and his team raised over $1.1 million to provide meals to seniors and children out of school, provide PPE to local nonprofits providing direct services, and provide rental and utilities assistance to those in need. Since then, Matt has developed a DEI department in his organization and facilitated new, innovative, systems-level programming focused on affordable housing, food security, and early care and education systems. Through Matt’s leadership, in the past two years, United Way of Greater Knoxville was awarded a $10 million grant from noted philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, won a $4.5 million state grant to provide much-needed tutoring to Knox County students, and a $24 million federal/state grant in collaboration with 7 other local nonprofits to revolutionize social services for families in need in our region. Matt truly believes in the power that young leaders possess and the importance of fostering the next generation of philanthropists in our community.
10th Annual YPK Impact Awards
Join us as we celebrate all of the finalists and the winners of the 10th Annual YPK Impact Awards at the Press Room on Friday, October 28. This event is open to the entire Knoxville community. Purchase your tickets today! Registration closes on Monday, October 17.