On the evening of Friday, November 5, attendees of Young Professionals of Knoxville’s 9th Annual Impact Awards presented by 21st Mortgage Corporation gathered together at The Foundry, dressed in their best winter cocktail attire to honor and celebrate individuals and organizations in our community who make a difference. This year we allowed both members of YPK and the greater Knoxville community to vote on our nominees!
The evening began with a time of networking, where attendees had the opportunity to enjoy a drink, see familiar faces, and make new connections. After that, the buffet was opened with a delicious dinner catered by The Foundry.
YPK President Michael Smith-Porter opened up the main portion of the evening with a few reflections on what YPK has accomplished in 2021. Then YPK Members Tyler Janow, Chastedy Johnson, Victoria Kauntz-Gershom, and Kelsie Crittendon shared how being a part of YPK has helped them connect, develop, and serve the community of Knoxville. Our YPK members also had the opportunity to participate in a live vote to approve the proposed 2022 Board of Directors!
Our emcees for the evening were YPK President-Elect Rikki Bringe Frost and Star 102.1’s Becca James. The two of them did a fantastic job introducing the awards portion of the evening and speaking to how each and every nominee deserved the recognition they received. As each award winner was announced, the recipient approached the stage to receive their award and posed for a photo with Rikki and Becca.
The keynote speaker for the evening was the recipient of the First Horizon Impact Award, Dr. Martha Buchanan. Dr. Buchanan shared encouraging reflections from her own career journey with attendees via Zoom on the value of connection, development, and service.
YPK wants to extend a special thank you to all of our members for a wonderful year. We can’t wait to see what 2022 has in store for YPK!
A special thank you to our partners for this year’s event:
We also would like to thank our event photographer, Austin Angel, and our event DJ, Chris Burgess. And as always, thank you to our annual sponsors Northwestern Mutual and Axle Logistics!