FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NASHVILLE, TN March 6 – Funding for Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) has been a hotly-debated topic in our city for quite some time. While many opinions exist on this issue, questions still remain in regard to how the MNPS budget process works and how it ties into the Metro government budget process. We’ve assembled a panel of key stakeholders to address this topic and other issues related to MNPS funding. Join us on Thursday, April 4th at Napier Community Center to hear thoughts and perspectives on the MNPS budget and funding. Networking will start at 6:30pm and the discussion will begin at 7:00pm. The event is free and open to the public. To RSVP, visit: 
​http://consciousconvo.eventbrite.com.

The Conscious Conversation on Nashville General Hospital will include a diverse panel of healthcare and government experts, including: Dr. Joseph Webb, Chief Executive Officer of Nashville General Hospital; Dr. Jan Brandes, Neurologist at Nashville Neuroscience Group and Chair of the Metro Nashville Hospital Authority; Tanaka Vercher, District 28 Metro Councilmember and Budget & Finance Committee Chair; and Brenda Gilmore, Tennessee House of Representatives, District 54 State Representative. 

The event will be held in partnership with the Nashville Metro Council Minority Caucus, The Equity Alliance, and SEIU Local 205.  More than 100 local community members are expected to attend what is being considered a potentially engaging and informative discussion.  "This is a wonderful opportunity to engage in thoughtful conversation with the citizens of Nashville about their hospital, Metro Nashville General,” said Erica Gilmore, Nashville Metro Councilmember At-Large. 

“We desire to unite our community on relevant issues, and the future of Nashville General Hospital is an issue worth of a community discussion,” said Isaac Addae, creator of Conscious Conversation.  “These events provide us with a great opportunity to increase awareness and drive engagement amongst local citizens." 

Throughout the year, Conscious Conversation hosts various community discussions on topics that relate to urban and economic development.  Past events consisted of discussions on compelling issues such as education, entrepreneurship.

For more information, email info@consciousconversation.co, or visit www.consciousconversation.co.

About Conscious Conversation 
Conscious Conversation is a group focused on galvanizing the general public around issues of community and economic development in metropolitan communities.  Our efforts are concentrated in three main areas: Connect - to bring the community together, facilitate networking, and generate synergy amongst like-minded individuals; Converse - to engage in healthy dialogue on issues that plague downtrodden communities; and Create - to formulate strategies leading to collective action on identified issues.  Visit us online at www.consciousconversation.co or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

About The Equity Alliance 
The Equity Alliance proactively advocates for African Americans and other communities of color to have a fair and just opportunity at realizing the American dream.  We are a Nashville-based grassroots non-profit advocacy group that seeks to equip citizens with tools and strategies to engage in the civic process and empower them to take action on issues affecting their daily lives.  Learn more at www.theequityalliance.org or follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

About Nashville Metro Council 
The Metropolitan Council is the legislative authority of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, a city-county consolidated government created on April 1, 1963.  The Council is a 40-member body of elected representatives of which 35 are elected by district and 5 are elected at-large, or county-wide.  The presiding officer is the Vice Mayor, who is elected at-large by the citizens of Nashville and Davidson County. Members are elected to serve a term of four years.  Learn more at www.nashville.gov/metro-council.aspx 

About SEIU Local 205 
SEIU is one of the most politically active unions in Tennessee and is well-renowned for an effective grassroots political program.  SEIU Local 205 is chartered to represent its members in Tennessee.  Currently, SEIU is active in four major cities – Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga, and Oak Ridge – in both public- and private-sector workplaces.  Learn more at www.seiu205.org.

###

On Wednesday, June 29, we hosted Conscious Conversation: Evaluating the Racial Wealth Gap at the historic Morgan Park Community Center.  This venue, nestled in Nashville's Germantown neighborhood, played a critical role in the discussion.  At one point in time, Germantown was primarily comprised of industrial facilities and was populated by residents in lower income brackets.  Today, Germantown represents the transitional force of gentrification and is now populated by high income earners occupying residences price north of $500,000.  Essentially this community represents the evaporation of wealth, lost by minorities and gained by the majority.  Despite the neighborhood’s changing economic landscape, the Morgan Park Community Center still provides services for minority residents of Nashville.

