This panel discussion will bring together local community leaders to share and discuss innovative ideas for addressing Black maternal health disparities in Knox County, Tennessee. This project is hosted by Knox Birth Equity Alliance (KBEA)—a local group founded in 2021 that seeks to inform the public about challenges to Black maternal and infant health and support initiatives that rectify existing disparities. KBEA members include medical professionals (OB/GYNs and nurse midwives), public health workers housed at Knox County Health Department, doulas, and UTK faculty. The panel will begin with a “state of address” about Black maternal health in Knox County and then panelists will share potential fundable ideas that are already in motion or will be pursued in the future to help birthing Black mothers and infants.  In the past, KBEA has hosted and sponsored events such as implicit bias training for OB/GYN staff at UT Medical Center and, most notably, KBEA spearheaded Knoxville’s first formal celebration of Black Maternal Health Week in 2022.

 Panelists:  

• Adrien Jones, Public Health Educator at Knox County Health Department  

• Chelsea Gouty, Public Health Educator at Knox County Health Department  

• Ty Roberts, Executive Director of Gennisi Charitable Birth Services   

• Porsche Williams, Founder of Knoxville Black Doula Collective and Owner of Soul Sisters Wellness & Beauty   

• Brittany Rosette-Jones, MPH, Minority Health Outreach Specialist  

• Maeturah Harmon, DO, FACOOG, OB/GYN with Covenant Health   

• Jodie Simms-MacLeod, CNM, NP-C, FACNM, Midwifery Director with UT Medical Center    

• Danielle Procope Bell, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Africana Studies at UT Knoxville   

This event is part of One Health + Humanities Days, a three-day series of events showcasing the Critical role that arts and humanities play in understanding and exploring sustainability and global wellbeing, including human, animal, plan, and environmental health. Events will take place October 25-27, 2023, on and around the UT Knoxville campus.