TEDxKnoxville

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Ashlee Mays

  Director, Museum of Infinite Outcomes

  Ashlee Mays is an artist, printmaker, and director of the Museum of Infinite Outcomes. Her work crosses genres of art, ecology, phenomenology, and game theory. She is fond of waterfowl, gardens, and those who keep them.

• Becki Grace

  Singer Songwriter

  Becki Grace is a soulful singer-songwriter whose music blends heartfelt emotion, rich vocals, and timeless influences. A lifelong performer, she honed her voice through years of live shows, choir work, and regional performances with her late husband in their band 3 Mile Smile, which released four albums. Now pursuing her solo debut, Becki writes songs that transform loss and love into connection and hope. Inspired by artists like the Beatles, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, and Aretha Franklin, her sound fuses classic and contemporary soul-rock energy. When she’s not performing or writing, Becki hosts Local Honey on Radio KCM, champions fellow musicians, and shares her passion for music—and her cats—with equal devotion.

• Femeika Elliott

  Foodways Practitioner, Womb Keeper

  Femeika Elliott is a dedicated food activist and social entrepreneur based in Knoxville, Tennessee, committed to addressing health disparities and promoting food justice within marginalized communities. Femeika is the founder of Meik Meals' Lotus Program Experience and the Rooted East Knoxville Collective. Her initiatives focus on increasing access to nutritious food, enhancing maternal health, and preserving cultural heritage. Through her multifaceted initiatives, Femeika Elliott remains at the forefront of efforts to empower marginalized communities in Knoxville, fostering resilience and promoting equitable access to health and wellness resources.

• Gerry Moll

  Mixed Media Sculptor, MollWorks

  Gerry Moll, MFA (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor), is a mixed media sculptor living and working in the Historic Fourth and Gill neighborhood. Gerry established MollWorks in 2011, an art studio dedicated to public art, commissions, and exhibitions. Gerry possesses a firm belief in the power of art for positive transformation. He has dedicated himself, and focused his talent as an artist, to work that affirms our best qualities as a community. His public artwork includes such projects as the TRAshball Collective, Southern Red Oak Tribute, and the Invasive Species Sculpture Project with several recent works on display at the Knoxville Botanical Gardens. He is also co-founder of the Native Plant Rescue Squad and founder of the Labor Day Sunflower Project.

• John "Bo" Baxter

  Director & Senior Conservation Biologist, Conservation Fisheries

  Bo (he/him) had worked with Conservation Fisheries on and off from 1989 to 1999 and, after a “brief” diversion with the Tennessee Valley Authority, returned for good in 2020. He started his career in the endangered fish propagation business while working in the back room at Aquatic Specialists, the aquarium store where J.R. and Pat maintained a few tanks of madtoms, which would later become Conservation Fisheries. Bo earned a B.S. in Zoology in 1993 and an M.S. in Zoology in 1996, both from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville while studying under renowned ichthyologist Dr. David Etnier. For his Master’s thesis, he cataloged fish species in the Upper Cumberland River system in Tennessee. In addition to his work at Conservation Fisheries, Bo serves of the Editorial Board of Hellbender Press hellbenderpress.org and is a member of the Steering Committee for the Tennessee River Basin Network trbn.org,

• Linda Parsons

  Poet Laureate of Knoxville, Tennessee

  Linda Parsons has been a poet, playwright, and editor for over 40 years while being active in the writing and artistic community of Knoxville and the East Tennessee region. She attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, earning both her bachelor’s and master's degrees in English. She retired after serving as editor for nearly 30 years at UT. A Nashville native, she has lived in Knoxville for over 50 years and is an eighth-generation Tennessean. A member of the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame, Parsons is the author of six poetry collections, most recently This Shaky Earth (2016), Candescent (2019), and Valediction: Poems and Prose (2023). Her works explore subjects such as family history, childhood, gardening / the natural world, and loss/rebirth. Linda Parsons has been named the Poet Laureate of Knoxville, a role in which she will continue to uplift voices and celebrate the power of language across East Tennessee.

• Valarie Blake

  Professor of Law, University of Tennessee Winston College of Law

  Valarie K. Blake is a scholar and teacher specializing in health law, spanning topics in disability, civil rights, health justice, health disparities, health care finance, poverty, reproductive care, bioethics, health care regulation, and health reform. Blake joined the University of Tennessee College of Law in 2024, after teaching for nine years at the West Virginia University College of Law. Professor Blake has published over twenty law review articles and book chapters, and over ten peer-reviewed publications. Her work has been published in the Columbia Law Review, Utah Law Review, Hastings Law Journal, Cardozo Law Review, Harvard Law & Policy Review, Yale Journal of Health Policy Law & Ethics, and Health Affairs, among other journals. Professor Blake regularly contributes to national and local media outlets, including The New Yorker, NPR, NBC News, and Ms. Magazine