The overarching goal of the discussion on wealth inequality was to identify strategies to eliminate the wealth gap.  A complementary group of panelists was assembled for this event, with each person providing key insights on the topic at hand.  Tifinie Capehart, a realtor at Silverpointe Properties and former urban planner, contributed perspectives on wealth creation though real estate acquisition.  The importance of financial literacy was addressed by Courtney Hale, founder and executive director of Knowledge Bank Nashville.  Travis Smith, senior mortgage banker at Synovus Financial Corp., discussed the importance of banking relationships in tackling wealth inequality and highlighted his institution's role in effecting change on the issue.  Wealth management was the focus of Jarrett Strickland’s contribution to the panel, given his role as investment advisor at Molette Investment Services.

More that 50 attendees engaged in productive dialogue across three main areas: 1) college education, 2) homeownership, and 3) unemployment.  The collective thought in research on the issue suggests that these three areas are the primary drivers of the racial wealth gap.  Minorities are found to accumulate massive debts by financing college education through students loans, and fail to secure lucrative employment opportunities upon graduation, which further compounds the debt issue.  In addition, lower rates of homeownership and higher rates of unemployment place minorities in a position where they are unable to generate wealth, further accelerating wealth inequality.

I’m very proud of how far the Conscious Conversation movement has come in less than six months.  The community continues to demonstrate how important these discussions are through their involvement.  We have more great topics planned for future Conscious Conversations and are excited to identify ways to Connect, Converse, and Create as it relates to strengthening our community.  Events for July, August and September are currently in the works.  Keep up with the movement online (www.consciousconversation.co), on Facebook (www.facebook.com/groups/consciousconvo), or send us an email (info@consciousconversation.co).   We want you to be apart of the Conscious Conversation movement! #consciousconvo

​After many discussions, and with the encouragement of friends, I organized the first event, Conscious Conversation: Is Gentrification Really A Bad Thing?, at the end of February earlier this year. The goal was to commemorate Black History Month and host a community discussion on a topic that impacted the community in an adverse way. I'm still not sure where I got the idea to highlight gentrification, but it ended up being the best initial approach and sparked a bit of controversy (which is not always a bad thing). The event was held in the community center of my apartment complex and was not really marketed in a widespread manner. Truthfully, I doubted that people would be interested in the concept and only expected less than 20 people to attend. However, to my surprise, there were over 60 attendees, which I largely credit to the local celebrity status of the panelists with expertise in real estate development and affordable housing (Brian Sexton, DJ. Wootson, and Tifinie Capehart). It was a great conversation with a very diverse audience, and led to real dialogue on the issue at hand.

The second event, Conscious Conversation: How Does Gentrification Impact Local Youth?, was held in late-April at the Art History Lifestyle Lounge and Art a Gallery on Historic Jefferson Street. The panelists (Christiane Buggs, Eric Capehart, Jackson Miller, and Lagra Newman) provided great insights on education and mentoring in relation to the topic, and the audience was very engaged in the discussion. After the second Conscious Conversation, it became evident to me that something real was happening and that the energy needed to lead to collective action.

So far, the response to Conscious Conversation has been great. I believe it was something the community had been waiting for. The success so far wouldn't be possible with support from the community and our sponsors (Nashville Social Butterfly, Kwanzaa Nashville, Molette Investment Services, and Knowledge Bank Nashville). A special thanks goes to Jarrett Strickland for his efforts to support and expand the initial vision. Our focus is to Connect the community, Converse on the issues that plague the community, and Create strategies to act on addressing the issues. In addition, the events will allow us to highlight different people and organizations doing impactful work in the community. The third event, Conscious Conversation: Evaluating the Racial Wealth Gap, will be held in late June, so be on the lookout for event details.

Check us out online (consciousconversation.co), on Facebook (facebook.com/groups/consciousconvo), or send us an email (info@consciousconversation.co).
We want you to be apart of the Conscious Conversation movement! #consciousconvo