NASHVILLE, TN — The Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship, sponsors of Nashville’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day March and Convocation, has engaged Britanny Packnett, 31, as its keynote speaker at the convocation in the Tennessee State University Gentry Center following the annual MLK, Jr. Day March.
In the fall of 2016, Brittany Packnett was featured prominently in The New York Times’ reporting about Hillary Clinton’s continued inability to solidify black millennial voters. Packnett, 31, first came to national attention during the protests in Ferguson, MO, following the police shooting death of Michael Brown.
She is one of the founding members of Campaign Zero, an innovative data, strategy, and policy platform aimed at ending police violence in America. She is easily one of the most identifiable young voices to have emerged in the leader-full movement for Black Lives in the past five years.
Packnett is the daughter of educators and currently serves as executive director for Teach For America in St. Louis. She first joined Teach For America as a 2007 corps member in Washington, D.C., where she taught third grade at King Elementary in Southeast Washington. From there, she served as legislative assistant for her hometown Congressman, U.S. Representative Wm. Lacy Clay of Missouri, advising on education, family policy, and oversight and government reform committee matters. Following her time on the Hill, Packnett served as a director on Teach For America’s Government Affairs team, and volunteered as the executive director of Dream Girls DMV, A Mentoring Program for Girls, and as founding co-chair of The Collective-DC, an organization for Teach For America alumni of color in the region.
She is graduate of the John B. Ervin Scholars program at Washington University in St. Louis and American University in Washington.
MLK, Jr. March and Convocation Event Schedule
Saturday, January 14
9 am: Youth Forum: “What’s Next…There’s Power Progress” at Nashville Downtown Library, Lunch Provided, Free and Open to the public.
Monday, January 16
8:30 am: Morning Youth Program, Jefferson Street Baptist Church, 2708 Jefferson St., Nashville.
9 am-2 pm: Job Fair,
TSU Gentry Event Center.
10 am: Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day March, Jefferson St. and 28th Ave. North. Proceeds to Gentry Event Center on the campus of Tennessee State University.
11 am: MLK, Jr. Convocation, featured speaker: Britanny Packnett, Teach For America, St. Louis, MO, Tennessee State University, Gentry Event Center, All events are free and open to the public.
